Alexis Smith scored 14 points to lead Calvert (25-2), while Rachel Loube added 13 and Tiara Lester 11. Calvert won every quarter in the contest with Middletown (21-6), and held on to earn the first girls basketball state championship for a SMAC school since Great Mills in 1990.

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Never mind the fact that none of the current Cavaliers had ever played in a state semifinal before, or that Digital Harbor was making its fourth straight appearance in the state tournament, or that not a single senior exists on Calvert’s roster.

None of that mattered once the ball was tipped, as Calvert settled in quickly and took the lead for good early in the opening quarter when an Alexis Smith bucket put the Cavaliers up 4-3. From that point on, Calvert showcased its transition game and raced to a 66-35 win. The Cavaliers advanced to play Middletown in Saturday’s 2A championship game, set for 1 p.m. at RAC Arena.

“We’re very fortunate. We beat a good ball team in Digital Harbor,” Calvert coach Frank Moore said. “We looked at them two or three times and they’re athletic.

“They get the ball out and they fly. They’re fast. We got hurt a couple times where they got the rebound and just threw it all the way to the basket.”

But for the bulk of Friday afternoon’s contest, it was Calvert (24-2) doing most of the flying. The Cavaliers’ pressure defense gave Digital Harbor (16-8) fits throughout the contest, creating one transition opportunity after another. Smith scored 10 first-quarter points to help the Cavaliers to a 16-6 lead by the opening period’s close.

“We feel that the pressure’s on them,” said Calvert point guard Rachel Loube of the team’s mindset coming in. “We’re the underdogs. We’ve never been here before. That takes pressure off of us. It was important to come out, show them who we are, get a good lead and feel comfortable.”

Calvert extended its lead throughout and were never threatened. Smith finished with a game-high 21 points, while Loube scored 18 and Tiara Lester 11.

A’Lexus Harrison led Digital Harbor with 15 points. The Rams, state champions in 2009, had their season end in the semifinals for the third time in the last four seasons.

“Calvert really executed their game plan,” Digital Harbor coach Patrick McDonald said. “They played very well as a team. We wanted to take away their fast break. We knew that they scored a lot of buckets off of that. They, tonight, were the team that executed the best.”

Four different Cavaliers – juniors Loube and Lester and sophomores Smith and Jasmine Weems – averaged double-digits in points during the season, making the task of shutting them down arduous for any opponent. And even without a senior on the roster, Calvert does not lack for experience, or experience playing together as a unit.

“I’ve always been a firm believer that you win championships with seniors, but we don’t have any,” Moore said. “What we have is Rachel and T [Lester] have started for me for three years, and Jasmine and Alexis for two, so they’re our seniors. That’s how we have to look at it.

“The biggest thing is nowadays, girls or anybody are playing all summer long. They’re playing year-round. Years ago this environment might get you tight or tense, but these kids are playing 60, 70 ball games and they’re going all over. I’m sure they were nervous at the beginning, but as the game wore on they got into the floor.”

The win earned Calvert not only the program’s first state final appearance, but also the first state final appearance for any Calvert County girls basketball program and offers the team the opportunity to win the first basketball state championship for any program – boys or girls – in the county’s history.

“We’re awful proud,” Moore said. “We came up for one reason. Of course, we’re glad to be here. It’s a good thing for our county.

“We didn’t come up here to lose. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but we’ve been talking all year, we want to be the first team in our county’s history to win a state championship.”

E-mail Andy States at astates@smacsportsnet.com.

Calvert 66, Digital Harbor 35
D     6     10     11     8
C     16     16     17     17
D: Harrison 15, Floyd 10, Parks 7, Scarborough 3
C: Smith 21, Loube 18, Lester 11, Weems 9, Thomas 4, Collins 2, Butler 1



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The rest of the game was another story.

Following a Largo time-out with 3 minutes 12 seconds remaining in the first quarter — with Westlake in front 12-9 — Largo outscored the host Wolverines 41-9 over the rest of the first half to essentially put the game away. The second-seeded Lions went on to repeat as 3A South champs with an 81-54 win over the top-seeded Wolverines.

Largo (22-3) has won the region three of the past four seasons, and won the 3A championship in 2007. Westlake (21-3) reached the state semifinals four times in five seasons between 2001 and 2005, but was unable to to do much with Largo, particularly in the second quarter of the regional final.

Brittany Nelson scored 22 points, while Jessical Lyons scored 20 and Cierra Johnson 16 to pace a potent Largo attack. The Lions knocked down nine three-pointers and their unrelenting defense forced over 20 Westlake turnovers in the first half alone.

Erin Blaine led the Wolverines with 21 points.

Largo 81, Westlake 54

Largo: Taylor 22, Lyons 20, Johnson 16, Morris 9, Holland 6, Souder 4, Nelson 2, Winslow 2
Westlake: Blaine 21, Jones-Harris 11, Young 6, Bell 4, Goree 4, Beckett 3, Swann 3, Key 2
Free throws: Largo 18-33; Westlake 18-36
Three-pointers: Largo 9 (B. Taylor 4, Johnson 3, Lyons, Souder)

E-mail Andy States at astates@smacsportsnet.com

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(2) Arundel 74, (3) North Point 69 OT

3A South

(1) Westlake 84, (4) Crossland 62

(2) Largo 82, (3) Huntingtown 43

2A South

(2) Calvert 51, (3) Glenelg 40

E-mail scores to astates@smacsportsnet.com

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