CUMBERLAND — With Allegany returning most of the players from a team that advanced to the Maryland Class 1A State finals in 2008, an 0-2 start for the Campers was the last thing on the minds of any of their followers.

Wound up it was the furthermost thing from the minds of Coach Jim O’Neal Jr. and his band of ballers as the Campers would go on to win 22 straight games and advance all the way to the state semifinals before being eliminated.

A 22-3 overall record and 13-1 mark as Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference champions helped Allegany to a unanimous selection as the Times-News Area girls basketball champion. The award is determined through voting done by four reporters in the Times-News sports department.

It also gives Allegany a sweep of the basketball titles after Tedd Eirich’s boys were named area champs. The only other schools to sweep area basketball titles in the same year were Petersburg in1998 and Southern in 2002.

The 0-2 start sent O’Neal to the same place he would have gone had the Campers started 2-0 — the video tapes.

“After losing the first two games we reviewed our game tapes and stats, and found two glaring weaknesses: rebounding and turnovers. These areas were addressed over the next few practices and became a focus on a game-to-game basis.”

The strategy paid off, sending Allegany on a long winning streak during which the closest anybody came to beating the Campers was a 60-51 game against Mountain Ridge on Feb. 9. The other end of the spectrum had Allegany beating Broadfording 96-4 in the first round of the Williamsport Christmas Tournament. A 57-31 win over Hedgesville the following day wrapped up the tournament title.

Winning by such large margins can sometimes lead to complacency in effort from a team and a lack of focus, but O’Neal noticed no such thing from his players.

“Focus was never a problem for us. We don’t set long-term goals at the beginning of the season. The only goal we have is to win the next game. We prepared for every game equally, with no one game being more important than the next. The team really bought into that philosophy, and it has allowed us to be one of the most consistent teams in the area.”

The Campers entered the season with the expectations that are carried by making the state championship game during the previous season. Allegany fell to Pocomoke 66-53 in the 2008 title game, and finished that season with a 24-3 record.

“I felt confident we could repeat our success after our offseason program,” said O’Neal. “We had nearly 100 percent of our varsity kids participate in all of our activities. When you combined that kind of work ethic with the talent we had returning I knew we would be successful.”

O’Neal was the assistant coach to Scott Bauer for 10 years, helping the team win the school’s only state title in girls basketball in 2000, and a share of the Area title with a trip to the finals in 1999. It wasn’t until last year that, though, that the Campers could claim an outright Area championship.

“The 1999 and 2000 teams had three of the best players in school history in Tracy Little, Teandra Smith and the best player and leader I have ever seen, Cassie Murray. If you look at the school records their names are all over, including the top three scorers in school history.”

O’Neal sees the similarities and the differences between the two teams as strengths.

“The teams I have coached the past two seasons were more balanced from top to bottom, and had a lot of kids contribute in different areas. One of the things both teams had in common was the ability to play great defense every game, which ultimately allowed them both to be successful.”

The four sportswriters voted each week, with a first-place vote worth five points and a fifth-place vote worth one point.

The final poll had the Campers with all four first-place votes and 20 points, followed by Southern in second. The Rams finished with a 17-7 record and a total of 14.5 points. Northern, at 20-4, was third with 13.5 points, while East Hardy (19-7) and Frankfort (15-9) finished tied for fourth with six points each.

“I have been coaching girls basketball for 13 years, and the past two seasons the area has been at its most competitive,” stated O’Neal. “Winning back-to-back are titles in that time is a great accomplishment for our program. Hopefully our kids will be able to look back and appreciate the championships they achieved together.”

Chris Appel is a sportswriter for the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Chris Appel at cappel@times-news.com.



TIMES-NEWS GIRLS BASKETBALL POLL



(with first-place votes and records in parentheses, ratings points and final regular-season ranking)

Pts. LW

1. Allegany (4) (22-3) 20 1

2. Southern (17-7) 14 1/2 2

3. Northern (20-4) 13 1/2 3

t4. East Hardy (19-7) 6 4

t4. Frankfort (15-9) 6 5