After suffering a one-point loss to No. 3 St. Frances last week, McDonogh's No. 1 girls basketball team used a smothering defense to get revenge when it counted most.
The Eagles forced most of the Panthers' 28 turnovers and never trailed in a 57-41 victory in Thursday night's Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference tournament semifinal.
The win earns the defending champion Eagles (24-3) a title-game showdown with No. 2 Roland Park (21-4), a 70-44 winner over No. 12 Archbishop Spalding in Thursday's other semifinal. The teams split their regular-season meetings.
Because the Eagles, who have won two of the last three A Conference championships, lost to St. Frances 52-51 last week, they ended up with the second-seeded spot in the tournament behind the Reds. That meant they would have to get past the tough Panthers (21-5) to make it back to the final for a fourth straight year.
Eagles point guard Danielle Edwards, who finished with 14 points, five assists and six steals, said her team was plenty motivated.
"We definitely had something to show everybody, that we belong in the championship," Edwards said. "We were going to come out with so much defensive pressure that they couldn't even get it past half court and I think for the most part, we did do that and that is what got our momentum going and enabled us to get this win."
The Eagles jumped out to an 11-2 lead and St. Frances didn't make a field goal until 1:32 remained in the first quarter. By then, the Panthers had turned the ball over 10 times.
Early in the second quarter St. Frances' ShawnKia McCallum fed Tyeisha Smith for a layup that cut McDonogh's lead to 15-9, but the Eagles scored the next ten points, including 3-pointers from Kolbi Green and Taleah Dixon.
Late in the second quarter, the Panthers trimmed the lead to eight with a 10-2 run, but Edwards hit a 3-pointer and a 16-footer to finish the half with a 36-23 lead.
The Eagles made sure St. Frances didn't get rolling to start the second half when Dajah Logan converted a steal into a short bank shot and Jameira Johnson fed Green on a layup for a 40-23 lead. The Panthers never got closer than 12 points.
Johnson, a 6-foot-2 center who finished with four points and nine rebounds, played a huge role on the interior defense against the St. Frances duo of Mia Davis and Tyanna Custis. While Davis finished with 10 points — five from the free-throw line — Custis did not score.
"Jameira has been a real force for us inside, rebounding and blocking shots," Eagles coach Brad Rees said, "and she does so many things that people don't see with respect to rotating, stepping out. She can step out on a guard outside and contest a shot. She just played phenomenal."