Aberdeen Girls Advance to State Basketball Finals

The Aberdeen girls basketball team beat Largo 73-62 Thursday at UMBC to advance to the MPSSAA 3A state championship.

Sophomore center Brianna Jones scorewd had a career-high 35 points and pulled down 17 rebounds.

“Even though I’m taller, it was hard,” Jones said.

The Lady Eagles came out on fire. But The Lady Lions matched their intensity throughout much of the game.

 Jones, however, made the difference.

 “She’s 6-3,” Largo Head Coach Ayana Ball-Ward said of Jones after the game. “I don’t have a 6-footer on my team.”

 Largo pressed the ball and forced turnovers in the backcourt. But when Aberdeen’s guards struggled to get their offense going, Jones made things happen in the middle. She scored 17 points in the first half.

 “I’ve been working on my footwork and moving,” Jones said.

 Nia Alleyne, a junior guard, scored only eight points and had six rebounds.

 “My offense wasn’t on like it usually is so I figured why not do what I could do,” Alleyne said.

 Jimmia McClucksey, a sophomore forward, grabbed nine rebounds and scored 11 points. Junior point guard Lakeia Hayden, scored 13 points and hit a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to 67-53 with 2:39 left in the game.

 Coach Stacy Liles said the Lady Eagles played hard and the community and fan support gave the team extra momentum.

“Having them out there helped,” Liles said. “Having our school here gave them the spark.”

Largo senior guard Jessica Lyons wept as she came into the after-game press conference.

“This was our year,” Lyons said. “We worked hard. I expected to be playing on Saturday, practicing tomorrow.”

Largo finished its season 25-2. Aberdeen stands at 23-1 and will return to UMBC Saturday at 8 p.m. to play Fredrick.

 Ball-Ward said Largo stuck to their game plan.

“We just came up short today,” Ball-Ward said.

But the Lady Eagles refused to celebrate prematurely.

"We’re not hanging up our shoes until Saturday,” Liles said.