Potomac Wins Second Straight Crown

Potomac (Md.) 52, City of Baltimore 43

Potomac Coach Mike Strother, center, leads his team's celebration at UMBC's RAC Arena. The Wolverines finished the season by winning 16 of 17 games. (Mark Gail -- The Washington Post)

CATONSVILLE, Md., March 12 -- Four Potomac (Md.) seniors were starters on last year's Maryland 2A state championship team, but it was the play of two newcomers Saturday that sparked the Wolverines to their second straight title.

Sophomore guard Brionna Carter scored a team-high 13 points and freshman guard Pryncess Tate-Dublin made a key three-pointer with just over four minutes left as Potomac defeated City of Baltimore, 52-43, at UMBC's RAC Arena.

The Wolverines (21-6) led from the start, but their lead was only five points when Tate-Dublin's three-pointer -- Potomac's first field goal of the fourth quarter -- started a run that increased the margin to 12 points two minutes later.

"I think it was very important," Tate-Dublin said of her three-pointer. "We hadn't hit any shots for a while."

Carter, who played last year at Forestville and transferred this season from National Christian, has been arguably the team's most valuable player in the playoffs. She averaged 7.2 points a game in the regular season, but increased that to 11.6 points in the playoffs. Her free throw with one second remaining gave Potomac a 58-57 state semifinal victory over Winters Mill on Friday.

"I wanted a ring," Carter said. "I didn't get one last season, and I've been telling everyone that I wanted one all year."

Potomac's seniors contributed by leading the team's defensive effort. Six-foot forward Tianna Gaddy and 6-2 center Dannielle Shearin held City's Ashley Branch, a 6-1 senior center, to five points. City senior guard Madea Bailey (game-high 15 points) had success early, but Potomac senior guards Keyonna Sims and Juantale Cook held Bailey scoreless in the fourth. Sims also scored 12 points.

"We're going to miss this group of kids next season," Potomac Coach Mike Strother said of his team's nine seniors. "We came in and played solid defense, and our seniors led us there."

Said City Coach George Petrides: "A lot of our problems offensively have got to be attributed to their defense. They did a great job."

Despite the defensive effort, Potomac struggled to put away City (20-8). Still, the Knights squandered their chance to come back, making 5 of 13 free throws in the final quarter.

For Potomac, which started the season 5-5, Saturday's win was its 16th in 17 games. The Wolverines received a noticeable boost when the Potomac boys, who played their own state championship game at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center later in the day, arrived to cheer on their female counterparts.

"They've been amazing," Strother said of the boys' team. "People need to take notice. Something special is going on at Potomac."