Catonsville’s Dickey reaches another milestone
Senior is just 10th area girl to score 2,000 points; Ireton to coach Curley football
Catonsville senior Jasmine Dickey knew her points were piling up, but she had no idea last week howclose she was to 2,000. She was too focused onleading the defending Class 4A champion Comets girls basketball team back to the state final four.
She didn’t even know she reached the milestone in Thursday’s 56-54 win over No. 5 Howard in the sectional final. Coach Mike Mohler told her Saturday after the No. 4 Comets won the regional championship at Paint Branch.
“I knew I was close to it,” Dickey said. “Coach Mike told me, ‘Oh yeah, you got 2,000 points,’ and he announced it to everybody, but I didn’t know I had it. It was pretty cool because I know not a lot of people get it. I was just like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool.’ I think I was in shock.”
Dickey becomes only the 10th girl in the history of Baltimore high school basketball to reach the 2,000-point milestone. She also broke the Baltimore County public school record of 1,993 set by Milford Mill’s Dionna White in 2014.
“My phone’s been blowing up,” Dickey said with a laugh Sunday. “A lot of people were really proud of me and telling me, ‘Good job. That’s what hard workgets you.’ I’ve just been taking it all in and I’ve been congratulating my team members and my coaches, because they helped me along the way to get where I am now, so a big thanks to them as well.”
Dickey, a two-time All-Metro first-team player, has been the engine that drives the Comets (22-3), averaging 19.5 points and 10.3 rebounds as they prepare for Thursday’s 3 p.m. state semifinal against Bethesda-Chevy Chase at Towson University’s SECU Arena.
“She’s at a different level,” Mohler said. “Her motor is unbelievable. She’s just always, always, always at a high level. … And so many of the games we’ve played she hasn’t come close to playing a full game, but even saying that, she’s done it in the big games. The Catonsville’s Jasmine Dickey is averaging 19.5 points and 10.3 rebounds to lead the Comets to the Class 4A state semifinal. higher-level competition games seem to bring out the best in her. I’m just happy for her because she deserves this. She’s such a great kid.”
In three playoff games last week, Dickey scored 88 points and had 59 rebounds as the Comets beat No. 9 Western, Howard and Paint Branch to win the regional title. In the win over Howard, she scored 16 of her 25 points in the final 13 minutes. In the 61-47 win over Western, she had 35 points and 28 rebounds, including all 12 of her team’s points in a12-1 run late in the fourth quarter.
“We know we can depend on Jasmine for big buckets,” Comets senior Jameila Barrett said. “We know if we execute effectively and we run our plays, we can get her the ball and she can also get other people open and then it just opens up the game for the entire team.”
While Dickey is more of a natural guard at 5-foot-10, her athleticism can overwhelm opponents inside. She loves to attack the basket. She said she grew up in the post playing at the Bentalou Recreation Center against boys. She laughed when she said she wouldn’t put the ball on the ground for the first two years with the Maryland Lady Tigers Amateur Athletic Union team.
Although she’ll take a short jumper if she’s open, she’s looking to drive and get to the free-throw line. In last year’s state final, a 49-46 win over Walt Whitman, she scored 18 of her 30 points from the line.
Now Dickey, who will play next year at
Baltimore-area girls basketball 2,000-point scorers
Points 2,586 2,516 2,262 2,252 2,241 2,157 2,085 2,064 2,056 2,038 Player Curly Jones Tori Harrison Patty Dages Chandrea Jones Taylor Murray Mackenzie DeWees Alex McGuire Dayna Scott Marah Strickland Jasmine Dickey School Arlington Baptist Towson Catholic Brooklyn Park IND Annapolis Area Christian Manchester Valley Arundel Southern-AA St. John’s-CP/Towson Catholic Catonsville Delaware, wants to put one more stamp on her career — and those of her teammates: a second straight state title.
“It’s definitely hard to get back here,” Dickey said. “Everybody’s very excited and everybody wantsto continue to keepwinning. We just don’t want to stop. That’s our main goal right now, just don’t stop, keep putting the pedal to the metal and just keep working hard, because we don’t want our season to end now or ever. It went by way too fast.” Ireton takes over Curley football: Brendon Ireton will return to Archbishop Curley, where he spent five years as an assistant coach, as its head football coach, school officials announced Monday.
After five years as head coach at Kent County, Ireton takes over the program where he was defensive coordinator for longtime coach Sean Murphy from 2008 to 2012.
“We are looking forward to having coach Ireton lead our football program,” Matt Hatton, Curley athletic director, said in a statement. “He is an experienced head football coach with outstanding communication andmotivational skills. Mostimportantly, we believe he will serve as an excellent mentor to our young men.”
Ireton’s Kent County teams had winning records his first four seasons before dropping to 1-9 last fall. The Trojans reached the state playoffs four times during his tenure and won the Class1A East regional title in 2016. He was named the Bayside Conference Coach of the Year in 2013. Ireton also has been part of the coaching staffs for the Maryland team in the Big 33 Football Classic as well as for the Maryland Crab Bowl.
A John Carroll graduate, Ireton takes over for Sean Sandora, who coached the Friars Year 1988 1983 1983 2005 2014 2018 2005 1985 2007 Active, 2018 for one season as they finished 2-8 overall and fifth in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference. The Friars had previously won five B Conference championships. The school announced in February that Sandora was “no longer employed” by the school.
A special education teacher at Kent Island, Ireton has a master’s in special education from Grand Canyon University in Arizona. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and sociology from King’s College in WilkesBarre, Pa., where he was a four-year starting linebacker on the football team. Coppin Academy keeps rolling: In its first season in the state playoffs, the Coppin Academy girls basketball team is on its way to the Class 1A final four. The Eagles will play Largo at 9p.m. Friday in the state semifinals at SECU Arena.
Kayla Henderson scored 35 points and had 11 assists as the Golden Eagles defeated Mardela, 75-52, Saturday in the 1A East regional championshipontheirhomecourtat Coppin State.
Coppin (20-3) struggled with foul trouble early as two starters, senior Tylea Galloway and freshman Nyshae Weaver, picked up four each in the first half.
“We were just fouling the first half and the other team pretty much stayed in the game,” Eagles coach Ulysses Hardy said. “In the third quarter, we went with some role players and Kayla just willed us to win. The third quarter was her quarter. We had a lead, but they kept coming and we went to a box-andone on their best player, so she was defending their best player.”