Washington County girls basketball playoff roundup: Williamsport reaches state semifinals

Saturday

2A quarterfinals

Williamsport 33, Liberty 30

The wrestling team wasn’t the only Wildcats squad grappling on this day.

The girls basketball team went a round or two itself and won by a majority decision.

Williamsport (21-2) persevered in two of the three major aspects of basketball — foul shooting and defense, two of its trademarks — to hold off the gallant Lions (14-8).

It was no holds barred as the top-seeded Wildcats grabbed the victory on two clutch Bryson Ostrum foul shots with 7 seconds remaining to break a 30-30 tie. Emily Moser added a free throw with 0.7 seconds remaining to ice the victory.

Neither team won the third aspect — offense — as the shooting for both teams was way off the mark.

“We always play defense, but not as much as we had to tonight,” said Williamsport coach Kevin Murphy. “We only shot 15% for the game. They were playing a man-zone combination that we hadn’t seen before. It’s a credit to our players to gut this out.”

No matter how they did it, the Wildcats still advance to the state semifinals, facing fifth-seeded Fallston (20-4) at Richard Montgomery High on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Williamsport had to dig deep to reach the semis. The Wildcats made just 8 of 51 shots (15.7%), but held Liberty to 10 of 51 (19.6%). Foul shooting was the deciding factor as the Wildcats hit 16 of 22 chances — including three of their last four — compared to 8 of 13 for the Lions.

The game was tied at 8 after one quarter. Liberty took a 17-12 lead into the half and scored the first basket of the second half to take a seven-point lead.

“When we were down (seven) points in the third quarter ... that’s like being down 15 in a regular game,” Murphy said. “It’s really hard to come back.”

The Wildcats battled back within 22-20 by the end of the third quarter before Ostrum hit a short jumper early in the fourth to tie the game. She followed with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Williamsport a 25-22 lead.

“Bryson’s (3-point) basket was huge,” Murphy said.

The game still wasn’t over. The Lions battled back to tie it at 30 on a Kassie O’Hern layup following a Bryson Ostrum turnover.

“I had to put it behind me,” Ostrum said of the turnover. “I told myself I had to get back down the floor and play defense or get a rebound to help the team.”

Ultimately, she did both. The senior locked onto Jenna Liska, the Lions’ 6-foot post player, on Liberty's next possession. Liska missed her inside shots, allowing Ostrum to grab the rebound and get fouled with 7 seconds remaining.

“In that moment, I knew I had to take care of business,” Ostrum said. “I didn’t have any nerves. I knew I had to knock down the shots. It was all about everything. This team has come so far and we had gone too far to lose.”

Liberty had two chances in the final seconds to tie — one ending with a foul to put Mosley at the line — but couldn’t capitalize.

Smith led the Wildcats with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Ostrum finished with nine points and four rebounds. Kamryn Seltzer had nine rebounds.

Jessica Littlejohn and Kassie O’Hern topped Liberty, the eighth seed, with 11 points each.

Thursday

2A West Region II final

Williamsport 41, Middletown 30

Paige Smith and the No. 1-seeded Wildcats came alive in the second half, toppling the No. 2 Knights for the region title.

Williamsport (20-2) will host 2A West Region I champ Liberty (14-7) in the quarterfinals Saturday at 7 p.m.

Smith, a junior guard, scored 17 of her game-high 19 points over the final two quarters as the Wildcats quickly put their bad first half behind them.

Williamsport, which trailed 18-15 at halftime, opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run, fueled by nine points by Smith, to take control for good with a 26-18 advantage.

“The second half, we came out with more energy,” said Smith, who made a 3-pointer, two foul shots and a pair of layups in the decisive run. “I was hot the second half, and my whole team picked it up together.

“I was frustrated (in the first half), but I knew I had to stay relaxed and come back,” she added. “I did what I had to do for my team to get this win.”

It’s never easy to beat a team three times in a season, but that’s what the Wildcats accomplished against the Knights, who were ready for revenge.

“You have to give Middletown a lot of credit. They were ready to play,” Williamsport coach Kevin Murphy said. “We had beaten them twice, and they had a lot of energy. We told the kids before the game that we thought they’d probably have that energy. And Paige didn’t play very well in the first half, and we kind of go where she goes at times.

“Defense kept us in the first half, and it allowed us to make adjustments at halftime. And we came out really hard to start the second half. We always emphasize the first three minutes of the second half.”

Kamryn Seltzer added 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals for Williamsport, which continued to show its resolve.

“I’m just so happy for these kids,” Murphy said. “I’ve never had a team in all my years of coaching that had the adversity they dealt with. We lost two quality players this year, had a lot of injuries and had to deal with COVID, and we just kept fighting. A lot of teams would have chucked it in and folded, and these kids didn’t.”

Riley Nelson scored 11 points to lead Middletown.

Tuesday

2A West Region II semifinals

Williamsport 53, Glenelg 34

Williamsport found its secret formula for victories.

Spot remover.

“Our defense was a little spotty in the first half,” said Wildcats coach Kevin Murphy. “We had a lot of good energy in the second half.”

The defense was spotless in the second half — to go with a 27-point outing by Paige Smith — as the Wildcats locked down Glenelg.

Williamsport (19-2) will host Middletown on Thursday at 7 p.m., with a berth in the state quarterfinals on the line. The Wildcats won both regular-season meetings, 47-38 on the road on Jan. 13, and 53-42 at home on Feb. 8.

The Wildcats held the Gladiators to 16 points in the second half, including just one in the fourth quarter, to turn a 22-18 halftime advantage into a 19-point runaway.

“We mixed in some zone to mix things up,” Murphy said. “I thought (Glenelg) was starting to feel comfortable against our man.”

While the Wildcats were getting Glenelg's offense under control, Smith went on the attack, scoring 18 in the second half. The junior scored 13 of Williamsport’s 21 points in the third quarter, and the Wildcats had a 43-33 edge heading into the final eight minutes.

“Sometimes, Paige has a tendency to settle on shooting 3s,” Murphy said. “But we got her to attack the basket in the second half and that got her to the foul line.”

Smith added six rebounds, five assists and three steals. No other Wildcat scored more than six points. Emerson Shank had eight rebounds and Olivia Frye added six boards.

Lauren Laporte led Glenelg with 11 points.

1A West Region II semifinals

Brunswick 54, Clear Spring 49

The host and second-seeded Railroaders scored the final eight points of the game over the final 2:30 to prevail in another close battle against the third-seeded Blazers (10-13).

Brunswick won all three matchups against Clear Spring this season, but the last two were nail-biters — including a 43-41 decision, also at home, on Feb. 15.

The Railroaders led 20-11 early in the second quarter, but the Blazers rallied and took their first lead, 27-25, on a 3-pointer by Serenity Anderson with 5:38 left in the third quarter. In all, there were six lead changes and six ties in the second half.

“What a great high school basketball game and what a great atmosphere,” said Clear Spring coach Corey Alkire. “Give credit to Brunswick — 22 (Ryley Backer) took over late and then they made their free throws and we had to foul.”

Backer scored 12 of her team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter for the Railroaders, while Cassidy Rhodes added 16 points and Gabby Stefanic netted 12.

Rhodes made a pair of free throws with 1:04 left to give Brunswick a 50-49 lead. From that point on, the Blazers missed three shots (two of them layups) and two free throws, and committed two turnovers.

Sarah Greenlee led Clear Spring with a game-high 19 points and Alyssa Fisher added 16 points.

Catoctin 72, Boonsboro 41

The host and top-seeded Cougars defeated the fourth-seeded Warriors (6-15) for the third time this season.

3A West Region I semifinals

Frederick 62, North Hagerstown 45

The host and top-seeded Cadets defeated the Hubs (11-10) for the third time this season.

Gabby Grantham-Medley led North with 15 points and Jah'nasia Fitchett added 11.

Friday, Feb. 25

1A West Region II quarterfinals

Boonsboro 41, Smithsburg 24

Micah Stine scored 16 points and the fourth-seeded Warriors (6-14) built a 21-6 halftime lead at home and did not allow the fifth-seeded Leopards (0-20) to get within single digits in the second half.

Boonsboro will travel to face top-seeded Catoctin on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Stine scored 11 points in the first half. She made 7 of 10 free throws to go with three fields goals and Boonsboro's only 3-pointer. The Warriors scored 10 field goals and made 18 of 32 free throws.

Lily Proctor led Smithsburg with nine points and blocked several Boonsboro shots. The Leopards made 14 of 22 free throws but managed just five field goals.

Clear Spring 58, Hancock 18

Ten different players scored for the No. 3-seeded Blazers as they overwhelmed the No. 6 Panthers.

Clear Spring (11-11) took control early and built a 40-8 lead by halftime.

“We wanted to come out, get off to a good start and get everyone involved,” Blazers coach Corey Alkire said. “We share the ball really well, and we have all year. It’s good to get everyone involved and get up and down the floor.”

Bri Clever led Clear Spring with a game-high 14 points, while Alyssa Fisher scored 11 and Sarah Greenlee added eight.

Skylar Smith scored eight points to lead Hancock (0-16).

The Blazers will travel to play second-seeded Brunswick in the semifinals Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The Railroaders won both regular-season games against Clear Spring — 43-24 on Jan. 27 and 43-41 on Feb. 15.

“That’s a good challenge for us,” Alkire said of Brunswick. “They’re a good, half-court, solid, man-to-man, defensive team. It’ll come down to our execution. Can we execute and capitalize on those looks?”

3A West Region I quarterfinals

North Hagerstown 44, Thomas Johnson 32

The playoff opener was a lot of things for the Hubs. The one thing it wasn’t was pretty.

Fourth-seeded North (11-9) scrapped and battled with equally challenged fifth-seeded Thomas Johnson and used everything it had to pull away.

“It wasn’t the prettiest,” said Hubs coach Adam Carter. “We’ve been a fractioned team for most of the year. We’ve had games where we’ve had six players, one with five and another with seven. Other teams have had the same problems, but it was nice to get a full team into competition.”

North's leading scorer, Gabby Grantham-Medley, was held to a game-high 11 points thanks to the Patriots' double-teaming defense and an off night shooting. Second-leading scorer Jahnasia Fitchett left the game at the 5:16 mark of the second quarter with a knee injury.

North led 9-6 after the first quarter and 20-15 at the half, with Grantham-Medley only scoring two points in the first 16 minutes.

The Hubs led 31-24 after three quarters and used a 10-0 run to open the fourth period to salt the win away. Grantham-Medley scored six in the final quarter.

The Hubs will travel to top-seeded Frederick on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Linganore 65, South Hagerstown 30

The seventh-seeded Rebels (2-18) trailed 17-8 after the first quarter and 39-16 at halftime on the road at the second-seeded Lancers.

Aniya Stewart and Aaliyah Creary each scored 10 points to lead South.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Girls basketball playoff roundup: Williamsport into state semifinals