As Middletown sophomore Carly Tolino put it, “We are winning tomorrow because we have not come this far to lose it after the last game.”
The Middletown High School Girls Basketball team had their focus squarely on their next opponent after Saturday’s 2A State Semifinal, a game that ended up being a trouncing as the Knights beat the Randallstown High School Girls Basketball team.
The Knights had reason to be optimistic after the game against the Rams, as they destroyed the Rams in almost every aspect of the game and were clearly a level above the caliber of the Rams.
The game started off close as both the Knights and Rams struggled to find an offensive stronghold in the first quarter, with the nerves of playing on a big stage like this seeming to get the best of both of the teams.
The Knights were also missing the presence of one of their biggest players in the first quarter as Middletown senior Caitlin McLister had just four points after one quarter and was struggling to make shots.
The Rams were struggling in the first quarter too with multiple turnovers committed by Randallstown sophomore Essence Stinett and Randallstown junior Mariah Byam giving them no offensive flow whatsoever. The shots were also not falling for the Rams as they were 0 for 2 on three pointers and were under 30% shooting from the field.
The Knights decided to go with a risky change in the second quarter switching from the un-traditional 3-2 zone defense they had used for most of the season to a man-to-man defense which was a more common staple of basketball teams in Middletown before this year.
“In the beginning we started out with our 3-2 defense and it was going ok,” said McLister “We might have been a little shaky at first because it was states and it was a crucial game…I really think that is soon as we switched up our defense it really helped a lot.”
The change to man-to-man defense paid off for the Knights as the Rams did not have an answer for the defense scoring only two points in the second quarter and going 1 for 8 shooting.
The payoff from man-to-man also helped open up the Knights offensive game as the Rams were double-covering McLister which left Middletown junior Jess Racz open all over the court.
Racz would make her open shots in the second quarter though and had 12 points at halftime, while shooting 5 of 10 on field goal attempts and 2-5 on three point attempts.
“My shot was on, today it was definitely on,” said Racz.
But the always self-less point guard knew she couldn’t have done it without the forwards getting the ball to her which allowed her to take the open looks quicker.
“I wouldn’t have gotten the ball without the bigs passing it out,” said Racz.
The Knights also fed off a crowd that was largely made up of Middletown fans and a student section that was as big as Middletown had seen all season.
All of these factors led to the Knights starting the second quarter out on a 10-0 run and never looking back, outscoring the Rams 12-2 in the second quarter, to go into the second half up 22-11.
Racz came out hot in the second quarter too, continuing to make big shots from inside and outside the arch, with 12 points at halftime.
The big question for the Knights coming in to this game was how they would do rebounding? With the injury to Middletown senior Tisa Mullins and Tolino lacking any state experience the rebounding was a question mark. Even though the Knights out rebounding the Rams by one, they knew they would need to do better in the second half.
The Knights came out strong to stay in the second half beating the Rams with speed using steals by McLister and Middletown senior Brittney George to kick-start the offense with easy fast-break points.
The Knights started off the third quarter with a 6-0 run and never looked back from there with Middletown senior Connar Kelley setting up the offense and McLister having her biggest quarter of the game. The Knights kept scoring through the third quarter racking up 25 points which was only seven points away from the record set by the Brooklyn Park High School Girls Basketball team in the 1990 state semifinal.
After three quarters the game was pretty much over with the Knights, who were up by 27, putting in some of their backups including sophomore Paige Bussard and juniors Megan Harne and Karlye Pick seeing significant playing time.
The fourth quarter was a much less tense quarter with most of the student section and the crowd pretty much out of the game.
The Knights would outscore the Rams 13-7 in the fourth quarter making the final score 60-27, which had been one of the biggest blowouts in recent state history.
The Knights played especially well in the second half shooting 13-22 or 59% in the second half while going 4-13 from three point range.
The Knights dominated the Rams in the paint with help from Mullins, George, and Tolino outscoring the Knights 26-14.
The Knights are confident heading into the 2A State Final, a re-match of the 2011 state final against the Calvert High School Girls Basketball team, who are the winners of the previous two 2A Girls Basketball State Championships.
These two teams, met in 2011 at the 2A State Championship, in a game that saw the Kessler twins shut down offensively and Kyler Redmond lead the Knights with 12 points, in a 46-37 loss.
