Tuesday was Turner’s night against No. 18 C.H. Flowers at Wise High in Upper Marlboro. The freshman forward scored a game-high 29 points as the Coyotes downed the Jaguars, 55-46, to advance to the state championship game.
“She’s tough,” Coyotes Coach Sissy Natoli said. “The kids were trying to feed the hot hand, and that’s exactly what they needed to do. … And she just lit it up.”
In this weekend’s 4A final at the University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center, Clarksburg (22-3) will take on Bethesda-Chevy Chase (26-2), which knocked off North Point in the other semifinal Tuesday. The Barons and Coyotes will face off in a rematch of the Montgomery County championship from late February, when B-CC stormed back from a 17-point deficit to stun Clarksburg.
Turner’s confidence Tuesday was evident from the opening tip, when she scored her team’s first basket and quickly found her shooting rhythm. She scored 17 of the Coyotes’ 25 first-quarter points, using her smooth midrange jumper to make the Jaguars (21-3) pay from the wing.
Asked when she realized she had the hot hand, Turner said “It was after …” then paused to reflect, “probably like the first five points.”
By halftime, Turner had scored 24 points, and Clarksburg held a 24-point lead over the Jaguars, 41-17.
Even when the Coyotes wavered in the second half — Flowers held Clarksburg’s offense to five points in the third quarter — Turner stayed aggressive. She and her sister, junior London Turner, combined for all but two of their team’s second-half points as the Coyotes fended off a late surge.
River Hill falls in 3A semis
In the Class 3A girls’ semifinal played at Wise, River Hill fell to top-seeded Baltimore Polytechnic, 49-29. The loss ended an impressive season for the Hawks (21-3), who entered the game on an 11-game winning streak and proved to be one of the top teams in Howard County.
The Hawks kept within striking distance for most of the game — Poly (26-1) took a 32-25 edge into the fourth quarter — but the Engineers’ size and swarming defense proved to be too much. River Hill scored just four points in the fourth quarter.
“I’m very proud of my team,” Hawks Coach Teresa Waters said. “Today wasn’t what we wanted; we didn’t execute and some of that had to do with the fact that they defended really well.”
Oxon Hill can’t withstand surge
No. 19 Oxon Hill fell to Oakdale, 43-35, in the Class 3A girls’ semifinals at Montgomery Blair High, ending the Clippers’ season one game shy of the state final again.
The Clippers (22-5) took a 10-point lead into halftime, but Oakdale quickly erased Oxon Hill’s advantage early in the second half. The Bears scored 14 straight points in the third quarter and pulled away.