Oden’s 26 points lift McDonogh
McDonogh girls basketball senior guard Jayla Oden needed to give her all against St. Frances on Thursday evening. She played with a sore ankle and was hit in the stomach during the game.
Nevertheless, she persisted, scoring a game-high 26 points and providing a much-needed spark in the fourth quarter in a 60-58 victory over the Eagles’ Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland rival.
“I’m the senior; it’s my last year,” said Oden, an Illinois commit. “So, I think I’ve proved my point over the past three years that I’ve been here and I have to be a leader for my team and an example.”
The Eagles (4-0) have gotten off to a strong start with a young team. Sophomore Mikaela Quimby stepped up to score 15 points, and freshman Tatum Greene and junior Nekhu Mitchell sunk two free throws to seal the victory.
While they had their ultimate triumph in the fourth quarter, the Eagles struggled in the second and third quarters. In a season in which coach Brad Rees has needed to get his team to jell in a short period of time, he’s content with his players showing enough fortitude to pull out the win.
“That’s the way it’s going to be, and if we were having a full season, that’s what we expected,” Rees said. “They’re very young and it’s one senior on the court. There were ups and downs.”
Baltimore City Public Schools announce return
Baltimore City Public Schools announced it will resume high school athletics with voluntary workouts beginning Monday and games for spring sports beginning April 5.
The plan will roll out in five phases, beginning with small groups of voluntary conditioning drills next week. Tryouts will begin March 14 and end April 3 with games beginning April 5. The regular season is scheduled to conclude May 22, in accordance with the schedule set by the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association.
Spring sports in the city include lacrosse, track and field, baseball and softball.
The city will also offer conditioning and “end-of-year” workouts for sports not typically played in the spring such as basketball, football, soccer, wrestling and cross country. This will include training and other team-oriented drills.