Kendall Peace-Able & Scott Robinson
Peace-Able’s Engineers (Class 3A) and Robinson’s Lions (Class 4A) were both trying for their first state titles and were rolling until the coronavirus pandemic halted everything at the start of the state final four.
Poly (24-1) and Howard (25-0) were the top two teams in the final poll after the state quarterfinals. The Engineers and Lions each exhibited strong team play all season, often using tough defense to make life miserable for opponents.
Peace-Able was in her 17th season and wanted that first state crown, and she was proud of how Poly played all season, led by first-team All-Metro picks Dasia Townes and Cach’e Wilson.
“This was a good group of people,” Peace-Able said. “We all wanted to be there. We all wanted to do it.
“Everyone was all in all the time. [They were] a complete team.”
The Engineers were prepared for the state semifinals after crushing three opponents in the region and state quarterfinals.
Howard, 88-8 in the past four seasons, was led by a strong senior group, including first-team All-Metro pick Anii Harris. This was Robinson’s 10th year at Howard, and he won a state crown with Mount Hebron 12 years ago.
Howard rolled over most of its opponents and was set to face Western from Baltimore City in the state semifinal.
Robinson was proud of how this team came together and played all season. He, just like Peace-Able, would have liked to have finished it with a state title.
“We have a tremendous coaching staff,” Robinson said. “The girls had excellent chemistry and truly cared about each other.
“Our strength was our team speed and athletic ability, which allowed us to negate pressure on the offensive end and create pressure on the defensive end.”