As Middletown senior Connar Kelly walked to the free throw line with .6 seconds left in the 2A West Region Final between the Middletown High School girls basketball team and the Poolesville High School girls basketball team, with the Knights down by 2, nothing was going through her head. Not the raucous crowd, the crazy Poolesville student section, the small gym, the intense heat, the blown 12 point lead that Middletown had, or even the fact that the Knights had seemed offensively dumbstruck in the 2nd half. This time though it was just her, the ball, and the basket. “Usually, I hear stuff but in this case I didn’t hear a single word”, said Kelly. The Knights senior calmly sank two free throws which put the Knights into overtime in a game that the Knights would ultimately win in overtime by a score of 57-56. Not being a star on the team, Kelly has played a vital part helping to orchestrate the offense at point guard and provide calm to a team that for a good period of last year was lacking chemistry. As the game got closer to the buzzer things started getting crazy in the Falcon’s gymnasium. With 25 seconds left, Poolesville took the ball up the court and after two missed shots and two offensive rebounds for the Falcons, senior guard Lindsey Carnahan scooped up the ball and put up a short jumper that fell, putting the Falcons up 48-46 with 7 seconds left. Carnahan’s shot and the sounding of the shot clock sent a mass exodus of the Poolesville student section on the floor. In the resulting confusion, the clock ticked down to 3 seconds and the referees met at the scorer’s table and determined to set the clock to 6.2 seconds which gave Middletown a chance for one last possesion. According to National Federation of High School rules for basketball, if there is a group of people from the bench coming from the court then the team whose fans it is will be assessed a technical foul. The referees from Frederick County decided not to call it a technical foul though and Middletown had one last chance to take the ball up court. The plan was to get the ball to Middletown senior Caitlin McLister, who led the team with 16 points but McLister was covered. Kelly brought the ball up court, took a shot which missed, but then collected the rebound and was fouled by Carnahan. Kelly then would make her two free throws to send the game to overtime. In what started off to be a back and forth overtime period, the Knights got a huge boost from sophomore Carly Tolino who finished an offensive rebound off with a the point play, which put them up by two and gave them a lead which they would never relinquish. True to the script the #8 seed Knights have set this season, the Knights played a close first quarter with both teams making shots at will Middletown junior Jess Racz made two big three pointers for the Knights to start off the game and give the Knights an early 10-2 lead. But the #2 seed Falcons were poised for a comeback, with Poolesville senior Kelly Hughes leading the way with two three pointers to match the two that Racz had made just minutes earlier. While running the press, the Falcons were getting beat on fast breaks and were becoming tired.  A switch to zone late in the first allowed the Falcons to rest and focus more on the offensive aspect of their game, which put them up 13-12 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter everything clicked for the Knights; they went on a 10-2 run to start the second quarter like the first quarter. The Knights also had possession of the ball for a good chunk of the second quarter allowing them to be able to settle the play and break down the Poolesville zone which led to easy buckets. The Knights were also able to set up in their 3-2 zone which allowed them to play stronger defense on the outside perimeter and inside the paint, which frustrated the Falcons offense. After the second quarter, the Knights were out to a 27-18 lead after outscoring the Falcons 15-5 in the second quarter and it appeared they were on their way to a regional championship. The third quarter played out in the same style that the first two quarters had, with Middletown playing strong on both ends of the court even though there shots in the third quarter weren’t falling like they did to open the game. Poolesville seemed to be tired during the third quarter, committing sloppy fouls to slow the pace of the game down and allow them to catch their breath. The heat in the tiny Poolesville arena appeared to be getting to both teams towards the end of the game, although Middletown head coach Bill Miskell wouldn’t blame the heat for his teams shortcomings. “They’re in great condition”, said Miskell, “It was more a matter of playing every other day at the level we had played, we’ve played some monster games.” The Knights also out-rebounded the Falcons all throughout the game with Knights sophomore Carly Tolino and Knights senior Brittney George putting in extra work on the boards in place of Knights senior Tisa Mullins who only played a few minutes because of a nagging injury in her right shoulder. “She (Tolino) was just a beast, there,” said Miskell. “I think she had 15 or 16 rebounds…when she gets older she will be a candidate for Frederick County Player of the Year. With the offense and defense firing on all cylinders, it appeared that the Knights couldn’t lose as they 37-27 after the third, but things would change drastically in the fourth quarter. As the fourth quarter began, the Poolesville student section, decked out in red, white, and blue, channeled all their energy into the game and there was a sense that something was changing in the thick, sweat filled air of the Falcon’s gymnasium. In the fourth quarter, the Falcons dropped into a zone setting the Knights offense into a gridlock. This forced the Knights to commit unforced turnovers. Poolesville started to take catch fire and it appeared that the Knights, who were eight minutes away from a berth in the state semifinals, might have let their nerves get to them. Not helping the Knights was the improved play of the Falcons two biggest weapons, Rosie Barry and Hughes. The duo had gotten hot at the right time, with the two guards draining three pointers at will, leading to an 11-2 run for Poolesville. The Knights eventually fought their way to victory, and earned themselves a spot in the state semifinals at UMBC. They will take on Randallstown Friday a 3 p.m. Notes: Middletown senior Tisa Mullins was limited to three minutes in the 2A West Final, after injuring her arm in practice and re-aggravating it on a contested lay-up shot in the second quarter. All primary results appear to indicate that there is “significant ligament damage”. 2A Region Final Scores: 2A South- #1 Calvert 86, #2 Gwynn Park 62; 2A East- #1 Patterson Mill 64, #7 Queen Anne’s 28; 2A North- #1 Randallstown 60, #2 Chesapeake 50