PHOTOS: Eagles Playoff Run Comes to an End Against Century

As hot of a streak Owings Mills was on heading into their Class 2A semifinal matchup, the fact remained that their opponent, Century, had won nearly twice as many games over the course of the season.

When the two teams met Friday afternoon, the disparity clearly showed.

Using a frustrating full court press and its distinct size advantage on the inside, Century pulled away early, handily defeating the Eagles 47-20 at UMBC’s RAC Arena.

Owings Mills (13-12) committed 27 turnovers and shot just 8 of 37 (22 percent) from the field.

“To Century’s credit, they came out with a great game plan,” Eagles head coach Donchez Graham said. “They are a really sound defensive team and they got after us. They got some layups and some timely shooting and got out to that early advantage.”

Although they trailed by only six points coming out of the first quarter, the Eagles quickly saw the game get away from them in frame number two.

With senior forward Danielle McIntosh relegated to the bench after picking up two early fouls, the Knights (25-2) continued to exploit their size on the interior, outscoring the Eagles 15-4 in the second quarter to pull ahead by 17 at the half.

Owings Mills’ only lead of the game came when sophomore Briana Bull (team-high seven points, five boards) sank a three pointer from the wing to go ahead 3-2 a minute into the first quarter.

However, Century responded by reeling off 10 unanswered points before freshman Jordan Gaer drilled a jumper from the baseline to end the run.  

“Being on a big stage, I thought the first few minutes were going to be really important,” said Graham, when asked if nerves were an early factor for his team.

“I wanted us to come out and make a statement and kind of take the game to them. And, had that happened, it might have been different because jitters are different at that point.”

Instead it was the Knights who asserted themselves from the get-go, maintaining a commanding lead behind a game-high 11 points from senior Alice Mercer and another ten from junior Jamie Clarke.

Despite their better record going in, Century players said they ignored the numbers and took it to the Eagles just like they would any other team.

“I definitely think that we weren’t really focused on their record as much as we were focused on other things,” Knights forward Haley Bordner said. “I think one thing that’s always been kind of our thing throughout the entire year is that we’re not really focused on who we’re playing.  We’re focused more on what we have to do to get the job done.”   

Even with the loss, Graham and the Eagles didn’t waste any time reflecting on what was a historic year for the program. They also looked ahead to their 2012-2013 campaign.

“I’d like to really thank my young ladies,” Graham said. “They gave me max effort. They were fantastic the entire year and they got better with each and every day. They did an outstanding job. I cannot be more proud of them.”

Added Bull, “I hope that next year we bring it even harder and get past this little bump that knocked us back down.”

BOX SCORE

Century 47, Owings Mills 20

OM – 6 4 6 4 ---- 20

C – 12 15 12 8 ---- 47

OM – Bull 7, McIntosh 5, Parker 3, Gaer 2, Huttenberger 2, Forbes.

C – Mercer 11, Clark 10, Jones 8, Flister 5, Bordner 4, Dixon 4, Nichols 3, Patten 2.

Half: 27-10, Century.