Too much Poly
St. Charles girls fall in 3A South Region final, finish 16-8 overall
BALTIMORE — The St. Charles girls basketball team did everything it could to put together a decent run to cut the deficit down, but Baltimore Polytechnic Institute’s lead would only grow during Saturday afternoon’s Class 3A South Region championship game.
With a deep and balanced attack, the Engineers outran, outmuscled and outhustled the Spartans, defeating the visitors 72-45 to take the region crown and advance to play 3A East champion Long Reach of Howard County in the 3A state semifinals on Thursday at Towson University’s SECU Arena.
Poly stuck with a match-up zone defense for the entire game, forcing St. Charles into long and contested shots, which led to outlet passes and numerous transition points on the other end.
“This was the third game of the week for us, so I wanted to preserve their bodies,” said Poly head coach Kendall Peace-Able, whose team upset Oxon Hill of Prince George’s County 49-43 in Thursday’s Section I final. Oxon Hill was the top seed in the section. “We were able to get St. Charles in a hole early and give everyone an opportunity to contribute and get a taste of playing in the regional championship moving forward.”
St. Charles (16-8 overall) dug itself in a huge hole to start with as it trailed 19-3 after the first quarter and went into the locker down 37-8 at halftime.
“The girls are starting to buy in and feel like they can accomplish anything,” Peace-Able said.
The Spartans, who scored just two field goals in the first half, managed to outscore Poly 37-35 in the second half, notching 24 points in the third period, but the deficit was just too much to overcome.
Poly had four players in double figures as Janya Lilly finished with a team-high 16 points, Brashae Rice and Dasia Townes each scored 14 and Cache Wilson added 10. As a team, the Engineers displayed hot shooting from beyond the arc, nailing six of their seven threes in the first half and also shot 18 of 21 (86 percent) from the free-throw line for the game.
“This has been a milestone that we’ve been trying to achieve since last year,” said Townes, referring to advancing to states. “We had to get out to good lead and secure our position. I felt that we wanted it more and we played like a family today and that is why we won.”
For head coach Darrelle Smith and the Spartans, Saturday was the first-ever regional championship appearance in school history.
“Again, we got here to play in the regional championship for the first time ever,” said Smith, whose team defeated top-seeded Great Mills 47-44 in Thursday’s Section II final. “My hats off are to Poly. They are well-coached and executed and that is why they are the regional champs. The big stage was new to our girls. We only scored eight points in the first half, but we fought back. We were a little stagnant in our offense and just got off to a slow start in that first quarter.”
St. Charles senior guard Desirae Shephard led all scorers with 28 points on the day, scoring 23 in the second half.