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With a youthful squad that started two freshmen and only one senior, the Gwynn Park High School girls' basketball team went toe-to-toe on Saturday afternoon with last year's 3A state champion Fallston and its star senior, Jess Harlee. But the Yellow Jackets fell just short of taking their place as a state champion.

Gwynn Park fell 58-53 to the Cougars in the 2A state championship game at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Fallston moved down to the 2A classification this year and won another state crown, led by Harlee and sophomore point guard Rachael Holehouse.

Gwynn Park (21-4) outscored Fallston in the second and third quarters to take a 42-41 lead heading into the fourth period. Early baskets by freshmen Ciara Washington and Genesis Lucas kept the Yellow Jackets ahead, 46-45, with 3 minutes, 55 seconds remaining. But much of the last four minutes belonged to Fallston, as the Cougars benefited from their big game experience and Gwynn Park's mounting fouls. Fallston players converted on 10 of 14 free throws while in the double bonus in the last 3:45, with Harlee (16 points, 19 rebounds) going 5 of 8 at the line down the stretch.

"I think they just did a better job of rebounding that last part of the game," said Gwynn Park coach MIchael Strother. "They were able to get a lot of second-chance shots and they did a good job of getting to the free throw line. I can't say enough my girls and everything that they accomplished this year. No one expected us to be here. I was amazed at the poise that our girls showed. We have everybody back [except Bianca Miller] and the future is looking very bright for Gwynn Park."

Miller (eight points), who is undecided on her college plans although she intends to play basketball and major in business management, admitted to some early trepidations about the season when she arrived at tryouts in November. Miller was part of a 10-13 team last year, and when she noticed that a number of potential starters were freshmen, she didn't envision the group would end up in the state final.

"After last year, I never thought this could happen," Miller said. "We had some freshman girls come in and there's a big difference between middle school basketball and high school basketball. But our goal was to win the county and region titles and get to states. We started to believe we could do it early on and we kept winning. This was a great end to my high school career. I think they'll well do next year without me. I'll be here [at UMBC] to watch them play next year."

Fallston (20-5) coach Michael McTeague found it difficult to describe what it meant to notch his second consecutive state title. Harlee missed much of the season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament last summer, and McTeague said Holehouse struggled in Harlee's absence.

But when Harlee returned to the lineup in February, Holehouse became more confident running the offense. Saturday afternoon against a Gwynn Park trap designed to contain her, Holehouse scored eight points and added five assists and often found Harlee and Lindsay Garnett (17 points) open for easy buckets inside.

"Everything that Rachael does is so uncanny," McTeague said. "If you try and tell her to run through the plays in order, she probably couldn't do it. But when she gets the ball on the court and starts dribbling through the defense, her natural instincts take over. Jess is one of those amazing players. I was fortunate to step into a situation where she was already here. In the fourth quarter, they never panicked. Gwynn Park forced a few shots early when they had the lead, but my girls never panicked. They just took their time and ran through the plays."

Washington opened the fourth quarter with a basket, and after Garnett scored twice inside for Fallston to give the Cougars a 45-44 lead, Lucas stole a pass from Harlee and raced for an uncontested layup to give the Yellow Jackets a 46-45 lead with 4:55 remaining. Fallston countered with free throws from Holehouse and McKenzie Hannahs, and Garnett added another bucket inside to give the Cougars a 52-47 lead.

A running jumper by Channell Mackey (14 points) gave the Yellow Jackets hope, but two Gwynn Park turnovers hindered the Yellow Jackets' chances of getting any closer. Harlee ended much of the drama by connecting on 5 of 8 free throws over the next two minutes to give the Cougars a commanding 58-50 lead with 9.2 seconds remaining. Mackey hit a 3-pointer – her fourth of the game – just before the buzzer sounded.

After trailing 18-13 at the end of the first quarter, when Fallston closed out the period on a 9-0 run, Gwynn Park quickly got back into contention in the second quarter. Channell Mackey ended the Yellow Jackets' drought with a 3-pointer and Gwynn Park fought back to tie the score at 20-20 on consecutive baskets from Jasmine Simms and Lucas.

Fallston appeared to gain some breathing room when Harlee and Caroline Shotto scored, but the Yellow Jackets came roaring back on a 3-pointer from Miller and a layup by Olivia Turner. With time winding down at the end of the half, Harlee drove to the basket and was fouled hard by Turner as time expired and the West Virginia University recruit hit one of two free throws with no time on the clock to tie the score at 27-27 at the break.