North Harford girls fall as annual Vernon Brown hoops tournament opens in Fallston

The eighth annualVernon Brown Memorial Basketball Tournament got underway Wednesday at Fallston High School, honoring the late Fallston girls basketball coach who coached and taught girls soccer and girls basketball during his 14-year carreer.

The tournament features six teams, three from Harford County matched up with three from outside the county.

Wednesday’s play got underway with North Harford taking on Towson. The Hawks, who had numerous players missing due to injury, vacation and sickness, were seeking a win for the first time this season.

Towson, who had all 14 players available, was too much for the Hawks, dealing the local club an 54-32 loss.

The Hawks played the Generals fairly tough early on and trailed 7-5 midway through the first quarter. Kayla Sullivan, however, came off the bench to score five straight points and boost the Towson lead to 12-5.

Hawks junior forward Cameron Sawyer responded with three straight points, cutting the deficit down to 12-8 as the first quarter ended.

North Harford was getting good position and it paid off with foul shots. Unfortunately. the Hawks struggled from the stripe and that led to Towson opening up a sizeable lead. The Hawks were 4-of-12 in the first quarter and 7-of-19 in the half.

Those misses, added to Towson beating the Hawks down the floor for easy baskets, led to Hawks coach Wendy Feight calling timeout after seeing the 14-12 Towson lead jump to 20-13 early in the second quarter.

It didn’t get any better for the Hawks coming out of the timeout. Towson added eight more unanswered points to complete a 14-1 run. The score at half was 28-13.

“We were 12-for-26 from the foul line,” Hawks coach Feight said. “In the first half it was closer too, and I think they felt like they were more in it and with such young girls, that can be huge.for their confidence factor.”

The Hawks were much better at the line in the second half, making 5-of-7, but the Generals were just too much.

Four straight points from junior Brooke Ciampaglio, though, allowed the Hawks to play the Generals even in the third quarter with 10 points each. The quarter ended with Towson leading, 38-23.

The Generals closed out the game with a 16-9 edge in the final quarter and getting points from 9-of-14 players. Point guard Erin Steinberg led the way with 17 points and Daija Fitchett, who did most of her work in the paint, added 14 points.

Sawyer was the lone North Harford player to reach double figures, scoring 10. Savannah Dieter added nine, while Ciampaglio scored six and Autumn Susa scored five.

“You get excited to get into your conference play,” Feight said. The Hawks will play in the Susquehanna Division of the UCBAC this season. “December was rough for us, playing Aberdeen. Last week we had three games, we had Hereford and Aberdeen back-to-back. We are looking forward to getting into our schedule and see how our work has paid off for us.”

Cobras beat Knights

Harford Tech also played at the Vernon Brown Tournament and the Cobras were winners, beating Century, 52-42.

Courtney Logan led the Cobras with 13 points.

Cougars lose

Tournament host Fallston had a tough time with a strong Dulaney team. The Cougars were beaten, 61-24.

Bobcats win

Bel Air is participating in the Williamsport Holiday Tournament and the Bobcats opened with a win.

The Bobcats beat South Hagerstown, 51-34, after leading 28-10 at the half.

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Autumn Dougherty led all scorers with 15 points.

Mustangs win, too

C. Milton Wright was also in the win column at the Winters Mill Holiday Tournament.

The Mustangs cruised past Southern-Anne Arundel, 51-33.

Moriah Snyder scored 16 points to lead three CMW scorers in double figures. Taylor Marchetti and Sydney Frank added 13 points apiece.

Huskies lose

Patterson Mill didn’t find much success at the Manchester Valley Holiday Tournament losing 44-14 to Centennial.