McDonogh girls avenge loss, topple No. 1 St. Frances

McDonogh girls basketball senior Makaela Quimby didn’t quite get over the disappointment of a six-point loss to top-ranked St. Frances just over two weeks ago. The Wake Forest commit made sure the No. 3. Eagles did not have that same result in the rematch.

Quimby scored 18 points and had four steals to lead visiting McDonogh to a 59-48 victory Monday night.

“We knew we had to pick up the energy and use each other as a team,” Quimby said. “We got the lead that we wanted and then we knew we had to save our energy for defense.”

Freshman Autumn Fleary scored 11 points and Paris Locke added 10 for McDonogh, which improved to 18-2 overall and 9-1 in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference.

McDonogh earned a 10-point halftime lead by pushing the ball quickly up the court and playing high-pressure defense. A pair of 3-pointers by Quimby and Ava McKennie (eight points) extended the margin to 38-24 with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

St. Frances beat the Eagles, 56-49, on Jan. 13, but McDonogh made the necessary changes to stay ahead this time.

“Our effort was great,” McDonogh coach Brad Rees said. “We tried to spread the court better, offensively. That really helped us. Defensively, we made some adjustments to how we played around that high-ball screen they do. And we rebounded better.”

The Panthers (17-3, 8-1) pulled within 42-38 on a jumper by Mone’t Edwards midway through the fourth quarter. However, McDonogh went on another run and a 3-pointer by McKennie provided a 50-40 lead. The Eagles weren’t threatened the rest of the way.

“There are some things to polish, but overall, we played a good game,” Fleary said. “We got everyone involved. It was a great game. We knew it was going to be a physical game.”

St. Frances senior Ande’a Cherisier, who finished with 12 points, was honored before the third quarter for scoring her 1,000th career point. Zoe Osby added 10 points for the Panthers.

St. Frances coach Jerome Shelton liked the way his players battled but said his team was simply outplayed.

“[McDonogh] understood how important this game was coming in here,” Shelton said. “They doubled our effort tonight and you saw that on the defensive end of the floor in terms of rebounding. They made open shots.”

Other girls basketball scores

Howard 77, River Hill 35: Howard girls basketball sophomore forward Meghan Yarnevich made a concerted effort in the offseason to expand her offensive range. At 6-foot-1, Yarnevich is taller than most defenders she faces in the low post.

Now often facing double teams down low, Yarnevich has improved as a perimeter shooter, spacing out opposing defenses. That was on full display Monday night in the No. 4 Lions’ dominant 77-35 win over No. 8 River Hill, a matchup between the top two teams in the Howard County standings.

River Hill started the game as the more energized team. The Hawks’ press forced several Lions turnovers, which gave them an early 5-0 lead. Howard settled down after a timeout, but River Hill led 11-6 with 2:53 remaining in the opening quarter.

That lead quickly vanished as the Lions (15-1, 11-0 Howard County) outscored the Hawks 43-14 the remainder of the first half. Howard closed the first quarter on a 9-1 run to begin turning the momentum. Yarnevich scored all nine, part of her team-high 25-point performance.

Leading by three after one, Howard took complete command in the second quarter. The Lions’ offense erupted for 34 points in the frame, knocking down four of their 10 3-pointers. Freshman guard Kadirah Carroll sparked that barrage with three triples in the opening four minutes, a product of Howard rotating the ball inside out. Carroll scored all 11 of her points in the second quarter.

“Meghan has really expanded her game and really worked hard,” Howard coach Scott Robinson said. “She was able to show that tonight where she can play both inside and outside. She can hurt you in any way. I thought the threes by Kadirah along with the ones from Meghan were big as well. If they were collapsing on Meghan and she kicked it to Kadirah, she was able to hit the open threes.”

Howard’s offense also found success in the paint. Senior Gabby Kennerly scored 10 of her 19 points in the frame, while Yarnevich continued to use her size to challenge the Hawks (13-3, 9-2) inside. Efficient offensively, Howard also stymied River Hill defensively. The Hawks managed just eight points and two field goals in the second quarter as Samiyah Nasir hounded Hawks point guard and former teammate Mannat Gill.

The win gives Howard a two-game advantage in the county standings with six games remaining in the regular season as both teams will face off again at River Hill on Feb. 8.

“It definitely motivates us,” Kennerly said* of the win. “It lets us know that we’re in the right spot, that we need to continue to reach our goal of progressing both in the regular season and postseason. It’s not over yet.”

— Jacob Steinberg

Havre de Grace 47, Elkton 45

Mt. Hebron 37, Wilde Lake 34

Glenelg 48, Marriotts Ridge 44 Hammond 42, Reservoir 27

North Harford 34, Bel Air 23

Fallston 43, C. Milton Wright 35 Harford Tech 47, Patterson Mill 39

St. Mary’s 69, St. Paul’s 42

Indian Creek 62, Catholic 31

Gerstell 65, St. John’s Catholic Prep 31

Boys basketball St. John’s Catholic Prep 51, Gerstell 48:

Gerstell boys basketball got off to as perfect a start a team could ask for Monday night. Caleb Franze, Carroll County’s second-leading scorer, hit his first couple of shots and backcourt mate Tony Hicks Jr. followed suit.

However, St. John’s Catholic Prep weathered the storm, as David Giandrea’s go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a minute left completed the comeback and gave the Vikings the 51-48 win.

The Falcons dominated the first quarter. With Franze and Hicks knocking down shots, the offense was rolling. On the defensive end, big man Gavin Zemencik was a force. He blocked three shots over the game’s first few possessions, forcing the Vikings to think twice before driving in the middle for a layup. The Falcons used a 13-2 run to take a large early lead.

“It was just one of those games where we got off to a great start,” coach Jeff Cheevers said. “We were hitting all of our shots and just had a lot of good things happening.”

The second quarter is when things started to turn. After a dominant defensive first quarter in which the Falcons held the

Vikings to just four points, Cheevers and his team were blindsided as St. John’s returned the favor, holding Gerstell to four points in the frame. The Vikings took a one-point lead into the half.

In the second half, Gerstell continued to rely on Franze with Hicks in and out of the game with foul trouble. Franze kept the Falcons afloat not just with his scoring ability, but with his attitude as Gerstell continued to fight back after giving up the lead.

“I liked the way our guys battled,” Cheevers said. “We didn’t give up, we didn’t give in, it’s encouraging to see.”

Once Hicks returned for a long stretch, the Falcons started clicking again. The senior, who finished with 11 points, converted a three-point-play to tie the game with less than a minute left.

But Giandrea responded with a go-ahead 3-pointer. After some fouls and free throws, the Vikings held on for the win in what was a tough battle for both teams once the game slowed down and the score got closer.

“We knew it was going to be a battle and a game that was going to come right down to the wire,” Cheevers said. “St. John’s made those plays down the stretch and hats off to them.”

— Timothy Dashiell

Wilde Lake 76, Mt. Hebron 51 Glenelg 64, Marriotts Ridge 62, OT Long Reach 60, Atholton 54

River Hill 74, Howard 67

Severn 47, Indian Creek 46

St. Mary’s 60, Friends 44

Wrestling

Aberdeen 39, Havre de Grace 33 North Harford 48, Eastern Tech 33 Westminster 40, Francis Scott Key 37