The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Not this time
Fratz reaches 2,000 career points as Huskies avenge last year's playoff loss to Rams

By Kevin Spradlin
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
ACCIDENT, March 1 - Northern Garrett girls basketball coach Steve Fratz said no team's heart and passion to win can compare to this year's Huskies.

On Tuesday, it showed. The host Huskies left everything on the court and eeked out a 52-44 win over Southern Garrett.

The Huskies earned the right to play at Allegany on Thursday for the Class 1A West Region West Section title. The victory also avenged Northern's five-point playoff loss to the Rams last season.

At tip-off, though, it seemed as if the visiting Rams were more comfortable at the Igloo. Overshadowing Northern Garrett senior Kaitlynn Fratz and her quest to reach 2,000 career points was a basketball game. Fratz needed 21 points to reach the milestone - putting her second all-time among public school females in Maryland's three westernmost counties.

But the Rams didn't give her much time to celebrate. The milestone basket came with two minutes and six seconds left in the fourth quarter and gave the Huskies a 48-40 lead. It didn't shake the Rams. Only seven seconds later, Alli Shaffer took the ball downcourt and shot over Fratz to make it a six-point game.

Halftime: Rams 24, Huskies 19

The Rams had the Huskies "right where we wanted 'em," said Southern Garrett coach Daniel Bosley after his team held a five-point advantage at halftime.

Southern had started out with a tenacious defense and played aggressively on both ends of the court - equalling, if not dominating, Northern under the boards.

"We just didn't play defense" in the second half, Bosley said of the Rams, who gave up 33 second-half points.

"That's too many," he said. "We give up 19, and we win by six. We just didn't get it done."

Huskies coach Steve Fratz saw it another way.

"We pressed ourselves in the first half," Fratz said. "We fell into Southern's hysteria."

The five-point deficit, though, was "very manageable," Fratz said.

Tied 9-9 after the Huskies' Terra McKenzie scored with 1:19 left in the first quarter, Southern Garrett went on an 11-2 romp over the next 3:51 to take a 20-11 lead.

Alli Shaffer scored eight of the points during that stretch - including two free throws, an easy layup and uncontested mid-range jumpers.

By this point, Fratz had missed several shots - from routine layups to well-rehearsed 3-pointers. Her father, and coach, asked if she was alright. She stayed in the game.

Allison Yommer hit two free throws with 4:53 to snap the Rams' run and Fratz hit a 3-pointer with 3:43 left - perhaps that answered her coach's question - and pull the Huskies within 20-17.

The Rams' Stuck scored the first basket of the second half but the Huskies climbed back into the game with a 7-0 run, highlighted by Terra McKenzie's only 3-pointer of the game, a layup by Allison Yommer and a bucket by Fratz.

Fratz scored twice more - the first tied the game 28-28, the second gave the Huskies their first since early in the first quarter.

Morgan Brosnihan, the third of Northern's senior trio along with Fratz and McKenzie - continued the offensive attack with two key buckets in a 28-second span that stretched the Huskies' lead to 34-30.

After another Shaffer basket for the Rams - she finished with a team-high 22 points on the night - Fratz and Yommer each hit two-point field goals to end the third quarter with a 38-32 lead.

Shaffer and Stuck scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter to close within 38-36. That's as close as the Rams would get, however, as McKenzie went on a personal 6-0 run - two layups, two foul shots for two three-point plays - for a 44-36 lead.

Shaffer refused to give up and scored again to pull within 44-38 with 3:51 left in the game. Yommer, who was effective inside the paint after the first quarter, scored to increase the lead to eight points with 3:25 to go.