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Jessica Lyons gets a wild shot to drop during the second half of Largo's 3A South championshp win over Great Mills on Saturday. Lyons led all scorers with 34 points.
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By Andy States
Digital Sports Content Manager

When Largo last won the 3A girls basketball championship, the team's current group of seniors were just sophomores in high school. On Saturday in the 3A South championship game at Wise, the Lions looked to a sophomore to pave the way back to the state semifinals.

Five-foot sophomore guard Jessica Lyons scored 34 points to lead all scorers and help the top-seeded Lions to a 69-59 win over the third-seeded Great Mills Hornets. Largo advances to play unbeaten Fallston, the 3A East champion, Thursday night at 7 p.m. at UMBC.

"She's a five-foot sophomore but whe plays like she's seven-foot," Largo coach Ayana Ball Ward said of Lyons. "She's a silent leader. She doesn't say much, but once she gets going everybody else jumps on the bandwagon."

For a quarter on Saturday, a return to the state stage did not appear likely for Largo (23-3). Great Mills (19-6), the defending regional champ and regional finalists the past three seasons, had its way in the first period and opened up a 16-9 lead by quarter's end.

"What changed in the second quarter is I think they realized that their season was about to end," Ball-Ward said. "I told them, 'You can't play scared.'"

Largo's full-court pressure defense created turnover after turnover, and the Lions turned the first-quarter deficit into a 26-23 halftime lead. Lyons scored 10 points in the second period to lead the charge and change the complexion of the game.

"We had a slow start," Lyons said, "but we got it together."

But Great Mills came out swinging in the second half. The Hornets opened the third quarter on a 10-6 run and took a 33-32 on Shawnese Taylor's bucket before a Largo timeout with 3 minuutes 9 seconds remaining in the period. But Largo outscored Great Mills 14-8 from that point to reassert itself and surge back in front by six points by period's end. Lyons and Cierra Johnson each scored seven points during the stretch.

In the fourth quarter, Brittany Taylor joined the act, scoring all of her 12 points in the final period to help the Lions hold off the final Great Mills charge.

"Great Mills has a great team," Ball-Ward said. "I knew it was going to be tough coming in. They have physical guards and a great post. We had to be more physical than they were. Once we got the physical part down the game fell into place."

Shawnese Taylor, one of five seniors on the Great Mills roster, scored 10 points in the fourth to lead the rally efforrt. 

"I don't know if there's just one answer," Great Mills coach Brian Weisner said of what transpired after the first quarter. "You have to hand it to Largo. They played their style of game, got up and pressured."

Taylor finished with a team-high 25 points on the game, while Corleda Naylor scored 17 and Shamara Adams eight. All three were part of a group of five seniors that have led the program to a run of three straight regional-final appearances and a pair of SMAC champinonships during the same span.

"It's not easy to put into words what they've meant to this program and to the coaches and myself, and the school in general," Weisner said. "They're just a great group of kids. You're said to see their career end today."

Largo 69, Great Mills 59
G    16    7    17    19
L    9    17    20    23
Great Mills: Taylor 25, Nayor 17, Adams 8, T. Baker 3, Butler 3, Bradburn 2, Fenwick 1
Largo: Lyons 34, Taylor 12, Johnson 11, Johnson 4, Holland 4, Eugene 3, Stern 1

astates@digitalsports.com