Steve Luse
Cumberland Times-News
HAGERSTOWN — The top-seeded Allegany College of Maryland Trojans battled back from double-digit deficits to give themselves a chance to pull out the win at the end but came up short in a 66-63 loss to third-seeded Frederick Community College in the NJCAA Region XX Division I championship game Tuesday night at the Hagerstown ARCC.
The first region title in the history of the school sends Frederick to the District 3 Shootout that will be staged on Saturday and Sunday at Westchester Community College in Vahalla, N.Y. The Cougars will be facing Region XII representative Vincennes (Ind.). Host Region XV champion Monroe College of the Bronx will be playing nationally-ranked Harcum (Bryn Mayr, Pa.) of Region XIX in the semifinals.
Frederick upset second-seeded host Hagerstown, 73-70, on Saturday night and will be taking a 16-10 record to New York. Allegany rolled over Garrett College, 84-65, in a delayed game on Sunday and the Trojans close their campaign with an 18-8 record.
Most Valuable Player Alex Jackson and all-tournament selection Ramon Smith led Frederick with 17 points apiece. Louis Stevens had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Smith also hauled down nine rebounds as the Cougars beat the Trojans 33-27 on the boards.
Allegany was led by freshman Derrell Armstrong with 20 points and sophomore center Aaron Brackett closed his career with a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. They were both named to the all-tournament team. Marcel Chesson contributed 12 points before fouling out with seven minutes left.
Frederick turned in a strong defensive performance and cashed in on critical mistakes by the Trojans, while being very patient on offense. The Cougars hit on 22-of-38 field goal attempts (57.9 percent) and were 3-for-5 from three-point range.
Each team turned the ball over 15 times, but some Allegany giveaways led to easy Frederick buckets at some crucial times.
“Our players played hard against Hagerstown and played hard today,” said coach Dave Miller, who has been at the Frederick helm for 16 years. “I thought we did a great job on the boards and offensively we got the ball were we wanted. In the second half we got more shots to fall. It was a great win.”
For Allegany coach Mike Baker it was another case of some things that hurt the Trojans all season, citing some immaturity and the costly turnovers.
“Frederick played a good game and did what they had to do to beat us,” said Baker. “They out-scrapped us. We didn’t play as well as Frederick today. I’m happy for Dave Miller. He’s been in the business for a long time and he deserved this.”
Frederick got off to a fast start with a three-pointer by Smith and a drive by Q’Monte Matheny and was up 11-2 at the 17:45 mark after back-to-back treys by Alex Jackson and Smith. The biggest lead of the half was 17-6 at the 12:25 mark and the Cougars were up 21-11 with 9:58 on the clock.
The Trojans then picked it up on defense and scored the next 10 points to tie it at 21. Pat Kelly finally ended the Frederick drought with a layup at the 1:48 mark and the Cougars led 27-25 at halftime.
In the second half, Frederick pushed the lead back to nine points when a Smith layup off a turnover made it 50-41 with 11:08 left. The Cougars were still up nine (59-50) after a Matheny bucket with 5:35 on the clock.
The Trojans kept their hopes alive with an eight-point run that had them within one on a Dennis Bassich bucket at the 2:10 mark.
Alex Jackson put the margin back to three points, but Brackett responded with a rebound putback. The Cougars then missed four straight fouls and Jay Burke gave Allegany its first lead (62-61) with 45.2 seconds left.
Matheny, who scored 30 against Hagerstown, answered with a driving layup and completed the traditional three-point play with 20.2 seconds on the clock.
Allegany elected to hold for the last shot and Armstrong was fouled on a drive with 6.6 seconds left. The freshman guard made the first attempt but had the second spin out. Smith grabbed the rebound and converted the two foul shots. A desperation shot by Armstrong at the end was short.
Also named to the all-tournament team were Garrett’s Kory Gibson and Hagerstown’s Isiah Hill.
