Published: January 07, 2006 11:15 pm

Western claims county crown

Nothing pretty but the final score for Panthers

By CHRIS GARNER Tribune sportswriter

Please don’t use the “U” word around coach Kyle Barrentine to describe Western’s 54-46, error-and foul-plagued victory over Taylor in the 2006 Howard County girls basketball tournament at Center Court Saturday.

He’ll take this kind of win any way he can get it.

“It was a battle,” Barrentine said as the Panthers celebrated their second straight title. “Taylor is a good team. They’re quick and they’re athletic. Ugly or not, our bottom line was to win.”

Western committed 28 turnovers and still won. The Titans had an 18-6 advantage over Western in offensive rebounds and still lost. The Panthers were out-scored by Taylor 24-3 in 3-point field goals and still won. It was that kind of ballgame.

The overwhelming difference was free throws. Western (13-2), which avenged a regular-season loss to the Titans, made 11 more foul shots than Taylor attempted. The Panthers were 27 of 40 from the line, compared to Taylor’s 12 of 16, despite the fact that the Titans committed only five more fouls.

“That’s as bad as we’re going to play — ever,” said Taylor coach Dennis Bentzler, “and if you’d told me that we’d be in the game the whole way playing like that, I’m proud of our kids.

“They shot 40 free throws on our home floor, which is unbelievable. We didn’t play well, [and] you’ve got to give Western credit, but when one team shoots 40 free throws, it gets a little lopsided. Our [fouls] were early in the game and really took us out of our rhythm.”

Indeed, the Class 2A No. 6-ranked Titans (12-2) put the Panthers in the bonus with 2:03 left in the first quarter with Western already leading 7-5. A.J. Finch’s two freebies started a 14-5 run that included back-to-back baskets by Hannah Thieke to start the second period.

Those four points gave Thieke 1,000 for her Western career. She finished with a team-high 15 points.

After a 3-pointer from Jackie Lasley, Taylor was able to whittle the margin back to six points that lasted until halftime, when the score was 29-23.

If the first half was a bad dream of fouls and mistakes, the third quarter was a nightmare. Both teams combined to turn the ball over 22 times and committed 16 fouls. While Taylor had several opportunities to cut the lead under six, most of them went wasted and the Panthers built an 11-point lead at 37-26.

Three-point field goals by Jamie Dunlap, Morgan McWhorter and Brittni Oliver helped cut the deficit back to only two points with 1:15 left in the third. But a Thieke free throw, followed by two foul shots from Chrystal Campbell after she grabbed Thieke’s errant second foul shot and was fouled, and two more from the charity stripe from Thieke reestablished a semi-comfortable lead at 42-35. Taylor never seriously challenged after that.

“We knew [the Titans] were going to make runs at us,” said Barrentine. “It was just survive and advance. I’m really proud for our seniors. It’s a good win and I’m happy for them.”

Campbell finished with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. She was 9 of 12 at the foul line. Annina Gruber and Finch also had 11 points. McWhorter led Taylor with 17 points and five rebounds.