Pikesville gave up the Baltimore County girls basketball championship game’s first seven points to visiting Loch Raven. It turned out to be only a small bump in the road, as the Panthers surged the rest of the first half and cruised to a 75-44 victory.
It’s the second straight county title for the Panthers (19-3), who will begin their quest for a fourth straight state championship in the regional tournament.
Bree Taylor (18 points), Mariah Jones-Bey (17), Ka’nai Pyatt (12) and Maya Chase (11) led the Panthers in scoring and Jones-Bey added nine assists, four steals and four rebounds.
Meona Boykin led the Raiders (15-6) with 25 points.
After Loch Raven took the lead off the tip with a 3-pointer by Aairyn Gibson, Boykin hit a 3 and a free throw to push the lead to seven in the first two and a half minutes.
Danielle Weems finally got the Panthers on the board before Taylor’s 3-pointer brought them back within two.
“I knew that when I made the 3 we were still in it,” Taylor said.
They were more than in it despite Boykin scoring nine of her team’s 12 points in the quarter. Trailing 12-5, Pyatt, a freshman, came off the bench and hit two 3-pointers, and a free throw by Chase and basket by Jones-Bey with 10 seconds left gave the Panthers the lead. They would never trail again.
Pyatt made two more 3-pointers in the second quarter, Jones-Bay scored seven points and Chase had six as the Panthers pulled away and led by 18 at halftime.
Pikesville coach Michael Dukes has seen Pyatt get hot before.
“She actually had a hot streak when we lost to St. Mary’s by one. She hit a big 3 that put us up in that game, so she’s very confident and comfortable taking it,” he said.
“Our girls executed exactly how we wanted,” Loch Raven coach Dale Fairfield said. “There is nothing that I would change about the effort or the strategy. My girls came to play and their girls came to play a little bit harder. They knocked down some clutch shots to swing the momentum and all credit to them.”
Boykin scored all eight of her team’s points in the second quarter and grabbed four of her seven first-half rebounds.
“[Boykin] is the engine of this team. The defensive energy is what sets her apart,” Fairfield said. “The way she goes we go in so many ways.”
The second half was a free-throw shooting contest and that didn’t favor the Raiders, who made just 12 of 36. Pikesville connected on 16 of 30. All 10 Panthers got in the scoring column, while the other six Raiders who scored combined for 19 points.
“We asked them to come out with confidence and play free and they did exactly that I couldn’t be more proud of my girls from number one to number nine,” Fairfield said. ‘We are looking forward to getting healthier and getting some girls back in and challenging them.”
A long postseason ride could be in store for the Panthers, and Dukes saw it developing early.
“Going into the season and the freshmen came in and we thought that this might be one of the deepest teams that we’ve had up here,” said Dukes, who had four freshmen on the varsity roster. “As you can see they have no fear when they step on that court.”
Besides Pyatt and Chase, Courtney Jenifer and Samika Hawkins (three points each) are also freshmen.
“We were excited about this team from day one,” Dukes said.
Now that excitement turns to the playoffs.
“We like our chances going in trying to try to take this forward. We know there is some great teams out there,” Dukes said. “We’ve still got to look at Forest Park, Mountain Ridge and Catoctin and teams like that, but we are excited about that challenge.”
Taylor — one of five seniors, including Tykeisha Hill, who had 12 rebounds — likes her team’s chances.
“I think the team is really well-rounded, we are really aggressive on defense and we are aggressive on offense too and that’s good,” she said.
Loch Raven — 12 8 11 13 – 44
Pikesville — 14 24 15 22 — 75
LR: Meona Boykin 25, Maya Gordon 8, Aairyn Gibson 4, Morgan Edmund 2, Zandria Taylor 2, Morgan Jones 2, Kensley Marcus 1.
P: Bree Taylor 18, Mariah Jones-Bey 17, Ka’nai Pyatt 12, Maya Chase 11, Aliyah Taylor 4, Courtney Jenifer 3, Samira Hawkins 3, Tykeisha 3, Jordan Cauthorne 2, Danielle Weems 2.
