By Jon Buzby
MaxPreps.com
The Old Mill girls basketball team brought a three-game losing streak into its game against Chesapeake High School last week and was determined to put an end to the brief midseason skid.
Senior guard Ciarra Lucas made sure the Patriots did, turning three steals into seven points in the third quarter to bring Old Mill marching back from a six-point deficit on its way to a 51-47 win over host Chesapeake.
Lucas added five rebounds and five steals to her game-high 22 points. Junior forward Jasmine Smith added 13 points and nine rebounds and senior guard Shante` Atkinson grabbed nine rebounds for Old Mill (10-4).
After jumping out to an 8-0 lead, Old Mill trailed much of the way, including by three points early in the fourth quarter before Lucas’ 3-pointer gave the Patriots the lead for good with two minutes remaining.
Senior forward Kara Catania had 15 points and seven rebounds and senior Taylor Petrisko chipped in with 11 points for Chesapeake (7-4).
More Girls Basketball: Pocomoke wins in overtime
Most coaches would much rather win in regulation than run the risk of losing in overtime.
Not Pocomoke coach Gail Gladding, who believed her team was much better than the one-point winners they would have been had Deyonna Parker hit either of her two foul shots she was awarded with one second remaining in the fourth quarter.
“When we came to the overtime, I said, 'I'm glad we got overtime, because we're better than one-point winners,'" Gladding told The Daily Times. "I said, 'Let's go out there and show them what we can do.'"
Pocomoke did just that, playing a stifling defense and scoring on most of its own chances on the offensive end of the floor to roll to a 54-45 victory.
Pocomoke’s Whitney King had a game-high 22 points to go with her 12 rebounds, while Parker finished with 16 points and five assists. Kiana Sturgis chipped in with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Taylor Siggers scored a team-high 17 points for Mardella while Ravin Sterling’s 10 all came in the fourth quarter and overtime.
With the win, Pocomoke’s record remains perfect (15-0, 9-0 Bayside South) while Mardela lost its second consecutive game to fall to 12-3 (10-2 Bayside South).
Boys Basketball: Spalding survives scare
St. John’s Catholic Prep stormed back to within four points late in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 17, but its comeback attempt fell short as the Vikings lost to Archbishop Spalding, 71-63, Friday night.
Spalding led 33-28 at the half, but a 16-4 run to open the third quarter – combined with a defensive effort that held the Vikings to zero field goals during that span – gave the Cavaliers what they thought would be a comfortable lead, 49-32.
But the young Vikings had other ideas. Grandy Glaze was the recipient of several inside passes that enabled the 6-foot-6 center to score 12 of his team-high 16 points during the comeback.
St. John’s also shut down high-scoring Troy King, who will play at the Naval Academy in the fall. King lit up the Cavaliers for 13 points in the first half but was limited to just two the rest of the way.
More Boys Basketball: Laurel edges Roosevelt
Romel Blackson drove past two defenders and nailed a buzzer-beating shot to snap Laurel’s two-game losing streak with a 53-51 win over Eleanor Roosevelt.
Both offenses struggled in the first half – scoring a combined 18 points in each quarter –and Roosevelt took a 23-15 lead into halftime.
The pace picked up quickly in the second half and Laurel outscored Roosevelt, 25-15, in the third quarter. Marcus Hebron sparked the run and finished with a game-high 17 points.
But Roosevelt opened the fourth quarter on fire. Leading scorer Lasan Kromah nailed three quick 3-pointers to put his team back ahead.
The teams exchanged several buckets and with 24.3 seconds left and the game tied, Laurel got the ball back, setting the stage for Blackson’s heroics.
Jon Buzby is the Maryland correspondent for MaxPreps.com.