McDonogh's girls basketball team took back the No. 1 ranking this week after Roland Park lost to No. 11 Seton Keough on Friday, but the Eagles left no doubt Monday night that they deserved it.
The Eagles used a vastly-improved defense and a furious finish to beat the No. 2 Reds, 56-45, and avenge their only Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference loss this season.
With 3:40 to go, visiting Roland Park (19-3 overall, 9-2 conference) took a 43-42 lead on Jeydah Johnson's 3-pointer. But the Reds would score only two more points and would not get a single rebound the rest of the way.
Senior point guard Danielle Edwards started a 14-2 finishing run for the Eagles with a layup, and freshman Taleah Dixon hit back-to-back baskets for a 48-43 lead. Roland Park's Jaia Alexander cut the lead to 48-45 with a layup with two minutes left, but McDonogh's Dajah Logan answered with a long two-point baseline jumper and the Reds missed their last four shots.
Edwards, last season's All-Metro Player of the Year, said defensive pressure turned things around from the 55-40 loss to the Reds on Dec. 17.
"Everybody was putting pressure on the ball and trying to make it as hard possible for them to get it in the post, make it as hard as possible for them to even see the basket," she said. "Our shots went in this game. A big difference was Taleah. Taleah stepped up enormously from Dec. 17 to now. She made some huge plays in the clutch for us."
The Eagles (20-2, 9-1) shot 36.2 percent from the field, a big improvement over their 26 percent last time. They also hit all 12 of their free throws after hitting just five of 13 in the first meeting.
Dixon, a 5-foot-10 guard, led the defending IAAM A Conference champions with 20 points, including 13 in the second half. She constantly took the ball to the hoop and scored mostly on runners and layups.
"I'm way more comfortable [than early in the season]," Dixon said. "I feel like the team picks me up as a whole. Our team chemistry came together and everybody started relying on everyone else. Everybody came to pick everyone up if they were down."
Edwards scored seven of her 15 points in the third quarter, and Andrea Robinson scored all six of her points in the final four minutes.
McDonogh, ranked No. 36 in the national poll last week by USA Today, has won 12 straight games, including a 51-48 win over Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.), a team that had beaten Roland Park early in the season at the Beast of the East Showcase.
The Reds, ranked No. 33 by USA Today, were cruising along with 11 straight wins before Seton Keough put an end to that. But Roland Park coach Scott Buckley isn't worried about his team as they prepare for next week's IAAM tournament.
"I love our chances," Buckley said. "It's a long season. We're playing the 1 or 2 team in the area on their home floor. This is a game McDonogh should win. I said the same thing I said back in December when we won, 'Nobody won a championship tonight.'
"They won a conference game and get a bye on Tuesday. That's what they won tonight, so if we continue to plug away and fix a couple things in practice the next couple days, I think we'll be OK."
Roland Park had the lead for much of the third quarter but never led by more than four.
Lindsay Edwards, who finished with 17 points, hit a 15-footer to give them a 28-24 lead two minutes into the third quarter. Edwards, Danielle Edwards' cousin, scored all 10 of the Reds' points in the quarter, but they could only take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
twitter.com/kdunnsun
No. 1 McDonogh 56, No. 2 Roland Park 45
RP—Whitehurst 3, Alexander 11, Edwards 17, Johnson 6, Holder 4, Clay 4. Totals 16 9-12 45.
M—Robinson 6, Dixon 20, Edwards 15, Green 5, Logan 8, Johnson 2. Totals 21 12-12 56. Half: RP, 24-22.