Boys basketball rankings
1. Keyser
2. Southern Garrett
3. Allegany
4. Bishop Walsh
5. Hamsphire
6. Northern Garrett
7. Fort Hill
8. Mountain Ridge
9. Frankfort
Games covered by Dispatch staff this season (through Feb. 26)
Boys Girls
9 BW 2
6 SG 3
7 Keyser 3
1 Hampshire 3
4 Allegany 5
3 Fort Hill 6
8 NG 8
6 Mtn Ridge 5
1 Frankfort 4
PhDispatch.com has watched AMAC teams a total of 84 times through Feb. 26.
Coverage has included every team at least once and 16 of the 18 teams at least twice. In addition, PhDispatch.com has traveled to all nine AMAC gymnasiums at least twice and eight of the nine no less than three times each.
Still, we can't be at every game.
Please consider calling in or phoning in results each night after 10:30 p.m. just like you would any other media outlet or emailing stats and highlights that same night to [email protected].
With playoffs just around the corner, it's more important now than at any point in the season you help PhDispatch.com become the one-stop shop for the area's most complete sports coverage.
Girls basketball rankings
1. Allegany
2. Northern Garrett
3. Frankfort
4. Southern Garrett
5. Mountain Ridge
6. Keyser
7. Hampshire
8. Fort Hill
9. Bishop Walsh
Next rankings will be released March 6
Weekly Power Rankings are mostly based on how teams are perceived to be playing now - largely determined by head-to-head matchups, but not exclusively so. Observation and trends also are taken into consideration.
And it's all for fun, so take it for what it's worth.
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The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
Phone: 301-264-3147
Email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 651
Mount Savage, MD 21545
Keyser strengthens hold on top spot, Rams, Campers move up
By Kevin Spradlin
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
CUMBERLAND, Feb. 26 -- Top-ranked Keyser strengthened its hold on the No. 1 ranking with wins over former No. 1s Bishop Walsh and Southern Garrett this week.
Bishop Walsh, meanwhile, ended its regular season in a downward spiral. While the Spartans managed a 40-39 win over host Hampshire, they dropped road games to Southern Garrett and Keyser in the same week.
The Rams, meanwhile, have rebounded after a dismal stretch in which they lost six of eight games. After an 11-2 start, Southern Garrett coach Jon Hegeman and his team earned the No. 1 ranking on Jan. 22.
There's a good chance coach Bob Boyle will have Bishop Walsh back on track by the time its tournament begins in mid-March. By then, however, we'll all know how far the Rams and Golden Tornado have gone in the Maryland and West Virginia playoffs, respectively.
The second round of the playoffs, meanwhile, will help determine the places for teams placed this week in spots two through seven.
While the Sentinels are the underdog against host Allegany this week in a 1A West Region west section title game, the Campers are beatable. Northern Garrett exploited Allegany's weaknesses. The Huskies just couldn't get Aaron Murphy in foul trouble quickly enough to pull out the win.
Kudos to Turnbull, Nightengale and, of course, Kaitlynn Fratz
Reaching 1,000 points is milestone; 2,000 points simply 'outrageous'
By Kevin Spradlin
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
ACCIDENT, Feb. 26 -- At least two seniors this year have surpassed the 1,000-point mark for career scoring.
Ashley Turnbull of Bishop Walsh accomplished the feat this week in a close win over host Hancock. Earlier this month Mountain Ridge senior Madi Nightengale reached the milestone in a 50-47 win over Southern Garrett in Frostburg.
Northern Garrett coach Steve Fratz called 1,000 career points a remarkable achievement. So where do you put 2,000 points on the list of athletic accomplishments?
Early next week, Huskies senior Kaitlyn Fratz will hit that mark, probably on Tuesday against Southern Garrett in a second-round playoff game.
Headed into Saturday's contest, Fratz needed just 14 points to move ahead of Allegany's Steve Vandenburg to become the career scoring leader - male or female - among high school basketball players in Allegany and Garrett counties. Earlier this month, Fratz became Garrett County's all-time leading scorer when she broke Southern Garrett graduate Jenny Hillen's 26-year-old all-time career scoring record.
Hillen finished the night with 1,841 points.
Now, however, Fratz is just 21 points shy of 2,000 points. As one Allegany County coach put it, scoring that many points is simply "outrageous."
Tuesday's playoff game in Accident against county rivals Northern and Southern is bound to be a good game. The Rams are confident they can win. After all, they beat Northern in the playoffs just last year.
Northern is equally confident it can win.
Regardless, Fratz is likely to hit the 21-point mark at some point in the game. A lay-up might give her team a 10-point lead. A 3-pointer at the buzzer might tie the game 38-38 in the third quarter.
Or it might be the first basket in the Huskies attempting a comeback against a surging Southern team that has played quite well of late.
Either way, the moment - which likely will go unrecognized due to MPSSAA's apparent rules on a lack of celebrations and other routine - will be something high school basketball fans don't get to witness very often. Maybe every 15-20 years or so, at best.
So if you're not doing anything Tuesday night, bring the family to what is expected to be a very well-attended high school basketball playoff game. Watch the game. And enjoy seeing No. 11, wearing white, blue and gold, go through the process of reaching a milestone few get to realize.
Brenda Brosnihan photo