HAGERSTOWN —
The North Hagerstown girls basketball team rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit and scored the final 10 points of the game to pull out a 57-50 win over Middletown on Monday at North.“In the second half, we picked up our defense,” North Hagerstown coach Cyndi Benjamin said. “The defense created our offense and that led to the win. We had a couple of players that came through in some clutch moments. We made some crucial shots when we had to.”
The Hubs (12-8) trailed 33-20 at halftime, but cut that deficit in half to 41-35 by the end of the third quarter.
The Knights (13-8) maintained their lead for most of the fourth quarter and had a 50-47 edge with just over a minute remaining in regulation.
North’s Iman Scott scored with 51 seconds to go to reduce the margin to one point, then Autumn Fisher scored inside to give the Hubs the lead for good at 51-50 with 22 seconds left.
“I was going up and just trying to draw a foul, but the ball ended up going in the basket,” Fisher said.
Fisher was fouled intentionally after grabbing the rebound of a Middletown miss with 7 seconds remaining. She sank both of her free throws to stretch the Hubs’ lead to 53-50.
“Making those free throws definitely helped our team,” Fisher said.
Crystal McLeod was fouled when she received the inbounds pass with 6 seconds to go and converted both of her free throws.
Scott closed the scoring with a pair of free throws with 1 second left.
Fisher collected 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hubs.
“Picking up the defense was the key to our victory tonight,” Fisher said. “In the second half, we realized that we had to play defense if we were going to get anywhere.”
Scott finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Hubs. Erika Kline added eight points and seven rebounds, Kayla Peterson grabbed eight rebounds and Addison Smith had six rebounds.
Caitlin McLister scored 16 points, while Brittney George had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Knights. April Wright grabbed eight rebounds and Connar Kelley added five steals and five assists for the Knights.
“You have got to think your way through 32 minutes and not just 16,” Middletown coach Bill Miskell said.
JV: Middletown 40-24.
North Hagerstown 57, Middletown 50
MIDDLETOWN (13-8)
McLister 16, Wright 4, Kelley 8, Bussard 2, George 12, Roy 6, Tolino 2. Totals 18 14-22 50.
NORTH HAGERSTOWN (12-8)
Williams 2, Peterson 5, McLeod 4, Fisher 13, Scott 25, Kline 8. Totals 20 12-15 57.
Middletown 18 15 8 9 — 50
North Hagerstown 9 11 15 22 — 57
3-point goals—North Hagerstown 5 (Scott 5).
