Regardless of how physical a team may choose to play them with a size advantage, or how the offense may get disrupted once reigning Carroll County Player of the Year gets face-guarded, the Westminster Owls keep things simple in crucial moments of games.
“We just play basketball,” Gassman said.
Whenever Westminster and Francis Scott Key girls basketball teams matchup, some of the best basketball of the season is played as both teams leave it all on the court, in pursuit of a county title. In the pair’s second matchup of the season, Xaviah Burgee’s 3-pointer with 35 seconds left gave Westminster the 46-43 win Monday night.
“I know it’s not a shot I normally take,” Burgee, who finished with eight points, said. “But I’ve been practicing and even if I missed, my team would have gotten the rebound.”
Gassman led Westminster with 17 points. With the win, the Owls (12-2, 7-1) are now in sole possession of first place in the county standings as Francis Scott Key slips to 13-3, 8-2.
Burgee, who does most of her work on the interior, hit two shots from deep in the final minute, the freshman showed the poise of a seasoned varsity veteran as coach David Urban drew up the final play for her.
“When the defense face-guards Maddy, we have to set a couple screens and allow the defense to over help,” Urban said. “Whoever that person is overhelped on, they have to step up, expect the ball and expect to do something with the ball. Xaviah has been stepping more and more into a confident shooter.”
After the first quarter resembled two prizefighters slowly feeling each other out and shaking off some nerves, the Eagles went on a quick 8-3 run in the second quarter, building a nine-point lead. Guards Summer Brooks and Abby Rieger took turns handling the ball and each senior made the right decisions. Brooks would drive hard to the basket for a tough layup or dish it out to an open teammate.
But like Gassman said, the Owls kept their heads down and just played basketball.
After a timeout, Gassman was left wide open and hit a 3-pointer, the first of eight straight points to cut the lead. Even as FSK’s McKenna Lanza banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer for 24-19 lead, the Owls ran off the court ready to regroup knowing that they were still in the game.
“We were frustrated. There weren’t some calls going our way and there were some simple mistakes we were making,” Burgee said. “But we knew that we had to let all of that go.”
Urban’s squad came out with a renewed focus on the defensive end as it was an uncharacteristically cold shooting and rebounding day for the FSK in large part due to the pressure of the Owls throughout a physical second half.
“There’s a lot of pride on both sides and it comes out on the court,” Urban said. “I asked a couple of the girls to really give it to us on the defensive end and give up maybe some opportunities on the offensive end. That set the tone.”
Now firmly at the top of the county standings and with a hard-earned split against their toughest competition behind them, Urban can now sit back and appreciate the competition the Class 2A runners-up gave his Owls as both look to use these battles as springboards for future success for the two top teams in the county.
“I hope this type of game propels both of us into a long run and into states,” Urban said. “We need this competition in the county because once some of us get through these tough regions you can see, Carroll County can compete for championships.”
Westminster 46, Francis Scott Key 43
W- Maddy Gassman 17, Xaviah Burgee 8, Kole Peach 6, Riley Bunting 5, Brinley Boag 4, Emma Jones 4, Aspen Higgs 2
FSK- Summer Brooks 18, Caroline Kohr 8, Kensi Bancroft 8, McKenna Lanza 5, Abby Reiger 4
Have a news tip? Contact Timothy Dashiell at [email protected], and x.com/dashielltimothy.
