Roosevelt outlasts Arundel to win fourth straight state crown

‘‘That was a really intense moment,” Hall said. ‘‘We were only up by one point and I was hoping to hit both free throws. When I missed the second one, I just ran after the loose ball and then I knew they would have to foul me again. I was hoping to take some more time off the clock. The whole second half we just knew that we had to play pressure defense and work hard on the boards.”

Roosevelt coach Rod Hairston said the Raiders’ fourth consecutive title was just as rewarding as their first one in 2005. Roosevelt, which joined Brooklyn Park and Dunbar as the only schools to garner four consecutive state titles in girls’ basketball, won without injured senior Brooke Wilson. The George Washington University recruit suffered a knee injury in the first quarter of the 4A South Region final two weekends ago. Without her, Roosevelt displayed its resiliency.

‘‘We play with passion, purpose and poise,” Hariston said. ‘‘These girls just work so hard. Every night for the past three years they’ve had a target on their backs, because night after night we’re getting every team’s best effort and we overcame a lot of adversity.”

Arundel coach Lee Rogers does not have many fond memories of St. Patrick’s Day the past two years. His father passed away last year. Monday evening he watched his Wildcats get outrebounded, 50-34, including 26-7 on the offensive boards, despite the fact that Wilson, Roosevelt’s top rebounder, was inactive. Arundel also committed 21 turnovers and was only 11 of 16 from the line while the Raiders went to the line 37 times, hitting 16.

‘‘Our girls have learned a lesson,” Rogers said. ‘‘We didn’t come here thinking that we were one year away. We came here thinking that this was our year. We tried to take care of everything that is within our control. But sometimes there are things out of our control. I thought we handled their press. We’re not used to playing that style of basketball in Anne Arundel, but that’s why we play Riverdale Baptist and other Prince George’s County teams during the holiday tournaments. It was a good season, but it had a disappointing end.”

Arundel raced to a 14-9 lead at the end of the first quarter as the Wildcats were able to get the ball inside to Sherrone Vails (6-foot-4) and Simone Egwu (6-3). Despite a height disadvantage, Roosevelt’s Olivia Applewhite (10 points, 14 rebounds) and Ahjah Hall (11 points, 10 rebounds) repeatedly beat their taller opponents to the basket for offensive rebounds and second-chance points.

Roosevelt climbed to within 22-21 at the intermission although the Raiders shot poorly from the free throw line (6 of 18) and missed six straight foul shots at one stretch. Then Roosevelt raced to a 32-26 lead late in the third quarter on a three-point field goal from Noel Bullock (7 points).

But Arundel guard Ashley Davis ended the third quarter by completing a rare four-point play that brought the Wildcats within a point at 33-32. She hit another 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter and teammate Ebonne Jones followed with another 3-pointer that catapulted the Wildcats to a 40-36 lead with just over six minutes remaining. Another Davis 3-pointer gave the Wildcats a 43-40 lead with 4:10 remaining.

With just over two minutes to play, Jones connected on a 3-pointer to lift the Wildcats to a 48-44 advantage. After Hall scored inside, Davis hit two free throws to make it 50-46. But the last minute of the contest belonged to the Raiders. Bullock nailed a 3-pointer and Vails and Davis missed layups that would have increased the Wildcats’ slim lead. After Elashier Hall missed a left-handed layup, Ahjah Hall grabbed the offensive rebound and scored to put the Raiders ahead 51-50 with 24 seconds remaining.

E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.