Falcon Girls Cruise To Region Semifinal Win

Stephen Decatur digested the scouting report well: to have a chance against Severna Park, the Seahawks would have to prevent Falcons forward Ryn Feemster from dominating the paint, and they’d have to solve the stout Falcons defense.

They held Feemster mostly in check. They couldn’t figure out Severna Park’s defense. They certainly didn’t legislate for the Falcons going nuts from long range.

Severna Park buried seven 3-pointers and the Falcon defense forced more turnovers than they allowed points through three quarters, cruising to a 56-23 win in the 3A East Region I semifinals.

Sally Trent led all scorers with 12 points to pace the Falcons, who held Decatur to eight first-half points. The tone started early, with Severna Park forcing six turnovers on Decatur’s first seven possessions — the other was a single missed shot.

“We figured they were going to try to stop Ryn, and they were in a 2-3 zone which makes it easier for us to take outside shots,” said Severna Park guard Charley Coward, who hit three of the team’s 3-pointers and finished with 11 points, matching Feemster. “Once we got some shots, we were able to move the ball around and get to the basket. That’s a great thing for us to have both parts of the offense going.”

Once one got going, the others followed suit. Trent found her range first, then Coward. Then Maria Bragg and Gabby Rosati got into the mix as well.

“It just feels like it clicked. We felt like our game was on, and it was tonight,” said Trent. “It’s nice to see all of our hard work come together in one playoff game to make a statement.”

Trent punctuated one third-quarter scoring burst by flipping the ball toward the basket mid-spin, facing away from the hoop. It went in, prompting a “how?!” reaction from Bragg, who had made the entry past.

Severna Park (21-2) advances to the region final on Wednesday at South River, in a rematch of a regular-season tussle won by the Falcons. That’s South River’s only in-state loss to date on the season, but this one will come with the season on the line for both teams.

“That doesn’t matter now,” Trent said. “We came together as a team and were able to work together, buying into our defense, sharing the ball, all the little things to beat them. Now we need to do it again.”

Severna Park 56, Stephen Decatur 23

Decatur    4    4    5    10   --23

Severna Park    19   16   14   7    --56

DECATUR (23)

Swift 0 2-4 2, J. Tyre 2 2-6 6, Wise 0 1-2 1, P. Tyre 1 0-0 3, Purnell 0 1-2 1, Manuel 3 2-4 10. Totals 6 8-18 23.

SEVERNA PARK (56)

Hussey 3 0-4 6, Bragg 1 0-0 3, Sullivan 2 2-6 6, Coward 4 0-0 11, Rosati 2 0-0 5, Cover 1 0-0 2, Feemster 5 1-6 11, Trent 4 2-2 12. Totals 22 5-18 56.

3-point goals: Decatur 3 (Manuel 2, P. Tyre); Severna Park 7 (Coward 3, Trent 2, Bragg, Rosati). Total fouls: Decatur 12, Severna Park 14. Fouled out: none.