COLLEGE PARK — Pikesville and coach Michael Dukes didn’t win three titles in a row by accident, and they proved it in the second half Saturday to capture a fourth.
Southern had a dream start offensively, one that had eluded it in big games this year, to take a 23-21 edge into the break, but that’s when Dukes saw something.
Pikesville caught Southern by surprise with a 2-3 zone, and its length and the Rams’ cold shooting resulted in a 15-2 third quarter in favor of the Panthers that decided the game.
It was a dream season for Southern with four underclassmen and no seniors in its starting line-up, but the third-seeded Rams came up just one game short of glory, falling to top-seeded Pikesville, 48-39, in the Class 1A title game at the University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center.
“Coming out first quarter, I felt really good about where we were,” Southern head coach Landon Todd said. “They started to wear on us. They’re big, physical kids.
“Our inability to attack the zone in the second half was killer. I think we only scored two points in the third quarter.”
Southern (23-4) was trying to win its first state championship since 2018 — the last time anybody besides Pikesville (23-3) captured the 1A championship.
The lone upperclassman in the line-up, Carly Wilt, led the Rams with 17 points and nine rebounds. Emelee Parks tallied 11 points and three steals, Jayden Weaver notched seven points and four assists, Kelsey Ward and Miranda Martin scored two points apiece, and Abi Teets dished out three assists.
Pikesville had three players with double-digit rebounds and two with double doubles. The Panthers out-rebounded the Rams, 48-34, and had 25 offensive boards.
Sophomore Mariah Jones-Bey finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals and five assists, and seniors Darielle Weems garnered 12 points and 11 boards, Bree Taylor ended with a team-high 13 points, and Aliyah Taylor added seven points and 10 rebounds.
Pikesville improves to 4-0 in state championship games, all under Dukes.
The veteran coach showed why with a second-half defensive adjustment that held Southern to just 1 of 13 shooting in the third quarter — the lone score a Parks midrange jumper at the 4:23 mark.
“Just tremendously proud of these young ladies,” Dukes said. “Their resilience is just unmatched. … We thought we saw something at the end of the first half with the 2-3 zone, and we decided to carry that over into the second half.
“Our guards did a really good job of finding their assignments. We knew (Parks) was a really good catch-and-shoot kid. We did a good job to on the close-outs.”
Todd said Southern didn’t expect Pikesville to play a 2-3 zone because of the Rams’ shooting prowess, particularly in their 55-52 victory over Catoctin in the state semifinals Wednesday with the Panthers’ coaches in attendance.
Pikesville also played its zone more spread out than Southern is used to.
“Typically the 2-3, you have the top two (defenders) sitting at the high post taking that away, and you can throw the first pass to the wing. They were spread out enough that they were preventing the pass to the wing,” Todd said.
“It just took us out of any sort of synch or rhythm. … We didn’t make the right adjustments to be as aggressive as we should’ve been.”
The tactic also led to issues on the other end of the floor.
Southern had success in the first half with a 1-3-1 zone, which led to steals and transition points the other way to the tune of 16-13 and 23-21 leads after the first two quarters.
However, the Rams wanted to get different personnel on the floor for their zone offense, who they weren’t able to run a 1-3-1 with defensively, Todd said, instead opting for man-to-man.
Jones-Bey and Bree Taylor proved too athletic to defend without help defense — the duo combined for 15 second-half points — and when the Rams did help, Pikesville got second, third and fourth chances on the boards.
Southern finally started hitting shots over the zone in the fourth quarter with Weaver burying a pair, including a 3-pointer, and Wilt and Parks sinking one each, but it was too little too late.
Wilt was instrumental in Southern’s good start Saturday, hitting two treys from the corner to help the Rams to an 8-3 start.
“It felt good,” Wilt said of the first 3-pointer a little more than a minute into the game. “Once you see it go in once, then it’s a relief. The flow of the game just comes right to you.”
Wilt later gave Southern its largest lead of the day, 23-17, with a put-back after a 30-foot runner by Parks at the end of the shot clock came up short at the 3:08 mark of the first half.
Southern was able to turn the game into a track-meet, which caused Dukes to pull 6-foot-2 Tykeisha Hill off the floor for large stretches of the first half with the Rams burning her in transition.
However, with Southern forced to play a half-court game in the second half, Pikesville controlled the game down low. The Panthers weren’t just big, they were physical, using their bodies to create space.
The Panthers shot just 30% but had 60 attempts due to the extra opportunities, resulting in 20 second-chance points and 32 points in the paint.
Pikesville also got to the line 20 times, making 10, compared to just eight free-throw tries by Southern, which made five.
“I felt it for the bigs underneath,” Parks said. “I’m not a big, but for Carly underneath, I can’t imagine battling the whole game down there. I know the few times that I drove, it was hard because they’re so long and can get a hand on everything.”
The officials also allowed for physical play — Pikeville was called for nine total fouls and just two in the second half — which kept the Panthers’ forwards out of foul trouble.
“It was tough under there,” Wilt said. “The bigs are so physical, it’s hard to box them out.”
While it wasn’t the finish Southern wanted, the Rams have every reason to believe they’ll contend next year and beyond with no seniors and a bevy of underclass contributors.
For the first time this season, Southern wasn’t able to pull a rabbit out of its hat and find a way to steal a must-win game late.
The experience of losing, for both a young team and coaching staff, may provide the most knowledge of all.
“We overlooked the 2-3,” Todd said. “We should’ve prepared more for it. We went over it some, but we didn’t go over the 2-3 that we saw tonight. That’s for sure.”