Even when opponents try to keep track of Milford Mill's Dionna White, the senior guard has a knack for breaking free or just flat-out beating them.
Tied with No. 5 Aberdeen with 40 seconds left in the second quarter Monday, White hit a 3-pointer from the corner and then scored 18 of her team's next 26 points to spark the defending state champion and No. 4 Millers to a 72-54 victory in the Class 3A North region final.
White finished with 38 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and three assists.
"When you're playing Milford Mill — No. 1, you can never lose sight of Dionna," Aberdeen coach Amber Milnes said, "and I think we started losing track of her, because she was moving around a little bit more than she was at the beginning. She's very dynamic and she's very good at breaking down a defense."
This is the second straight year the Millers (23-1) have knocked Aberdeen (22-2) out of the playoffs. White scored 32 in last year's 80-62 region final. This year's win pulls the Millers even in the series after the Eagles — who won the 2012 and 2013 3A titles — beat Milford in both of those years, once in the region final and once in a regular-season game.
The Millers will meet No. 6 Poly, a 58-49 winner over No. 7 Atholton in the 3A East region final, in the state semifinals Thursday at Towson University's SECU Arena. The Class 3A championship is at 8 p.m. Saturday at SECU Arena.
Both teams looked tired early after so much time off over the past week, but White, the all-time leading scorer in Milford Mill girls basketball history, provided a lift midway through the second quarter with back-to-back baskets, the first on a nifty move to the hoop and the second after stealing the inbound pass. She then hit her next four 3-point shots, two in a 10-0 run to end the second quarter and another to give the Millers a 39-28 lead early in the second half.
"I think the intensity level changed," White said. "We had a lot more intensity."
Deja McKenzie and Taylor Bolden opened the half with back-to-back baskets before Aberdeen's Najze Norton, who finished with 19 points, hit a runner and Kierra Palmer fed Endia Jones for a layup.
Then White nailed her fourth 3-pointer and also scored the other nine points in a 12-2 Millers run to boost their lead to 48-30 with 3:57 left in the third quarter. To end the quarter, she assisted Makenzie Pollard then stole the ball and completed a three-point play for a 57-36 lead.
The Eagles rallied with a 9-2 run to open the fourth quarter, but could get no closer than within 12 when Stephanie Jones banked in a shot to cut the lead to 63-51 with 3:23 to go.
The Millers also outrebounded the Eagles, 52-46, an area where Aberdeen figured to have an advantage with the 6-foot-2 Stephanie Jones (14 points, 15 rebounds) and 6-3 Endia Jones (six points 13 rebounds). The Millers had no player in the game taller than 5-11, but Deja McKenzie, Kierra Jackson, Pollard and Nijah Frederick allowed the duo just 10 second-chance points while combining for 31 rebounds.
Jackson also scored 10 and point guard Bolden had 12 points and five assists.
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A—Norton 19, E.Jones 6, S.Jones 14, Palmer 15. Totals 23 4-11 54.
M—White 38, McKenzie 3, Bolden 12, Jackson 10, Make.Pollard 6, Frederick 3. Totals 32 4-7 72. Half: M, 32-24.