Montgomery Girls Fall To Prince George's in All-Star Game

The result wasn’t the one they had hoped for, but the experience was enjoyable, nonetheless.

The Montgomery County All-Stars led entering the final quarter but ultimately fell to the Prince George’s County All-Stars, 66-64, in the VoliSports/FiOS 1 All Star Game at Wise High School in Upper Marlboro on Sunday.

“It was fun,” said Wootton center Gabby Flinchum, who scored a game-high 14 points. “It was kind of weird, because it’s like, you’ve played against people for four years and now you’re on the same team as them. It was kind of weird, but it was fun.”

Also scoring in double figures for the Montgomery County squad were Watkins Mill guard Jasmine McCoy (13), Bethesda-Chevy Chase guard Andrea Johnson (12) and Magruder guard Amanda Whitmer (11), who hit three 3-pointers.

Sunday’s game was the third edition of the VoliSports/FiOS 1 game, but the first time that the event featured the Prince George's vs. Montgomery County format.

“I know personally on our team, we never play people from PG County,” Flinchum said, “so it’s nice to see what they have compared to what we have.”

Montgomery County jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start the game, but Prince George's rallied back to go ahead 13-12 after one quarter.

Flinchum opened the second quarter with a bucket to give Montgomery a lead, but Prince George's quickly regained it and went on to take a 27-24 lead at the break.

Montgomery came out of the locker room clicking offensively, as its 27 third-quarter points were more than it had in the first half combined. They took a 51-46 lead into the final frame but couldn’t hold on.

Prince George's retook the lead on a lay-in by Surrattsville guard Rashawnda Carter with 4:49 remaining. They increased their advantage to as many as five points, but Montgomery fought back to tie the game at 64-64 on a Flinchum bucket with 1:35 to go in the game.

Those were the last points Montgomery would score, though, and Largo guard Jessica Lyons made two free throws to put Prince George's ahead for good with 1:19 to go.

Even in defeat, though, there were smiles all around for the Montgomery County squad.

“The experience was about the girls being honored for their hard work throughout their season,” said Montgomery coach Ivan Hicks of Watkins Mill. “To coach a bunch of girls who worked hard in the classroom and on the court is an honor for me. I thank them for allowing me to share in their experience, because again, it’s about the girls. We had two days of practice, we told jokes, we practiced and we had fun. I had a great week with these all stars of Montgomery County.”