Bruin Girls Fall In Double OT In Basketball County Championships

With seven minutes left in Saturday’s Anne Arundel County Public Schools county championship girls basketball game, Broadneck was sitting pretty. The Bruins led by 10 and had seemingly figured out South River’s frantic, chaotic-as-possible defensive game plan.

Then the fouls piled up, and everything unraveled.

Broadneck’s two key ballhandlers and two of the three most dynamic players on the team fouled out in the fourth quarter and South River quickly erased the deficit, ultimately prevailing 51-50 in double overtime to win the county championship at Arundel High School.

Mackenzie Wharton, having scored 37 in her last appearance at Arundel High, hit five 3-pointers and netted 22 to lead all scorers for the Bruins. Her biggest impact came in the third quarter, when she hit 3-pointers on four successive trips down the court as Broadneck pushed out to a 14-point lead.

But a few minutes later, South River redoubled its effort and ramped up the defensive pressure. That’s when things got away from the Bruins.

Team stalwart Samantha Miller picked up her fourth foul early in the fourth and then immediately got tagged for her fifth on a disputed call. Shortly later, primary ballhandler London Best was hit with her fifth foul.

“We knew they were going to try to make things chaotic, and just had some things not go our way,” said Broadneck coach Juan McKinney. “Just need to keep it clean next time with foul trouble.”

With Best and Miller both fouling out, and Wharton similarly battling foul trouble, the load fell on role players Summer Stroop and Brianna Snowden, both of whom had key plays to put Broadneck in position to win at the end of regulation and both overtime periods. Unfortunately, the Bruins missed three free throws in the final seconds of each overtime period and two buzzer-beater attempts, any of which would have swung the game in their favor.

Stroop finished with 10 points, while Snowden added four and had two key steals.

“I’m just proud of them. The girls never gave up, even though so much didn’t go our way,” McKinney said.

Broadneck is back in action on Friday to open 4A East Region II tournament play, where the Bruins have a home semifinal date against either North Point or Suitland.

South River 51, Broadneck 50, 2 OT

Broadneck  10   6    19   2    6    7    --50

South River     6    9    10   12   6    8    --51

BROADNECK (50)

Best 0 1-2 1, Kerdock 4 0-2 8, Wharton 5 7-9 22, Gross 0 0-2 0, Stroop 2 4-6 10, Snowden 2 0-2 4, Miller 2 0-0 5. Totals 15 12-23 50.

SOUTH RIVER (51)

Woodyard 5 1-4 12, Grover 3 1-2 7, Hawkins 4 2-7 10, Boshee 1 0-0 3, Norton 3 0-1 6, Ogle 4 0-4 8, Burke 1 3-6 5. Totals 21 7-24 51.

3-point goals: Broadneck 8 (Wharton 5, Stroop 2, Miller); South River 2 (Woodyard, Boshee). Total fouls: Broadneck 24, South River 20. Fouled out: Best, Miller; Hawkins.