The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
Phone: 301-264-3147
Email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 651
Mount Savage, MD 21545
Information on Mardela scarce,
making the Warriors a 'ghost team'
Huskies coach Steve Fratz meets with counterpart Kesha Cook
By Kevin Spradlin
PhDispatch.com
COLUMBIA, March 8 - Less than 81 hours before tip-off between the Mardela Warriors and Northern Garrett Huskies, the coaches of the two teams met and talked almost everything but tactics.
The two teams - Northern, 1A West Region champ, and Mardela, 1A East Region winner - play Friday in the Maryland Class 1A semifinals at University of Maryland at Baltimore County. Coaches and media talked a wide array of subjects on Tuesday during a pre-tournament luncheon sponsored by the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association.
Thanks to online outlets such as PhDispatch.com and Facebook, there is an abundance of information on the Garrett County team as it makes its first state tournament appearance since the 1996-97 season and second in school history.
Mardela, meanwhile, is making a second straight semifinals appearance. The Warriors lost last year's game primarily, Cook said, because a key player became sick during the game.
Under Cook, the Warriors have posted only two losses in her two years at the helm. Her team is quickly becoming use to success. The Warriors boast a 25-1 record this season - its only loss coming to Woodson High School, 48-40, during a holiday tournament in December.
Other than leading scorers and a few highlights, however, Fratz hasn't found the Internet to be of much use.
"We've searched high and low" and found nothing, Fratz said. "They're almost like a ghost team. You just can't find a lot about 'em. I think it's done intentionally" he quipped during an informal news conference at Sheraton Columbia Town Center Hotel.
Fratz said he's seen no video on the team but from verbal reports of Mardela's opponents he has learned "they're athletic. They like to push the ball. They like to pound it inside. They like to take it to the hoop. We've got to go back to the basics and hopefully we can hang with them."
In contrast, PhDispatch.com has covered the Huskies 11 times so far this season. Almost every PhDispatch.com game report included video highlights and discussed the team's tactics, highs and lows.
Cook said she directed her assistant coach to "find all the information (he) could. He really did his homework to find out anything he could about the team. I discovered they shoot well. They take the ball to the basket. They have a spunky No. 11 (kaitlynn Fratz) that I know I'm going to have to watch out for."
Defensively, Cook said the Warriors must "defend very well on the perimeter (and) executive on defense.
Cook (nee Camper) once played on the Unversity of Maryland women's basketball team from 1992 to 1995. She knows how to shoot, too - she led the 1995 squad in field goal shooting percentage (46.1 percent).
Mardela, the two-time defending 1A East Region champions, lost in the semifinals last year to Joppatowne after a key player became ill shortly after tip-off. This year's different, though. Everyone's healthy and ready to play. Besides, the Warriors have been here before.
"Our experience is definitely our strength," Cook said.
Cook said keys to victory on Friday include composure, execution and discipline. And defense.
"If they're a shooter, close out on them as best you can. And that's how we attack it," she said.
En route to a 25-1 record, the Warriors have played defense - good defense. Mardela has had only two wins separated by five or fewer points. Twenty-two other victories have all been won by 17 or more points.
Further, the Warriors held three opponents to nine or fewer points three times, including a 69-2 shellacking at Crisfield on Dec. 18.
This is Mardela's second consecutive state semifinals appearance and seventh in team history. In contrast, it's just Northern's second semifinals appearance in school history. The only other semifinal trip was during the 1996-97 season. The Huskies lost the championship game to Francis Scott Key, 53-23.
Season averages
POINTS REBOUNDS ASSISTS
Mardela (through 24 games)
Taylor Siggers 16 8 2
Jasmine Jones 12 6 2
Aleisha Hobbs 10 8 5
Northern Garrett (through 26 games)
Kaitlynn Fratz 26.3 3.9 3.1
Terra McKenzie 15.2 7.9 2
Morgan Brosnihan 6.7 3.7 1.8
Allison Yommer 5.5 5.7 0.5
Kiersten Butler 3.5 2.2 2.1
Team stats Points Points Rebounds
scored allowed
Mardela 64.5 28.1 30
Northern Garrett 57.8 49.2 29.6
Coaches Fratz and Brosnihan talk about Mardela, special seasons with their daughters and how this is their last year of coaching the Huskies
Girls Tournament Trivia
31-plus point scorers (local)
Jenny Hillen, Southern Garrett
43 points in the 1984 Class C semifinal
Tina Malloy, Mount Savage
32 points in the 1975 quarterfinal
Local state champions
(girls teams, Allegany and Garrett counties)
Southern Garrett Class 1A 2007
Allegany Class 1A 2000
Westmar Class 1A 1991
Westmar Class 1A 1990
Mount Savage Class C 1977
State tournament qualifiers
(girls teams, Allegany and Garrett counties)
Allegany 4 (2009, 2008, 2000, 1999)
Beall 1 (1981)
Fort Hill 2 (1984, 1979)
Mount Savage 10 (1987, 1986, 1983, 1982,
1980, 1979, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1975)
Northern Garrett 2 (2011, 1997)
Southern Garrett 7 (2007, 2004, 2001, 1995,
1994, 1985, 1984)
Tip-off 9 p.m. Friday at UMBC