Published: March 13, 2008 09:21 am         

Camper Send-Off

Campers win away from title

BALTIMORE - No one player defines the run the Allegany girls basketball team has made up through the Class 1A State Tournament. It's a team without a star, a team with only one player barely scratching double-figure scoring on the season, and a team that hardly looks imposing on the hardwood.

All it seems to do is win. And one more would make them the best in the state, despite its underwhelming appearance.

It was a true team-effort that carried the Campers (24-2) all the way to Retriever Activity Center at University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Wednesday, and thanks in large part to a dominant 20-8 third-quarter run, lifted Allegany to a 61-53 victory over 1A South-representative Surrattsville of Prince George's County in the state semifinals Wednesday night. The victory propelled the Lady Campers to the state championship game Saturday at 7 p.m, where they will face East Region champion Pocomoke, with a chance to win its first state title since 2000.

"We have a different leading-scorer nearly every game," said head coach Jim O'Neal. "We came out and got down early, but like we've done all year, battled back."

Though their numbers aren't always overwhelming, one Camper always comes through when it matters most. In the 1A West Region final against Poolesville, it was junior shooting guard Brianna Twigg putting in five three-pointers.

On Wednesday, it was junior forward Jenna Mathews scoring a season-high 23 points, mostly on fast-break layups on long feeds from point guard DeTonia DeGross. And the junior floor general, frustrated with the Hornets' fast pressure-defensive early on, rebounded to pitch in a stellar all-around performance with eight points and nine rebounds.

At the outset, it looked like anything but an easy Allegany victory in order. To the contrary, it looked like it might turn into a rout the other way.

With quick Hornet guards Chantae Shorter (23 points) and Keianna McCollum (seven) penetrating at will, the Campers fell behind 12-2 in the first four minutes. Simply bringing the ball upcourt appeared a chore, and Surrattsville (18-7) had quickness in abundance, creating turnovers and getting easy buckets in the paint.

The turning point may have been in those precarious stages, with the Campers on the verge of getting blown out. In the final four minutes of the quarter, they somehow stepped it up with their reliable ball-handler on the bench, going on an 8-0 run at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second.

Once DeGross came back in, the Campers kicked it in another gear. They forced the Hornets into contested jump shots, which they transitioned into several easy scores. DeGross found Mathews leaking out twice in the second quarter, and senior forward Elizabeth Getty once to buoy her team into a 25-20 halftime lead.

They didn't take their foot off the pedal until it was too late for Surrattsville. In the decisive third quarter, everyone pitched in. Twigg sank a three-pointer, and reserve forward Leah Womack had a layup and a stickback. Mathews added seven points, all in the paint or at the free-throw line.

"Coach told us the last few days we needed to run downcourt as fast as we could," said Mathews. "They only play five girls, so they'd get tired quicker than we would."

In the waning stages of the final quarter, the Hornets mounted a late charge. Shorter started slicing through traffic for layups, and helped cut a 19-point, fourth-quarter deficit to 57-51 with just over a minute remaining. But Twigg and Mathews hit two free throws each to ice the game.

Coming into the game, the Campers knew they had to crash the glass, especially on 6-foot-1 Surrattsville senior center Brittany Barber, the team's leading scorer. They did that and then some, owning a 57-42 rebounding edge.

"What was amazing is they had us 31-15 on the boards at halftime," said Surrattsville head coach Demario Newman. "Rebounding wins championships."

Dan Greenburg is a staff writer for the Montgomery County Gazette.