Towson coach Bev Snyder has come to expect the steady play of freshman point guard Sara Lev.
But even Snyder was pleasantly surprised by Lev's assertive performance against visiting Randallstown yesterday.
With Katie Walker, the Generals' leading scorer, neutralized by Randallstown's Katrina Johns, Lev scored a career-high 16 points to lead No. 10 Towson to a 57-48 victory over the 17th-ranked Rams in the Baltimore County championship game.
It was the second straight county title for the 1A-2A League champion Generals (21-0).
The 3A-4A League champion Rams (20-3), who were led by senior point guard Anika Lee's 22 points, were making their third straight appearance in the title game.
"For a freshman, she played excellent," Snyder said. "She really did a number on me today."
And on the Rams as well.
Lev scored most of her points off free throws. A 56-percent shooter from the line, Lev converted 10 of 14 free-throw attempts, including both ends of two one-and-ones in the final minute when the Rams were within striking distance.
"I give the ball to the seniors a lot but they were all encouraging me," Lev said. "They said 'Sara, you need to shoot.' "
Most of Lev's drives to the basket were directed at Johns, in a successful attempt to get Randallstown's 6-foot-2 sophomore center in foul trouble.
Johns (14 points, 14 rebounds, six blocks) went to the bench with her third foul 1:45 into the third quarter. She returned five minutes later before picking up her fourth foul with 6:44 left in the game.
"I told Sara to go right after [Johns]," Snyder said. "If we can get her out of the game, we'll have a chance."
While she was in the game, however, Johns played tough defense against Walker, who was held to 14 points, four below her average.
"The big thing for us to do was to take [Walker] out of the game and we did that," Randallstown coach Chris Hodge said. "But [Lev] had a strong game. Her penetration hurt us a lot."
Towson -- which was without senior guard Katie Barnes (9.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg), who sprained her right ankle Thursday -- also got a lift from Nicki Ramer (13 points) and Kerry Koch (10 points).
The Rams, who had won 14 straight, led only once (7-6).
Towson took a 29-22 halftime lead and extended its advantage to 36-23 with 5:10 left in the third quarter.
Randallstown pulled to 38-32 entering the fourth quarter but got no closer than six.
The Generals, who were 18-for-24 from the line, made eight of nine free-throw attempts in the final minute to secure the win.