High School Basketball: Century Captures Battle of Eldersburg

 stole a boys/girls basketball doubleheader from rival Tuesday night.

In the opening contest, the Knights boys' team ran away with an 83-44 victory, while in the nightcap Century took the girls' game 52-45. The Knights also swept the doubleheader early in January at Liberty.

In the boys' game, Century wasted little time in setting the tempo. Liberty’s Chad Barcikowski hit the first basket of the game, but Century scored the next 14 points on way to a 21-11 lead at the end of the first eight minutes of play.

Century hit eight three-pointers in the first half and led 50-24 at halftime. Century’s Evan Fritsche had 12 points in the first half and teammate Mitch Sleight added 10.

"We shot the ball well tonight. We moved the ball well I think we were seven for 14 from the three-point line in the first half, something like that," said Century coach George Wunder. 

"We just shot the ball really well. I think a lot of that was from our defense. I thought our defense was tremendous tonight. It started with Chris Tan, who created a lot of pressure for us on the point guard  and we were able to get some steals out in the open court."

Fritsche ended the game with 22 points followed by Chris Tan with 17, Sleight had 13, Michael Austin, Connor Thomas and Billy Dickman each had eight points while Deion Minor, Michael Ogle and Brad MasFee each had two points.

Barcikowski led the Lions with 13 and JC Farley also was in double figures with 11 points. Also scoring for the Lions was Shane Sweeney with six, Juwan Dorsey with four and Kyle Farson, Brandon Prechit, Colin Orf, Bobby Wise and Justin Murphy each had two points.

"You just have days like that. It was just one of those days," said Liberty coach Jay Seaborg. 

"We got to far behind and they are to good to come back on. Games like that, you just got to let them go. At the end of the day, it’s just a loss. A game like that there’s not going to be any real lessons from it. You just let it go and come out tomorrow and work hard and move ahead," he said. 

Century is 10-1 in the county and 15-2 overall. The Knights remain tied for first in the county with South Carroll, who defeated Manchester Valley 63-40 Tuesday evening.

The Lions are 2-9 in the county and 2-15 overall. The girls game saw Liberty score five points to start the fourth quarter to take a 38-35 lead. Century came back to tie on a three-pointer by Cassidy Jones. She scored again about a minute later to give Century the lead they would keep the rest of the game.

Jones had a big final period for the Knights as she scored all 12 of her points in the final eight minutes.

The Knights out scored the visitors 17-12 in the final eight minutes to take the win.

Century jumped out to a 11-5 lead after the first period, but Liberty came back to take a 25-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Jamie Clark also scored 12 points for Century, while Angela Flister had nine points, Alice Mercer tossed in seven, Brooke Snyder had six, Tess Nichols had four and Haley Bordner had two.

Kelly McCormick topped Liberty with 14 points, Haley Price had 11, Hailey Marlatt had nine, Kristen Cortese had six, Sarah Johnston had two and Elisabeth Wise added one.

"It was as tough as I thought it would be. It’s tough to beat people the second time around," said Century coach Joel Beard. "Marlatt and McCormick are very good players and the first half we got in foul trouble and we were able to overcome it in the second half," he said.

"I thought Cassidy Jones played real real well. I thought Brooke Snyder off the bench played well. Alice, her usual. I mean she is going to hustle and make some plays for us. I think they are a lot better now than they were earlier. I think Liberty improved and they will be a tough team to deal with." 

Century continues to lead the county with a 10-1 record and 16-1 overall. The Lions are 5-6 in the county and 6-11 overall.

is second in the county at 8-3 after winning 65-38 over Manchester Valley Tuesday.