The men's and women's basketball teams at Anne Arundel Community College didn't stick around long in their Maryland JuCo tournaments last week. Both squads were bounced in the opening round.
The men received an outstanding effort from Annapolis High graduate Aderio Jones, but little else in a 75-60 loss to Prince George's CC. And the women had three players score in double figures, but came up short against Hagerstown JC, 72-62.
Jones scored 21 points -- including six of six from the line -- grabbed seven rebounds and handed out six assists. Tony Curro scored nine points, and William Brown and Nat Scott each had eight.
"We got in early foul trouble," said Curry, who is first in the JuCo league in free-throw shooting at 90 percent. "That cooled us off because some of our good shooters had to sit down."
Another problem for Anne Arundel was the absence of leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Sylvester Clarke, who couldn't play because of a wrist injury.
Anne Arundel recovered from a 3-9 start to finish 11-14. It won seven of its last 10 games, but won't take part in the Region XX Tournament.
"We definitely turned it around," Curro said. "If everything was based on the second half of the season, we'd be a high seed in the tournament."
The women made the same number of field goals as Hagerstown (26), but went to the line only six times. Hagerstown was 14 of 28.
"I don't want to cry about it, but I've never had a year so frustrating," said Pioneers coach Tom Smith. "Maybe it's because we're so aggressive, but other teams are aggressive, too. We just don't seem to generate calls this year. Eight of the nine games we've lost have been at the line."
The Pioneers were ahead by two points with three minutes left, "but we would go down and rush our shots. We stopped working together and were forcing too many bad shots and bad passes," Smith said.
"It comes down to where you've got to make the plays and get tough down the stretch. Last year, we were winning these tight games."
Severna Park graduate Brandee Snyder led the Pioneers with 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Debbi Dadds added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Denise Perrone had 11 points and six assists.
"Brandee and Denise have taken their games up to the next level," Smith said.
Anne Arundel had won its first seven games, but is 15-9 going into tomorrow night's matchup with fourth-seeded Potomac State JC in the opening round of the Region XX Tournament in Hagerstown. The Pioneers, who are seeded fifth, split two games with Potomac State last month.
"The girls are working hard and playing hard," Smith said. "The league has just gotten so much better since I've been here. It's very tough."
Dadds was named to the All-Maryland JuCo first team.