LARGO — Top-seed Allegany College of Maryland used some strong defense to build a 10-point lead in the first half but needed two clutch foul shots by sophomore center Shannon Washington with 10 seconds left to pull out a 51-50 victory over third-seed Baltimore City for the Trojans’ second straight Maryland JUCO Conference Tournament championship on Sunday afternoon at Prince George’s Community College.
The victory sends Allegany into the Region XX Division II Tournament with a 25-0 record that matches the school record for consecutive wins set by last year’s team. That tourney will be staged March 4-7 at Frederick Community College.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Melissa Ford scored a game-high 20 points and also pulled down eight rebounds. Washington finished with seven points and had a game-high 15 rebounds, including a big one at the buzzer that sealed the victory.
Alicia Sheppard also had seven points, while Tametri Gale and Lisa Byers had six each. Washington and Gale joined Ford on the All-Tournament Team.
Baltimore City (16-7) was led by All-Tournament Team selections Charda Lomax with 16 points and TaNika Jeffers with 14.
While he was obviously very happy with the win, Allegany’s low-keyed first year coach Garret Sherman would have preferred a winning margin like the 60-44 victory over Baltimore in their reuglar-season meeting.
“Baltimore played very well and this was a great win,” said Sherman. “In the first half, defensively, we played well and we were able to control the tempo. In the second half we relaxed big time on the boards and they weren’t able to get too many second shot opportunities. In the final 10 minutes we really played together as a team and gave ourselves the chance to win.”
Ford, a 5-foot-9 sophomore forward from Clinton, Md., showed why she is one of the nation’s leading scorers by hitting 9-of-15 shots from the floor and both of her foul shots.
“It was really intense and got scary at the end,” said the tournament MVP. “We played together as a team. We had the confidence that we could win and we pulled it out.”
Baltimore took it’s first lead since early in the game when Shavron Scott converted two foul shots to make it 41-40 with 7:19 left. There were then five lead changes and two ties before Washington’s two clutch foul shots and game-ending rebound.
With Allegany struggling to get the ball inside, Gale connected on a key three-pointer that had the Trojans up 48-47 with 4:50 left. Lomax then tied the game with a foul and put the Panthers ahead 50-48 with a driving lay-up with three minutes to play.
Jacqualyn Simon made it a one-point game (50-49) with one foul shot with 2:40 remaining. Baltimore then had its only turnover of the second half and neither team could get a shot to fall before Washington drew the foul on a short baseline shot with the 10 seconds on the clock. Jeffers then missed only on a jumper to give Baltimore City the win and Washington prevented a put-back with her rebound.
After Baltimore City scored first on a Jeffers lay-up Allegany took an early 6-4 lead with a pair of three-pointers by Byer. A Gale three made it 26-17 with four minutes left in the half and it was 28-18 after a Washington put-back at the 2:30 mark. A Jeffers bucket at the buzzer had the Panthers within eight at halftime.
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