South Carroll Boys Win County, Girls Title Still Undecided

The South Carroll boys claimed the county title with a win over Liberty Friday night, while the Lions knocked off the Cavaliers girls to tie for the top spot in the county.

The Liberty girls took a 69-49 victory over the visiting Cavaliers. The win puts both teams at 12-1 in the county with one game each to play. South Carroll is 16-3 overall and Liberty improves to 14-2.

The South Carroll boys topped the Lions 65-40 to win the county crown outright.

The girls game started like the teams were going to match baskets all night, as the first quarter ended tied at 11. South Carroll scored the first basket of the second quarter, but the rest of the quarter belonged to Liberty.

"I don’t know where to start. They just wanted this," said Liberty coach Jessica Morgan. "They didn’t want South Carroll to have this and someone asked me, when was the last time we beat South Carroll and I don’t know. So that kind of the attitude we went out with We come out so tight usually, so just ease up and come out and play Liberty basketball." 

The Lions defense harassed the Cavaliers for steals which turned in to lay-ups and outscored South Carroll 23 to 9 in the quarter. The Lions led at the half 34-20.

South Carroll came out in the three quarter and scored a quick eight points to cut the lead to six points. The Lions then took control and South Carroll never got that close again.

"I think there were a lot of things that were the difference tonight," said Cavalier coach Liz Padgett. "We got beat in the paint a little bit, they ran us a little bit, there were a lot of factors. They came ready to play. I give them a lot of credit. They knew what to do. They knew were to get us." 

The McCormick sisters led the Lions to victory as Kelly threw in 21 points and Maggie had 19. Hailey Marlatt added 13 and Lexi Cross had nine and Beka Coughlin had seven.

Katie Mathias was the only Cavalier in double figures with 15. Teammates Maggie Payne and Erin Slifer had eight each while Erin Quinn had six, Kimmie DeLonge had five and Stacie Maring added two.

"The season’s not over. You always keep playing no matter what," said Padgett.

Both girls teams hit the hardwood again Monday, as South Carroll hosts North Carroll and Liberty travels to Westminster in the final county contests for each.

"I think they are ready. The intensity and emotions are ready. We are ready for Westminster. We have a tough end of the season," said Morgan.

In the boys contest, South Carroll jumped out to a 15-3 lead to start the game. Liberty came back with 2:49 left in the quarter to score nine points and pull within three points, 15-12.

"We always expect a game from them," said Cavalier coach Doug Goff. "I have been coaching varsity for five years and this is only the second time we beat them over here, so you might win at home a little easier, but you come on the road especially a county rival like this. They are always scrappy teams, so we had to prepare for a battle."

When the second quarter opened, South Carroll put the game away with a 13-0 run. When the teams went to the locker rooms at halftime, the visitors were up 36-17.

South Carroll wrapped up the county title with the win and improved to 13-1 in the county and 19-1 overall. Liberty falls to 2-11 in the county and 4-15 overall.

"They are rebuilding right now and have a hard time finding what they want to do offensively. They had some guys hit some shots. They hit some three-pointers which kept them in it earlier," said Goff.

The Cavaliers were led by Ryan McTavish with 27 points. His brother Gavin finished with nine, while Dan Mullen and Ryan Tate had eight each, Jeff Martin had five, Eric Hunsberger and Ryan MacIvor had three each and Paul Henderson added two.

"They are a good defensive team. We know we had to handle their pressure and we did in spurts," said Liberty coach Steve Johnson. "They turned us over a few times and took advantage of it. This was a great team we played tonight. I thought my guys played really hard tonight. The same thing that has haunted us all season long is that we just don’t have a true scorer. When they took Steve away from the inside, we just struggled with that. I am happy with my guys effort tonight."

The Lions were led by Collin Orf with 11 points, Steve Seeley had nine, James Fencil and Kyle Farson had eight each and Greg Pickett and Eric Winn had two points each.