Arundel High School junior guard Ashley Davis (right) scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Wildcats to their sixth state championship appearance.
Arundel High School junior forward Simone Egwu (#50) hauls in one of her nine rebounds during the Wildcats' 67-29 win over Dulaney in the Class 4A state semifinals Thursday.
There is no shortage of height down low for the
Arundel High School girls basketball team. But based on the way Ashley Davis was shooting the ball, offensive rebounds weren't really needed.
The junior guard scorched Dulaney for a game-high 25 points and the Wildcats used a big second quarter to pull away in their 67-29 victory in the Class 4A state semifinals at UMBC's RAC Arena on Thursday.
Arundel (22-5) will meet three-time defending state champion Eleanor Roosevelt (23-2) -- a 40-29 winner over James H. Blake (22-4) -- in the state final Monday at 7 p.m. The Wildcats will be aiming for their fourth state title and first since the 2003-2004 season.
"Everyone knows to get the ball to the person with the hot hand," said Arundel junior forward Simone Egwu, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. "The thing about Ashley is that she's always hot. We love her and when she's on fire, we make sure to get it to her."
Davis shot 11-for-18 from the field and her 25 points tied a career high and set a season high.
She converted back-to-back 3-pointers during a 14-0 run Arundel used to close out the second quarter and open a 38-16 halftime lead. Davis scored 16 first-half points on 7-of-10 shooting.
Despite what the final stat sheet read after the game, Davis remained humble and kept the focus on the teammates around her.
"There's no 'I' in team and it's really all about playing together," she said.
The Wildcats were ahead by eight points to start the second and then out-scored the Lions 18-4 in the period.
In the rare incidents when Davis didn't convert, Arundel's potent frontcourt was there. Arundel finished with 29 second-chance points as sophomore forward Sherrone Vails (12 points, 15 rebounds), senior forward Danielle McFadden (two points, six rebounds) and Egwu owned the paint. The Wildcats also out-rebounded the Lions (19-4) by a 47-21 margin.
Dulaney senior forward Danielle Parker had her hands full on defense and was met by a wall of defenders every time she drove the lane.
"Their inside game was very good and they always had two or three girls under there," said Parker, who led the Lions with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. "Boxing out and really fighting for rebounds hasn't been something we've struggled with this year but it was just a matter of putting bodies on them. They were getting rebounds and putbacks and it was frustrating."
Said Dulaney coach Richard Welsh: "I thought we hung with them until the last minute of the first quarter when they hit a couple 3's on us and we sort of lost focus. It didn't break our backs but it gave them momentum."
Junior guard Rose Myers knocked down three 3-pointers for Dulaney and finished with nine points and three rebounds.
Arundel applied its patented full-court pressure, which caused 23 turnovers. Dedra Moore came off the bench and tallied three steals for the Wildcats.
Arundel started to cruise when Vails and Egwu combined for four consecutive free throws -- the pair's only attempts from the charity stripe in the game -- to open a 44-21 lead with 4:54 left in the third.
Wildcats coach Lee Rogers said his team is peaking at the right time and looking forward to Monday.
"The kids are young and they're having fun," said Rogers, whose team starts three juniors and two sophomores. "It's a great experience for them and no one can take this away from them. This team has a great mix. There's some young players out on the court and we have seniors making things happen, too."
Arundel 67, Dulaney 29
Class 4A state semifinals
Dulaney 12 4 8 5 -- 29
Arundel 20 18 15 14 -- 67D: Parker 5 3-9 13, Myers 3(3) 0-0 9, Trapp 1 0-0 2, Gladstone 2 0-0 4, Anderson 0 1-2 1.
TOTALS: 11(3) 4-13 29.
A: E. Jones 3(2) 1-4 9, Davis 11(3) 0-0 25, Vails 5 2-2 12, Egwu 4 2-2 10, Henderson 1 0-0 2, Moore 1 0-0 2, Kimbrue 0 1-2 1, McFadden 1 0-0 2.
TOTALS: 28(5) 6-10 67.
Half: Arundel, 38-16.