by Robert Klemko

After suffering a heart-breaking semifinal elimination in the IAAM B Conference tournament, Chapelgate Christian girls' basketball team is back in championship contention following its 58-42 win over Grace Brethren Friday in the semifinal of the Maryland Christian Schools' Tournament at Anne Arundel Community College.

The win secured the Marriottsville school’s eighth straight appearance in the tourney finals after dropping last season's title game to Covenant Life School. Saturday, the Yellow Jackets will either Greater Grace or Elkton Christian in the finals at Washington Bible School in Lanham at 5 p.m.

"The girls have come so far in the last two months and that was game that we wanted badly," said Chapelgate coach Rick Kohr. "They wanted it today and proved it… they knew they needed to play that way to win."

Grace Brethren coach Jeff Perry, whose Eagles (22-6) beat Chapelgate by more than 30 points when they met in January, said his team lacked the intensity and desire he had seen all season.

"Chapelgate played a good game but this was not the team I had seen all season," Perry said. "We just didn’t match their intensity. We were sluggish and they took advantage of it."

Yellow Jackets senior forward Emily Wolven initiated the onslaught with a career quarter, knocking down four of five three point attempts in the first frame and giving her team an 18-4 lead they wouldn’t let go. Junior guard Julia Groves finished with a team-high 18 points.

"We were fired up, we knew we had to get a good start and we didn’t want to give them any confidence and when Emily came out and buried the threes… it was just huge," Kohr said. "She’s the heart and soul of this team and when she hits her shots we are tough to beat."

Chapelgate flirted with a double-digit lead for most of the contest and led by 20 at one point in the third quarter. The Yellow Jackets shot 21 of 50 from the field while Grace Brethren converted just 14 of 62 opportunities.

"It was awesome. Totally cool,: Wolven said. "We lost by 30 last time so we just focused on defense and tried to play as a team... we were ready to play."

Grace Brethren struggled to execute the full-court press that was instrumental in its Potomac Valley Athletic Conference championship victory over Covenant Life last weekend. PVAC tournament MVP Andrea Jones was the Eagles' lone bright spot with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s been a great season,” Perry said. “We met a lot of different goals and played a lot of tough teams so this is a sad way to go out.”

In a second quarter possession indicative of the Eagles' frustration, Chapelgate pulled down five offensive rebounds before senior center Anna Bryan finally scored the putback.

“They’ve spent a lot of hard work in practice and they are a hard-working group of girls,” Kohr said. “If anybody has more heart and desire I don’t know who it is. It’s been a total blast to be with them this year.”


Maryland Christian Schools Tournament semifinals
at Anne Arundel Community College
Chapelgate Christian 58, Grace Brethren 42
GB—Johnson 2, Bethel 2, Strange 3, Jones 19, Rawles 8, Banks 3, Parker 5. Totals 14 12-20 42.

C—Ahrens 4, Wolven 14, Lovaas 2, Marquina 2, C. Stull 6, Best 6, Groves 18, Bryan 6. Totals 21 12-20 58.

Half--Chapelgate 28, Grace Brethren 14.