No. 15 Milford Mill girls press their way to Baltimore County crown

Milford Mill coach DeToiya McAliley disliked the way her team played defense in the first half against Western Tech in Friday night's Baltimore County championship.

But switching to a 2-2-1 press with her team trailing worked better than McAliley could ever have imagined, as No. 15 Milford Mill forced 20 second-half turnovers en route to a 46-38 victory.

The Millers improved to a 22-0 in winning their first county title since 2001, the year a string of five straight championships ended.

"It's surreal. I went to Milford, and we never had a team like this," said McAliley, a 1993 Milford Mill grad who guided the team to a Class 3A state title in 2005. "They can be as good as they want to be."

Freshman guard/forward Dionna White led the Millers with 22 points, including 15 in the second half. She also finished with 11 rebounds and four steals.

Teammate Monique McDonald contributed seven points, nine rebounds and four steals.

Senior forward Ateh Ade paced host Western Tech with 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals.

Ade had to shine in the second half with fellow starters Jayde Duncan and Sydney Clopton plagued by foul trouble and Daija Coles out after having her tooth knocked out.

Milford Mill opened the second half with a 12-6 run to go ahead 29-24 with 2:45 remaining, forcing nine turnovers during that stretch.

Western Tech (19-4) trimmed the lead to three points — the closest the Wolverines would get the rest of the way — late in the third quarter before Milford took control in the final period with a a 9-0 run.

"We just made too many mistakes," said Western Tech coach Nolan Roe, whose team lost to Hereford in the county championship game last year. "We missed layups and had a lot turnovers. The turnovers got us the most."

Girls basketball, Baltimore County Championship

No. 15 Milford Mill 46, Western Tech 38

WT — Ade 11, Duncan, 9, Clopton 6, Montgomery 4, Coles 4, Staton, 2, Ezeka, 2. Totals: 15 7-13 38

MM — White 22, McDonald, 7, Aquon-Rayford, 5, Boyd, 5, Thompson, 4, Lewis, 3. Totals: 18 8-15 46

Half: Western Tech, 18-17

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