With No. 5-ranked Western and defending champ Suitland running their way to more than 60 points a game this season, yesterday's Class 4A championship clash figured to be a high-scoring nail-biter.
Instead, only Suitland hit its offensive stride en route to a 53-28 victory at UMBC.
With such a low final score, the game would appear to have been a defensive battle, but it was actually an offensive struggle for both teams.
The Rams, who edged Western, 68-67, last year in the semifinals, held the Doves (23-4) to their lowest point total of this season. Their previous low was 58, in a regular-season meeting with No. 19 Walbrook.
Yesterday, the Doves, who averaged 75.5 points per game coming into the tournament, shot 19.6 percent from the field, hitting only 11 of 56 shots. Their top scorer, Lillian Drumgold, finished with just eight points.
"We never really got into the game," said Doves coach Artie Uhlich. "Nobody wanted to take the shot and we started forcing crazy shots."
Still, the Doves weren't out of it until the second half. They trailed only 20-9 at the half, despite hitting just four of 25 shots before the break.
Most of Suitland's halftime edge came on eight free throws. The Rams struggled just as much with their offense, hitting only three of their first 30 shots. They came in averaging 61 points per game.
But Western paid a price for putting the Rams (23-1) on the line so often. The fouls mounted up quickly -- none more devastating than two on 5-foot-11 center Crystal Falline (six points, two rebounds) in the first 1: 47 of the game. That put her on the bench until the second half and left the Doves without their best inside threat.
"It was tough when Crystal went out, because I couldn't play both the big girls by myself," said Doves 5-8 forward Joy Gorham, speaking of Rams 6-2 center Christina Strother (11 points, 10 rebounds) and 6-0 forward Candice Phelps (nine points, eight rebounds).
"Their height was nothing, because I can jump, but they were just throwing me around in there. In the low post there's a lot of physical action and they were double-teaming me."
Melanie Harrington, a 6-foot center, came off the bench for Falline and picked up some of the slack, grabbing eight rebounds and adding four points. Gorham, who had come on strong in the postseason, did not score but managed four rebounds.
The three-time Baltimore City champs rallied to open the second half, pulling within 20-14. Delena DeShields hit two free throws, Falline hit another and Drumgold added a short jumper. That was as close as the Doves got.
Suitland then hit five straight shots in an 11-2 run that started to break the game open. The Rams extended their lead to 36-20 by the end of the third quarter and used a 12-4 spurt to run up a 50-25 lead with 3: 08 to go.
For the Doves, who have been to the tournament six of the last seven years with two titles, yesterday's loss was a disappointment, even though reaching the final took them one step further than last year.
"Our goal was to get here," said Gorham, a junior, "but we still have some adjustments to make. Next year starts right now."
WESTERN -- Falline 6, DeShields 6, Drumgold 8, Few 4, Harrington 4. Totals 11 6-14 28.
SUITLAND -- Wimbush 18, Phelps 9, Strother 11, Luckett 3, Hollingsworth 3, Stellmacher 6, Middleton 2, Blue 1. Totals 19 12-28 53. Half: S, 20-9.
Class 2A girls
Parkside 60, Urbana 59: Parkside won its first state title, rallying from a 12-point halftime deficit to slip past Urbana (24-3)at UMBC. Kim Davis, who finished with 17 points, scored the winning goal on a driving layup with 14 seconds left for the Rams (26-2).
After a timeout, Urbana's Jennie Orelli tried to send a long pass from midcourt to Kelly Sadtler, breaking for the basket, but the pass sailed over Sadtler's head and out of bounds.
Pub Date: 3/14/99