The Francis Scott Key girls basketball team prides itself on its defense. Friday night that commitment served the Eagles well.
In a rematch of last year’s Class 2A state quarterfinal, FSK turned on the pressure and sped up the Hereford offense, creating many missed shots and leading to a 48-39 victory over the visiting Bulls.
The Eagles were led by Summer Brooks’ 13 points, while Megan Hess and Ellis Reynolds led Hereford with seven points each.
“We’re trying to play fast and aggressive this year, and I think that showed early in the game,” Brooks said. “In the second half, they were making shots but our early start helped us. We adjusted to their pressure [in the second half] well.”
The game opened with FSK showing off its defense. The Eagles (5-1) built on some pressure defense and some Bulls turnovers to build a 7-0 lead. Hereford didn’t score until 1:54 was left in the first quarter, which ended with a 12-2 Francis Scott Key advantage.
Trailing 19-2 three minutes into the second quarter, Hereford gradually got used to the pace of the game. The Bulls began to claw their way back into the game, outscoring the Eagles 8-5 for the rest of the half but still went into the break trailing 24-10.
“Most of the games this season we’ve found a way to come out of the shoot firing,” FSK coach Mitchell Walther said. “When we start hitting shots it helps to get us into our defense, and when we starting doing that then good things tend to happen.”
Hereford (3-2) had its best quarter of the game in the third. The Bulls used 3-pointers by Reynolds and Hess early in the quarter to cut the lead down to 27-16, then a four-pointer when Reynolds was fouled on a successful outside shot. She made her free throw to cut the margin to 28-22 with 2:38 left in the third quarter.
Then it was Francis Scott Key’s turn.
The Eagles got 3-pointers by Jayla Watson and McKenna Lanza to close out the quarter with an 8-4 run and lead 36-26 after three.
Hereford battled back again, using a layup by Shea Kanning to cut the margin to eight at 44-36, but the Eagles made their foul shots down the stretch to put away the game.
“We didn’t come out and play well, and we dug ourselves a hole that we never got out of,” first-year Hereford coach Ray Burrows said. “We missed a lot of shots, and then it seems like they turned the defense up and we struggled. Defense is definitely our calling card, but we gave up too many points in the first half.”
Burrows said he can see a silver lining in the loss.
“I don’t think there’s ever any such thing as a good loss, but if there was then this would be it,” he said. “This is a learning experience for us today, and there’s a very good chance we’ll see them again in the Class 2A playoffs.”
Francis Scott Key 48, Hereford 39
HER 2 8 16 13 – 39
FSK 12 12 12 12 – 48
HER – Orner 6, Kanning 6, Viscuso 2, Hess 7, Reynolds 7, Stocks 2, Shehadeh 2, Ackerman 5, Martin 4.
FSK – Kohr 9, Brooks 13, Rieger 9, Watson 6, Kenney 1, Lanza 5, Bancroft 3, Stephens 2.
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