With a sweet, high-arcing weapon of a jump shot leading her repertoire, St. Mary's guard Kris Miller says she likes nothing better than to see opposing defenses play the fifth-ranked Saints in a zone.
Last night, against the crammed-in defense of Wicomico County's Parkside, the 5-foot-9 senior saw plenty she liked.
Miller decimated the Rams' zone with five three-pointers -- including four in the first half -- as St. Mary's upended the perennial Class 2A contenders, 82-63, on the first day of the 16th annual Archbishop Spalding Noel Classic.
All told, the Saints hit nine threes -- with sophomore guard Heidi Moldenhauser putting in the other four -- to send the previously unbeaten Rams scrambling for an answer on defense.
"That's the best we've played, and it came against what I thought was a very good team," said St. Mary's coach Harry Dobson, whose team has captured this tournament three out of the previous four years.
"This is one of the better shooting teams we've ever had, and there's nobody that can shoot the ball like Kris Miller."
Said Miller (21 points): "I like the zones because I can shoot over them. Everything was just falling, until the second half when I got cold."
But Moldenhauser (19 points) and forward Annetta Davis (23) were on hand to pick up the slack.
With the Saints' backcourt hitting its shots from long range, the lane became wide-open for Davis, who took full advantage.
Despite sitting out the final six minutes of the first half in foul trouble, Davis picked up her game after halftime by scoring 15 points, most of them coming on second-chance opportunities.
"We're going to hit three-pointers, and that opens up the inside," said Dobson.
Forward Tara Foran also found the middle to her liking, scoring 13 points, including nine in the second half.
After trailing early, and missing their first 12 shots, the Saints (6-4) caught fire, hitting eight of their next nine from the field and outscoring the Rams 17-6 to assume a 32-21 advantage with 4:18 left in the first half.
Parkside (5-1) never got closer than five the rest of the way.
"We're not a man-to-man team," said Parkside coach Lance Lewandowski. "We have to play zone, and they hit just about every three-pointer they shot."
Guard Jill Livezey led the Rams with 25 points and 6-foot-1 center Tish Westcott added 20.
Earlier, seventh-ranked Old Mill used a 21-3 second-quarter run to break open a close game en route to a 66-47 win over Mercy.
The Patriots (4-1) trailed by 13-11 before taking command, holding the Sharpshooters to one field goal in the next 9:20.
They managed to force 13 turnovers during the stretch, erasing any hopes of an upset by Mercy.
"We hadn't practiced in four days, so we were a little rusty early," said Old Mill coach Pat Chance.
"It was a slow start, but once we got into it we did a nice job, especially defensively."
Tiffany Slade led the Patriots in scoring with 15, followed by Dana Dawson (13) and Tinnell Slade (11). Center Meg Kline paced the Sharpshooters (5-3) with 20.
Also, Severn got 32 points from Monique Jennings and 21 from tTC Kate Graw en route to a 70-54 win over host Archbishop Spalding.
The Admirals (5-4) broke open a close game by outscoring the Cavaliers (2-5) by a margin of 21-6 in the third quarter.
Stephanie Paxson led Spalding with 14 points.
In the tournament opener, Sarah Brino scored 14 points and Tara Jensen and Jill Smith added 10 each as Broadneck defeated Notre Dame Prep, 65-40.
The Bruins (3-3) ran out to a 16-6 advantage after the first quarter and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the game. Lynn Connors scored 14 points to lead Notre Dame Prep (5-2).
The tournament will continue today with four more matchups beginning at 2 p.m. and will conclude tomorrow.