The Milford Mill fan's poster in the stands at UMBC read, "It's now showtime. Thanks, Mandy."
How prophetic.
Mandakova Clark sealed No. 9-ranked Milford Mill's 69-66 Class 3A state semifinal victory over defending champ Wheaton with a huge steal with 20 seconds left in the game.
Then, after Maia Saffell intentionally fouled her to keep her away from the basket, the junior guard converted both free throws for the final three-point margin.
"I really wanted to win this game," said Clark. "They're a wonderful team. They played hard. We played hard, and I wanted to go to the state final so bad."
The Millers (22-4) advanced to the title game for the second straight year and will play DuVal for the championship at 8 p.m. tomorrow.
Clark finished with 26 points and Quante Toney added 19. The backcourt duo combined for 19 fourth-quarter points, including five three-pointers.
Wheaton (20-6), which beat the Millers in the title game last year, took a 66-65 lead when Saffell hit the front end of a one-and-one with 41 seconds left. Tiffany Johnson grabbed the rebound for Milford Mill. With 26 seconds left, Danielle Carter hit a short jumper to put the Millers ahead, 67-66.
Then, Milford coach Pam Wright changed her zone press, putting Clark and Toney in the front rather than in the middle of the court.
"With them in the front, they could pressure the ball," said Wright, "and what happened is they converged, and Mandy came around from the opposite side. You never get called for a foul on that, because you're not reaching; you're coming around. She can do that real well."
It didn't hurt the Millers that Wheaton's 6-0 Keka Agba fouled out with 1: 01 left. She had dominated the middle, scoring 26.
The game was close for the entire second half with seven lead changes.
In the first half, the Millers ran up a 16-5 lead capped by Clark's three pointer with 2: 19 left in the first quarter. But the Knights, led by Saffell making 13 of her 27 points, rallied to within one late in the half before Clark fed Toney with 31 seconds left for a layup and a 30-27 halftime lead by Milford Mill.
DuVal will be there, too
Vanessa Neamo scored 27 points to lead DuVal Tigers to a Class 3A semifinal victory last night at UMBC over Northern-Calvert, 68-51. The loss snapped a 19-game winning streak for the Patriots (24-3), the longest of any team in the tournament.
The Southern Marylanders had a six-point lead midway through the third quarter. But after 53 minutes of delay to fix lights and for an injury, the Prince George's countians (22-5) went on 12-4 run to open the fourth quarter and assure themselves a berth in the title game against Milford Mill.
Girls basketball playoffs
At UMBC Fieldhouse
State semifinals
Yesterday's games
Class 4A
Suitland 60, Meade 58
Western 47, Frederick 42
Class 3A
DuVal 68, Northern-Calvert 51
Milford Mill 69, Wheaton 66
Today's games
Class 2A
Parkside vs. Central, 3
North East vs. Urbana, 5
Class 1A
Cambridge-South Dorchester vs. Glenelg, 7
Hereford vs. Allegany, 9
State finals
Tomorrow's games
Class 2A, 1
Class 4A
Suitland vs. Western, 3
Class 1A, 6
Class 3A
DuVal vs. Milford Mill, 8
Pub Date: 3/12/99