Plans for what she and her teammates would have to do next beat out panic and stress in South River junior Skylar Woodyard’s mind.
The Seahawks and Broadneck escalated to a fever pitch in the fourth quarter of the Anne Arundel County girls basketball championship game only to share ties or swap one-point leads through two overtimes.
Now, the Seahawks watched as sophomore Brianna Snowden took to the free-throw line on Arundel High’s court. South River led, 51-50. A second remained on the clock, suspended now in the Bruins’ favor. One made free throw would tie the game. A second would win it.
Woodyard tried not to think about that. Instead, she thought about the next step: box out. No fouls. Her coach, Mike Zivic, dressed and prepared to deploy Kiera West — one of several South River players in various stages of recovering from season-ending ACL tears. West, who was injured over the summer, was in no shape to thunder down the court. But no one had an arm for a long-range 3-point attempt, or a pass down the court, like she did.
But South River, at last, could let those battle plans — and backup battle plans — go. Snowden, making her first trip to the free-throw line this game, missed both. The clock started — one second. Bruins junior Summer Stroop flew in for the putback.
It rolled off the glass, and into Woodyard’s hands. She couldn’t wait to get rid of it at last, bouncing it free and rushing into the arms of all her teammates.
That 51-50 victory delivered South River its first girls county title since back-to-back triumphs in 2013 and 2014. The current assistant coaches — Megan Weaver, Chance Leonard, Savana Herndon — all played for those teams, and all joined their girls in celebration Saturday.
“It’s nice to be able to come full circle,” Zivic said, “to get this third one.”
For everything South River (22-2) endured, there couldn’t have been a greater symbol for its resilience than the two players who walked out together to receive the plaque: Ryleigh Adams, who tore her ACL in December, on crutches, and Maggie Grove, who helped anchor South River’s play all season.
Junior Raegan Ogle had been the first to tear her ACL last winter. Having only recently returned to play, the weight of the moment sat with her alongside the joy.
“Getting even at the end of the half, getting even at the end of the first overtime, winning by one — it just feels incredible,” Ogle said, “that all the work we put in this whole game, this whole season, led up to this moment.
“It feels like we did something really special today.”
To make it to one side of a fire walk only emboldens the Seahawks to keep fighting as region playoffs begin — and the knowledge that Severna Park, their lone county loss, could meet them in the region final.
There are lessons South River intends to take — missing 17 free throws, for one. Missing an untold number of easy layups, another. Defensive communication breakdowns that eased pathways for too-talented Broadneck shooters.
“We faced adversity. We came back. We won it. With that mindset, we know we can do this,” Ogle said, “that we can come back from 10 points down, 13 — and win the whole thing.”
Broadneck and South River’s styles mix like oil and water. Their first meeting dragged out in quarters in which one team didn’t score, or the other.
That was not a trend Broadneck intended to repeat. After the Bruins, led by Wharton, shook South River off for a 10-6 first quarter lead, Stroop christened the second quarter with a 3-pointer.
Which only seemed to madden Ogle more. The spitfire point guard volleyed two baskets in quick succession, narrowing Broadneck’s advantage to 13-11.
The Bruins flooded South River’s offense, fending off the inevitable tie as long as it could. But freshman Cami Burke allowed Broadneck to knock her down underneath the net, if it meant she could land the tying basket.
After, though, Broadneck swung the pendulum and held it — a 16-15 lead at halftime.
“We told ourselves we just have to run our plays, keep our minds mentally focused,” Ogle said, “and just focus on each other and what we’re all doing.”
It wasn’t easy.
Broadneck senior MacKenzie Wharton hit the court like a meteor to earth. Three straight 3-pointers gave Broadneck to a 25-17 lead and forced South River to an early second-half timeout. Her fourth welcomed them back.
Leila Bushee ripped one back in protest, just for a Broadneck senior Ginger Kerdock to neutralize it with her own. The Bruins couldn’t quite shake the Seahawks from their wake, leading 35-25 after three, but South River couldn’t gain enough ground, either.
Not all gains were made by points.
With six minutes to go, the Bruins’ defense ripped right open when Samantha Miller, a clutch shooter, too, suffered her fifth foul. In reply, Woodyard snapped the margin to 35-30 with a three.
Broadneck scrambled to reclaim its footing, but such a thing was hard to do when each Bruins ball-handler found herself tangled in traps.
“It’s hustle, giving it your all,” Woodyard said. “If we get every loose ball, then we get more possessions.”
For Broadneck, the gut-punches kept hitting. Ogle recovered three rebounds to cut the lead to four. Burke sunk two free throws on London Best’s fifth foul. The Bruins rolled back to try and respond. Instead, Burke picked them, then flipped the ball to Woodyard for the tying basket.
Wharton, Stroop, Kerdock and others worked to fill in the gaps. But without their full strength, Broadneck could no longer carry that edge. The best they could do was keep pace through two overtimes, until they couldn’t.
“We got lucky,” Zivic said. “That really hurt them. We were able to pressure more than we were with London in there, because London’s a great point guard. She’s able to get by us if we don’t take good angles. So, you know — that was a little luck.”
South River — 6-9-10-12-6-8 — 51
Broadneck — 10-6-19-2-6-7 — 50
SR: Woodyard 13, Hawkins 10, Ogle 8, Grove 7, Norton 6, Burke 5, Bushee 3
BN: Wharton 22, Stroop 10, Kerdock 8, Miller 5, Snowden 4, Best 1
