Published: February 09, 2008 12:18 am         

ACM takes rematch with Hagerstown

Washington, Kahl lead 74-58 victory

CUMBERLAND — Tough defense, strong rebounding, taking care of the ball, and clutch foul shooting will win a lot of basketball games.

The Allegany College of Maryland women combined all of those elements and avenged their only loss with a resounding 74-58 win over Hagerstown Community College in a battle of nationally-ranked teams Friday evening at Bob Kirk Arena.

The Lady Trojans, ranked No. 18 in the NJCAA Division II poll for the second straight week, stretched their winning streak to 16 games since a 61-58 loss to the Lady Hawks on Nov. 28 in Hagerstown.

Hagerstown was ranked No. 12 in the national poll after being as high as No. 7 and is now 22-2 after opening the season with 22 wins. The game didn’t count in the Maryland JUCO standings where the Lady Hawks lead with an 11-0 record.

“This was really a great night for Allegany College women’s basketball,” said coach Jerry Rice. “It was a great team win and a lot of players came off the bench and contributed. We have emphasized defense since the start of practice and we played strong defense against a very good Hagerstown team. We keep getting a lot of leadership from our five sophomores.”

Freshman center Shannon Washington scored a season-high 21 points to lead four Allegany players in double figures and also hauled down 11 rebounds. Former Beall standout Kacey Kahl and Jasmine Blanks added 12 points each and Melissa Ford had 10.

Blank converted five straight foul shots to help hold off a Hagerstown comeback and also had six assists and three steals. Ford pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds and also contributed four steals and three blocks.

Hagerstown was led by Latoya Buckner with 20 points, and Cara Thompson with 10.

Allegany out-rebounded the taller Hawks 45-31 and forced 26 turnovers that included 16 steals. The Lady Trojans only turned the ball over 12 times.

“We were really excited and have been waiting for this game since the second we stepped off the court in Hagerstown,” said Kahl. “Hagerstown played a good game down there, but we knew we could have played better. We were ready tonight and played well. We know we’re going to have to keep playing hard because we are going to get everybody’s best shot.”

Blanks scored all 12 of her points in the second half and her foul shooting turned out to be a big turning point. With Hagerstown down by only six points with 5:28 left, the 5-foot-6 sophomore from Fort Washington was fouled putting up a desperation three-point shot as the shot clock was winding down. She calmly made all three attempts for a 62-53 lead.

After a Hagerstown turnover, Blanks made a driving lay-up to push the lead back to double figures with 4:52 left. She then converted two more foul shots to make it 66-53. Washington had a rebound putback to complete a nine-point run that had Allegany up 68-53 with 3:17 on the clock.

“The key was defense and playing hard. We wanted it more,” said Blanks. “We were helping out on defense and everybody played together.”

Allegany jumped out to a 6-0 lead and was up 12-2 at the 15:34 mark after back-to-back three-pointers by former Fort Hill standout Lindsay Holliday and Kahl. Hagerstown’s first field goal didn’t come until the 15:18 mark on a shot from the side by Buckner. The Lady Trojans led 34-29 at halftime.

Hagerstown scored the first three points after the break, but never took the lead. The Lady Trojans responded with the next eight points with Washington scoring six to make it 42-32. The lead was 56-43 after another Washington rebound follow with 9:35 left.

Buckner kept Hagerstown in the game with a three-pointer, a three-point play and a rebound follow that had the the Lady Hawks down by only six (59-53) before Blanks’ free throws.

“You have a little advantage when you get on your own court,” said Hagerstown coach Marlys Palmer. “We got what we were looking for, but the shots didn’t fall. They also capitalized on turnovers. The big turnaround was the foul shots when we werer only six points behind.”

Allegany will be hosting Howard on Sunday at 2 p.m. in a game that was added to Lady Trojans’ schedule.