No. 14 Hereford girls fall in Class 2A

BURTONSVILLE — For Hereford, meeting Kent Island in a Class 2A state semifinal on Wednesday was like looking in the mirror. Both teams played great defense all season, and that’s what got them to this point.

In the fourth quarter, though, the Buccaneers played it a little better.

Trailing by 11 points entering the fourth quarter, undefeated Kent Island went on a 15-1 run to defeat the No. 14 Bulls, 41-38, at Paint Branch High School.

The Buccaneers (25-0) will face Lackey, which beat Williamsport, 38-32, in the other semifinal, for the title on Saturday at 6 p.m. at University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center in College Park. It’s Kent Island’s third trip to the final after losing in the championship game in 2016 and 2017.

The loss means the Bulls (18-5) will not get a chance to avenge last year’s one-point double-overtime loss to Fallston in last year’s final.

“Thesegirls,they’vebeenthegreatestgroup I’vehadintheeightornineyearsthatI’vebeen coaching the girls,” Kent Island coach Dave Plummer said. “These girls are amazing.”

Junior Caroline Cavanaugh had 10 points to lead Kent Island, while Lauren Kraft and Lauren Orner led Hereford with 14 points apiece.

Trailing by 11 entering the fourth quarter, Kent Island freshman Lacey Dauses drove the lane and scored layups on three consecutive possessions to cut the deficit to 32-37. The Bucs committed fouls that put the Bulls on the free-throw line, but they missed six of seven attempts in the fourth. Kent Island got a 3-pointer from Cavanaugh to make it 37-35 with 4:38 remaining.

After Orner made a free throw with 3:39 left but Hereford wouldn’t score again. The Bucs tied the game on a Lillian Dauses’ 3-pointer with 3:11 left, and Sydney Riska made the go-ahead basket with 2:16 remaining and added a free throw with 14 seconds remaining.

“We just started to get ahead of ourselves. We started to throw it away and turn over the ball,” Orner said. “We started forcing things that weren’t there.”