North Point’s Kennedi Page looks to get past Westlake’s Kobe Carter in the first half of Wednesday’s SMAC girls basketball championship game. North Point dominated the contest from the outset en route to a 58-12 victory over the Wolverines.
North Point High School sophomore Madison Rueda looks to drive to the basket in the first half of Wednesday’s SMAC girls basketball championship game against Westlake. Rueda and the Eagles coasted to a 58-12 victory over the Wolverines to avenge an earlier setback.
Westlake High School junior Kiarra Costley heads to the foul line for a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s SMAC girls basketball championship game against North Point. Costley and the Wolverines were limited to a grand sum of three field goals as the Eagles coasted to a 58-12 victory in that contest at North Point.
Coaches and players from the North Point High School girls basketball team gather at center court with the ceremonial plaque after the Eagles upended Westlake 58-12 in the SMAC girls basketball championship game on Wednesday at North Point.
North Point’s Kennedi Page looks to get past Westlake’s Kobe Carter in the first half of Wednesday’s SMAC girls basketball championship game. North Point dominated the contest from the outset en route to a 58-12 victory over the Wolverines.
TED BLACK/Southern Maryland News
North Point High School sophomore Madison Rueda looks to drive to the basket in the first half of Wednesday’s SMAC girls basketball championship game against Westlake. Rueda and the Eagles coasted to a 58-12 victory over the Wolverines to avenge an earlier setback.
TED BLACK/Southern Maryland News
Westlake High School junior Kiarra Costley heads to the foul line for a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s SMAC girls basketball championship game against North Point. Costley and the Wolverines were limited to a grand sum of three field goals as the Eagles coasted to a 58-12 victory in that contest at North Point.
TED BLACK/Southern Maryland News
Coaches and players from the North Point High School girls basketball team gather at center court with the ceremonial plaque after the Eagles upended Westlake 58-12 in the SMAC girls basketball championship game on Wednesday at North Point.
Longtime North Point High School girls basketball coach Mike Serpone has always stressed the importance of playing good defense during his tenure as the Eagles’ coach and the program has two 4A state titles in which to boast of, including the 2024-2025 crown.
So, Wednesday evening after North Point (13-7) defeated Westlake 58-12 in the SMAC girls championship game that it hosted, Serpone and his players had every reason to beam about the defensive performance. Less than three weeks after suffering a 59-52 setback to the Wolverines, North Point gained an instant measure of revenge by limiting them to a grand sum of three field goals.
“That previous game was by far our worst defensive effort of the season,” said Serpone, whose team will travel to Broadneck in Anne Arundel County for a 4A East Region opening round game on Friday. “There were a lot of fouls called on both teams that game, like 60, and it just never looked like a basketball game. Tonight we did a good job out on the perimeter and we were patient on offense.”
Westlake (17-4) actually led 2-1 less than one minute into the game when Raegan Harris connected on a jumper. But the Eagles closed out the first quarter on an 8-0 run and the Wolverines would not score again until midway through the second quarter on a free throw from Alexis Kelly. North Point led 23-6 at the intermission after outscoring Westlake 15-4 in the second quarter and limiting the Wolverines to four free throws.
“Defense wins championships,” North Point sophomore Madison Rueda. “Offense helps, but it’s all about defense. We played much better half court defense tonight than we did the last time we played them. That also helped us get a lot more shots in transition.”
Westlake, which will face the winner of Friday’s 2A South opening round game between SMAC squads McDonough and Huntingtown, finally got two buckets in the third quarter from Kiarra Costley and Ciana Batoon. But the Eagles sealed the verdict with a decisive 22-0 run between them as Rueda and senior Tyra de Castro. North Point outscored Westlake 8-1 in the fourth quarter played entirely under a running clock.
