Fleary breakout star in freshman season
McDonogh guard engine of IAAM A Conference champs
Here are The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro girls basketball teams for the 2022-23 season.
Player of the Year Autumn Fleary, McDonogh, freshman, guard
Fleary led the Eagles in scoring (15 points per game), assists (three) and steals (three), maintained a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and was the engine that drove McDonogh to the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship and the No. 1 ranking in the metro area.
In a 50-47 victory over St. Frances in the conference championship game, Fleary scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds, forced four steals and dished out five assists. She also converted a 3-point play to win the game in the final seconds.
“It’s been a long journey to get to this day and we didn’t get this far to lose,” said Fleary, who also ranked third on the team in rebounding (4.8) this season. “St. Frances played wonderfully. This game could have gone either way, but we lucked out and got this win. We just had to stay positive, positive, positive.”
Fleary scored in double digits in 23 of 25 games. The only two she did not were 40-point wins in which her playing time was limited.
“Her numbers were limited by the other very good players around her, but no doubt she was the heart and soul of our team on the court,” coach Brad Rees said. “She is a fierce competitor and makes those around her that much better.”
Coach of the Year Scott Robinson, Howard
When the Lions lost to Poly in the 2022 Class 2A state championship game, Robinson put together one of the area’s toughest schedules the following season to make sure his players were even more battletested for a playoff run.
Howard answered the challenge and went 28-1 en route to a 64-52 victory over the Engineers in this year’s state championship game.
“I think our four returning starters [Samiyah Nasir, Gabby Kennerly, Jenna Vetter and Meghan Yarnevich] were very motivated to return to the state championship,” Robinson said. “Poly has a great program, but we knew there was a process that needed to take place before getting back to the state championship. We knew we had to finish with a good record to get a good seed. All the emphasis throughout the season was focused on our next opponent. We never talked about the state championship until the day before we played Poly.”
Some of Howard’s other key victories were against Bonita Vista (California), St. Charles (Waldorf ) and Mercy. The only blemish was a 53-42 setback to St. Vincent Pallotti.
“We had a balanced team that worked hard throughout the season,” Robinson said. “I think we were able to hurt teams in many ways. We could shoot the 3, we could take the ball to the basket, and throughout