CUMBERLAND — Though Allegany saw its early 17-point lead whittled to five by halftime, the message in the Camper locker room was a positive one.
“We’re five points better than we were 45 minutes ago.”
Some 45 minutes later, second-seeded Allegany got every last point of its lead back, riding four double-figure scorers, 10 3-pointers and a stingy rotation of defenses down the stretch to a 64-47 victory over third-seeded Northern in the Class 1A West Region I semifinals on Tuesday.
“So proud of our kids,” Allegany head coach Jim O’Neal said. “They were so well-prepared at the beginning of the game. They went out and executed everything we asked them on both ends of the floor. It was nice to see them take that stuff we do behind the scenes.
“The first quarter really set the tone for the game.”
The first quarter was in stark contrast to the first two matchups between the sides, which were marked by gritty defense and cold shooting.
Allegany would have needed just 28 points to win both contests — the finals 38-27 and 33-27 in favor of the Campers — and it nearly got to that total in the first eight minutes Tuesday.
The Campers (16-6) came out firing, sinking five 3-pointers in the first quarter alone, to build a 24-9 edge after a quarter. The lead grew to 17 points after a field goal early in the second.
“It’s just fun to play with everybody, and we were playing as a team, so it just makes me more confident to shoot,” said Savannah Walton, who buried three triples in the opening period and finished with 16 points and four 3s.
Walton was joined in double figures by Amanda Vizza (19 points), Braylin Bosley (12) and Maizzy Hose (12).
Allegany shared the ball well and registered assists on 21 of its 25 made field goals. Bosley led the squad with eight dimes, forward Julia Imes had six and Vizza tallied four.
Northern’s Abby Nelson scored a team-high 12 points, and Allahna Lacy added 11.
Nelson is among the area’s leading scorers at 21.4 points per game, but she missed significant time with foul trouble — most notably the final 6:24 of the third quarter after picking up her fourth foul.
The Huskies’ complementary players spurred the comeback in the second quarter.
Marisa Perez and Ainsley McHenry-Sorber converted two 3-pointers each in the period and Nelson added another, as the Huskies used a 13-0 run to get back into the game.
Perez cut the deficit to 31-28 before Bosley scored a coast-to-coast bucket at the basket at the buzzer.
“They were down big in the first quarter and came back,” Northern head coach Dave Yoder said. “Allegany shot the ball incredibly well. They did exactly what they needed to do. They drew the defenders, kicked it and they hit 3s that they needed to hit.
“We were scrappy and got back into it, but credit to Allegany, they played a fantastic game.”
Northern stayed connected despite the absence of Nelson, but Allegany separated again when it pulled out a 1-3-1 defense and forced a series of turnovers late in the third period.
Hose buried back-to-back 3-pointers off the bench, and Allegany led 50-38 going into the fourth.
Hose — who led a bench that outscored Northern, 14-0 — has ended in double figures in two of Allegany’s last three games after doing so three times in the first 19.
“You just got to keep the intensity up,” Hose said of how she stays in the game mentally. “Even though you just came off the bench, you gotta keep it up.”
Once Nelson returned in the final period, Allegany threw a box-and-1 and triangle-and-2 defense at the Huskies, mixing in man-to-man to further confuse the Northern offense.
Northern finished with a 14-9 record. The Huskies opened the campaign 3-4 and were 6-6 at one point, but they won seven of their final eight entering Tuesday’s season-ending defeat.
“It was another great season,” Yoder said. “I think we see the benefits of girls that put their time in, in the off season. That shows. It would be great to get a core of seven or eight girls that do that every summer.”
Allegany moves into the region final, where it returns to top-seeded Southern (18-5) — the two time reigning state runner-up — on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Rams routed Mountain Ridge, 74-35, in the other semifinal Tuesday.