Mtn. Ridge suffocates top-seeded Forest Park, 37-20, in Final Four

Mar. 8—ROCKVILLE — Adapt or die. That was the name of the game at Richard Montgomery High School on Tuesday evening.

Just 10 minutes before tip-off, Mountain Ridge and Forest Park received word that the shot clocks would not be used for their Class 1A state semifinal game due to technical issues.

One team adapted and the other floundered.

Mountain Ridge dared top-seeded Forest Park to shoot, and the Foresters played right into their hands. On the other end, the Miners shortened the game, and Sydney Snyder made 14 of 16 free throws to guide the fifth-seeded squad from Frostburg to a 37-20 victory.

Mountain Ridge (20-6) will play Pikesville — a 44-31 winner over Patterson Mill — on Saturday at the Xfinity Center in College Park.

"From the time we got here, it was a challenge," Mountain Ridge head coach Rob Duncan said. "I couldn't be more proud of my girls. It was one challenge after another. The physicality of the game. The way it was refereed. The girls fought through every one of those things and made the plays we had to.

"I was not thrilled to play without a shot-clock, but we worked with what we were given and turned it into our ally. ... We knew that they just reached, so if we were able to spread the floor we'd get a lot of foul shots."

Mountain Ridge, playing in its first state semifinal game in school history, is the first state finalist from western Allegany County since Westmar made the trip to Cole Field House in 1996.

On paper, the Miners entered as heavy underdogs against Forest Park (19-4), which outscored its opponents by 40.5 points per game and posted more than 19 steals a game before Tuesday.

While the Foresters' competition wasn't great for much of the year, they defeated the defending Class 4A state champion Western in December.

Forest Park expected to speed up Mountain Ridge like its done time and time again. It couldn't have been further off.

The Miners pitched a shutout in the opening period to lead 6-0, and they benefited from an Ava Tringler 3-pointer and another from Snyder to take a 21-9 edge into the break.

The story, however, was Mountain Ridge's 2-3 zone, which baited Forest Park into bricking a series of deep 3-pointers. In the paint, Bayleigh Lamberson, Reghan Sivic, Rhegan Lamberson and Eliza Duncan secured just enough rebounds.

"Our game plan was to pack it in," Rob Duncan said. "We watched a lot of film. They struggle to shoot the ball from the outside. Obviously they're very athletic, long and quick. The challenge with forcing them to shoot 3-pointers is long rebounds, we got exposed some on that."

Forest Park head coach Jermaine Dunn said he found out right before tip-off that the game would be played without a shot clock, and it impacted his team early on.

It was the Foresters' first time without a 30-second clock this year.

"They're a team that can capitalize off of no shot clock because they're very disciplined," Dunn said. "They hold the ball and they ran great sets at the end. And we couldn't foul because they make free throws. ... They played a great game."

Forest Park came out of intermission in an aggressive press defense with all five players on the Mountain Ridge side of the court.

The pressure initially flustered the Miners, prompting a 5-0 burst that trimmed the Mountain Ridge lead to 21-14.

Tringler sunk a crucial 3-pointer with 4:44 to play in the third period, and that was the final points for either team until the fourth. The frustration for Forest Park bubbled, and Aliyah Carroll, one of the best players in Baltimore City, picked up her fourth foul late in the third.

Once Mountain Ridge figured out a pattern for getting the ball over half-court, Forest Park seemingly had no mechanism of scoring the basketball.

"It was kinda hard, but with all the girls coming up on us, it leaves the middle wide open and the other side of the court," Snyder said of the pressure.

Mountain Ridge tried to shorten the game in the fourth period, and Forest Park couldn't get a hand on the ball as the Miners whipped it around the perimeter.

When it came time to foul and lengthen the game, Snyder was nearly perfect, sinking 11 of 13 free throws during the fourth quarter as part of her game-high 21 points. Eliza Duncan also hit both of her foul shots in the fourth — the Miners made 20 of 26 for the game.

Snyder outscored Forest Park by herself, 21-20.

The decision to send Snyder to the line was a foolish one, as the junior sharpshooter was known for her foul shooting prior to high school. Snyder advanced to the 2018 National Hoop Shoot final in the 12-13-year-old division.

"We had to spread the floor," Rob Duncan said. "We had to give Syd room. She's quick, she has a great handle and she's a great foul shooter. She's the perfect person to put in the middle and take advantage of what we were given."

In addition to Snyder, Tringler was second with six points, Bayleigh Lamberson added four, and Rhegan Lamberson, Eliza Duncan and Sivic scored two apiece.

Carroll paced Forest Park with eight points and Mckenzie Fitzgerald chipped in six.

Mountain Ridge now advances to the state championship game, where it will meet Pikesville, the defending Class 1A state champion.

For the Miners' coaches and players, the opportunity is a dream come true.

"I can't tell you how unbelievably excited I am for the opportunity, for the girls and for our community," coach Duncan said.