The frustrations for Poly in the state girls basketball final four and championship game continued on Saturday night.
No. 4 Poly struggled in the second half on offense after leading most of the first half, and Frederick took command and came away with its third consecutive state championship with a 58-44 victory over the Engineers in the Class 3A title game at Towson University’s SECU Arena.
Poly (22-5) is 0-for-4 in state championship appearances. This was the team’s ninth trip to the final four, including seven in the last eight years.
The Poly boys won their third consecutive state championship earlier in the day at College Park. The girls wanted to complete the sweep, but they just couldn’t get the job done.
The Engineers played well in the first half on offense, creating a number of scoring chances, something that worried the Frederick coaches. Usually, the Cadets play man-to-man and rarely if ever go zone, but they switched to a 2-3 zone in the second half that slowed Poly at times because Frederick did not like how many times the Engineers got to the hoop.
“In the first half, they were getting past us at the top of the key, not even with any screens, so we weren’t playing the best defense,” said Frederick coach Ashley Bush. “We had to switch up something. Man-to-man was a perfect defense [for Poly], so we had to switch it off.”
Poly made 12 of 23 from the field in the first half as Dasia Townes and Janya Lilly carried Poly. Townes scored 10 of her team-high 15 points in those first two quarters, and Lilly added eight of her 12 as Poly and Frederick were deadlocked at 25 at the break.
After the change, Poly scored just nine points in the third quarter and seemed hesitant at times, but Frederick began finding more open shots on offense and kept coming up with rebounds to keep possessions alive.
Then, a 10-2 run by the Cadets gave them a five-point lead, and Makayla Daniels got a follow-up at the buzzer to give Frederick a 41-34 lead after three plus some momentum. Frederick scored 14 in a row later in the fourth quarter and broke things open.
Poly coach Kendall Peace-Able did not think the zone shut her team down, but the problems the Engineers had on the boards concerned her. Frederick finished with 41-25 edge in rebounds, including 19 on the offensive end.
“We left some things open that we should [not] have left open,” she said. “But I saw a lot of character in my team.”
The Engineers kept pushing despite making only six baskets in the second half – two in the fourth quarter – as the Cadets slowly pulled away. Poly couldn’t find a way to stop guard Daniels, who finished with a game-high 26 points and nine rebounds.
She and forward Jalynn Montgomery (11 points, seven rebounds) plus forward Rose Bubakar (nine points, nine rebounds) kept finding ways to hurt Poly, especially on the boards. The Cadets scored 22 of their 58 points in the paint.
Peace-Able, Townes and Lilly all took pride in how hard their team played, especially as the problems mounted in the final two quarters.
“I feel like we left it all out on the court,” Lilly said quietly. “Sometimes, things just don’t go your way.”
F- Dorsey 5, Hall 7, Daniels 26, Bubakar 9, Montgomery 11. Totals: 19 15-19 58.
P- Wilson 6, Gross 8, Ferguson 1, Lilly 12, Rice 2, Townes 15. Totals: 18 7-10 44. Halftime: 25-25.