Allegany girls cruise against city rival Fort Hill, 58-32

Jan. 19—CUMBERLAND — When you make 10 3-pointers and hold your opponent to single-digit scoring in a half, you're going to win a lot of basketball games.

That 3-and-D formula came to life Wednesday, as the Allegany 2-3 zone shut down Fort Hill to the tune of four points in each the first and second quarters. After halftime, the Campers' offense took the torch, burying seven 3-pointers to put the result to rest.

The trio of Avery Miller, Shylah Taylor and Olivia Looker again had an impressive offensive night, and No. 2 Allegany's defense looked the part in a 58-32 victory over No. 4 Fort Hill on Wednesday night.

"Our kids did a nice job doing the mental prep ahead of time," Allegany head coach Jim O'Neal said. "We've been off for a long time. I don't think it impacted our defense.

"Offensively, we expected to be a little out of rhythm there. We practiced hard, but it's different in a game. Once we got in the flow of things, I thought we looked pretty solid on both ends of the floor for the better part of four quarters."

Allegany (7-3) entered the matchup having won 3 of 4 games but hadn't played since falling to Berlin, Pennsylvania, on the road on Jan. 5. The Campers were slated to play Hampshire last Thursday but the game was postponed.

Fort Hill (4-6) swept the three meetings between the city rivals during the 2021-22 season, including a 45-33 victory in the Class 1A West Region I finals atop Haystack Mountain.

In the first such matchup this year, Allegany was dominant from the onset, taking a lead of 11-4 after the first quarter behind a 3-pointer each from Looker and Allison Fletcher.

The Campers embarked on an 11-2 run to begin the second half, capped by a Looker three-point play and a transition score by Miller. Kayijah George finished a late bucket off a Karli O'Neal assist to end a lengthy Sentinels scoring drought, but Allegany ran into halftime leading 23-8.

Fort Hill's offense does much of its damage offensively at the rim, and Allegany did well to force the Sentinels outside.

"Basketball 101, you want to keep teams on the perimeter, not just specifically them," Jim O'Neal said. "We did a decent job keeping them out of the lane, and I thought our defensive rebounding, except for a little stretch at the beginning of the fourth quarter, was outstanding."

Fort Hill came out with a 3-2 zone look to begin the second half, and Allegany took advantage. Miller drilled a pair of 3-pointers early in the third period, and Taylor sunk three in a row in the final minute-and-a-half to put her squad up 42-20 entering the fourth.

In all, Taylor and Miller made three 3-pointers each, Fletcher sunk two and Myia Miller and Looker both added one.

Avery Miller finished with a game-high 24 points. Taylor and Looker chipped in 13 and 11, respectively.

"Our older kids, they usually shoot the ball well," O'Neal said. "Our younger kids are improving so much on the perimeter, learning what's a good shot and what's not a good shot, and how the percentages go up when you take the correct shots.

"Allison, Myia and Ella (Shade), all three are improving leaps and bounds on the perimeter."

Carly Bennett led the Sentinels with 15 points. She was the only Fort Hill player in double figures. No one else scored more than four.

Fort Hill has to wait until Monday to get back in the win column when it heads to Bishop Walsh (4-7) for another city installment at 7 p.m.

Allegany will look to continue its run of good form at Clear Spring on Thursday. The Campers host Hedgesville on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

"I told the kids at the beginning of the year, 'By the end of January, we could be pretty good,'" O'Neal said. "Just because of how young we were, we only had two returning players. I give them credit, they're hard workers, they listen. I like where we're headed."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.