Patriots win 4th straight county crown
Faulcon scores 21, leads charge in second half
Sydney Faulcon scored 13 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to lead the Patriots to a 53-42 victory over South River on Wednesday in the Anne Arundel County girls basketball championship game at Annapolis High. The Patriots won their fourth straight county championship.
“We were younger this year, so you never know what’s going to happen on any given night,” Old Mill coach Rick Smith said. “It feels good. It’s always good to win the county championship and represent Anne Arundel County moving forward.”
Old Mill (19-4) didn’t take its first lead until early in the second half. Then, after taking a two-point lead to start the fourth quarter, the Patriots scored the first seven points of the quarter and fought off the Seahawks the rest of the way. Faulcon scored eight of her points in the third and added five more in the fourth.
Jasmine Valentine added 10 points and 10 rebounds and Mikiyah Mallett was a big spark in the fourth quarter when she scored seven of her nine points. She added six rebounds and three assists.
The teams played a somewhat sloppy first half that included nearly as many turnovers as points and went into halftime tied at 14. South River scored the game’s first four points and never trailed in the half, but the lead never got above four. Old Mill did force a pair of ties, but each time South River Old Mill’s Deja Atkinson takes a shot in the first quarter. The Patriots didn’t take their first lead until early in the second half, but then pulled away by scoring the first seven points of the fourth quarter. went back ahead. The teams combined for 23 turnovers and there was just one free throw in the half.
Faulcon led Old Mill with eight points in the half, while Ashlynn Burrows had six to lead the Seahawks.
Now it’s on to the Class 4A East Region playoffs for both teams, with another meeting possible in a little more than a week. Old Mill is the top seed in Section I and has a first-round bye. The Patriots will host the North County-Arundel winner in a section semifinal Tuesday.
South River, the top seed in Section II, also has a bye in the first round and will host the Broadneck-Annapolis winner on Tuesday.
South River won the junior varsity championship, 35-33 over Old Mill, on a jumper at the buzzer by Tommi Bresnahan.