Despite losing leading scorer Harley McKee to a torn ACL and having to rely on the entire roster to pick up the slack and embrace bigger roles, South Carroll girls basketball coach Ryan Hutchinson still preached the same message to his team night in and night out.
Even with county-leading Francis Scott Key coming to town, the mindset and philosophy of the Cavaliers never waned: Play hard, scrappy defense and use that momentum to lead to production on the offensive end.
Hutchinson’s squad stayed strong and stayed consistent Thursday as the Cavaliers smothered the Eagles all night for the hard-fought 42-34 win.
“Huge win for us,” Hutchinson said. “The way we win games is with playing hard on defense and the girls did a fantastic job tonight.”
The win creates a logjam atop the county. South Carroll draws even with FSK at 4-1 in county play. Westminster is a half-game behind at 3-1.
A deadlocked, low-scoring opening quarter was the first sign the game was favoring the Cavaliers (6-4 overall) early. Hutchinson sent everyone he could at FSK guard Summer Brooks as she countered by looking inside early and often.
While Eagles forwards Caroline Kohr and Kensi Bancroft did make some shots, every possession inside was a battle as the physical play didn’t stop the undersized Cavaliers from fighting for every rebound and every loose ball.
“FSK is a tough team,” Hutchinson said. “Holding them to just 34 points, it was a great effort for us, gives us a ton of confidence moving forward.”
After a series of defensive stops, the Cavaliers were able to settle in offensively in the second quarter. With FSK (9-3) playing a zone defense and daring the Cavaliers to shoot, Leah Miller and Jenna Todd each hit multiple 3-pointers as South Carroll went on a scoring run that extended the lead to double digits at the half.
“I like when I can get a quick shot off [against the zone defense], it gets my momentum going.” Miller, who finished with a game-high 16 points, said. “If I can make one early on, everything falls into place for me.”
Needing to answer before the game got out of hand, the Eagles, who were playing their third game in four days, bounced back in the third quarter. With guard Abby Rieger out of the game with an ankle injury, the Eagles looked inside.
Using some of that signature FSK ball movement and finally starting to take the smarter, easier shots, Bancroft and Kohr went to work inside and kept the Eagles in the game. A key outside shot by Jayla Watson completed the comeback and ensured the fourth quarter would be a dogfight.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, a dogfight is just what the Cavaliers wanted.
“Our scrappiness sets us apart from other teams. That’s what leads us to wins.” Miller said. “We trust each other. We know we’re going to have help so we can take risks. Our defense leads to our offense.”
South Carroll turned up the heat once again as the two teams traded buckets, each looking to pull away. Kendell Curtin finished with just four points, but it was her tough defense that made the difference as Miller and Charlotte Harrington made enough baskets down the stretch to walk away with the win.
“We started to work together better and pass the ball a lot more at the end,” Curtin said. “In the end we got our team chemistry together and our shots were just falling.”
In a fitting end to the game, Curtin hit the ground diving for a loose ball after knocking it free from Watson, securing the fourth straight win for a Cavaliers team that is stacking victories and most importantly, building confidence.
“We had some work to do early in the season, but we trust our hard work and we’re all so close,” Miller said. “It’s all starting to fall into place.”
South Carroll 42, Francis Scott Key 34
SC- Leah Miller 16, Charlotte Harrington 9, Jenna Todd 9, Kendall Curtin 4, Caden Curtin 3, Cat Yankle 1
FSK- Caroline Kohr 14, Kensi Bancroft 7, Jayla Watson 7, Summer Brooks 4, Morgan Kenney 2
Have a news tip? Contact Timothy Dashiell at tdashiell@baltsun.com, and x.com/dashielltimothy.