Old Mill High senior guard Anisha Queen stared at the scoreboard in disbelief. Less than six minutes into the biggest game of the season, her team was already facing an almost insurmountable deficit.
Things wouldn?t get much better for the Patriots during Thursday?s Class 4A state semifinal against Blake at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County?s RAC Arena. The Tigers were bigger, faster and stronger than Old Mill, and even after a second-half rally brought a late glimmer of hope, Blake?s lead was never in doubt in a 55-41 victory.
Old Mill played the game without third-leading scorer Ashley Jones, a junior forward who was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons on Wednesday, according to coach Craig White. Jones averaged 10.2 points and a team-best seven rebounds per game. White wouldn?t comment further on the exact reasons for the dismissal.
“I?m sure it had some impact,” said White, whose team fell behind, 19-1, in the first quarter. “But we?ve worked very hard to build a program where 14 other people are capable of playing well and winning a game for us.”
Old Mill senior center Kiara Thomas scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Patriots (22-5), who were making their first state tournament appearance since 1993, when they won a third consecutive state championship. Old Mill is still the only 4A program to accomplish that feat, although two-time defending state champ Eleanor Roosevelt (23-3), a winner over Whitman in Thursday?s other semifinal, gets the chance to match it Saturday afternoon against Blake (18-5).
“We were excited, yes, but I didn?t think we were that nervous,” said Queen, who finished with 10 points. “It was hard to recover when they got that big lead on us. Blake played great. But I?m happy that we never gave up.”
Blake, the 4A North Region champ, used an aggressive trapping defense to keep the Patriots off-balance early. Old Mill shots that had fallen in a 4A East championship win over rival Arundel bounced harmlessly off the rim. Blake?s lead never dropped below 12 points the rest of the way as Old Mill trailed, 35-18, at halftime and 47-31 late in the third quarter.
