End Of Line: Falcons Reflect Proudly After Playoff Loss To Meade

In each of the last two seasons, the Severna Park girls basketball team went on a ruthless, exhilarating run deep into the playoffs.

On Tuesday, the Falcons were cast in the opposite role: vanquished opponents left in the wake of a team writing its own story.

Meade, one of Severna Park’s victims in its playoff run last year, made sure of it, forcing the pace of play and deploying versatile scorers and slashers to oust the Falcons from the 4A East, 39-33.

Destiny Jackson scored a game-high 16 points for the Mustangs, who got 10 points from Briel Owens and 7 from Ayanni Brown.

Sophomore guard Kaila Stasuli played one of her best games of the season for Severna Park, scoring a team-high 10 points, including 7 in the fourth quarter, and adding 4 steals. Senior Julia Ryan and junior Jess Albert both scored 6 points, while Ryan had 5 rebounds, and sophomore Hailey Betch had 5 points and 5 rebounds for Severna Park. Junior Lena McLaughlin led Severna Park in rebounding with a game-high 12.

The Falcons jumped out to a 4-0 lead as Cam Chew assisted on baskets by Albert and Ryan, but Meade answered with a 14-0 run to take a 10-point lead.

From there, Severna Park (16-7) had a hill to climb, and the Falcons never quite found their footing. They scrapped for baskets where they could, but Meade had answers at both ends of the floor. Twice in the second half Severna Park whittled Meade’s lead down to three points on baskets by Stasuli and Betch, but the Falcons could never pull even, and Meade kept a two- or three-possession lead for most of the game.

Severna Park compounded its woes with poor free-throw shooting that would have gotten them firmly back into the game; The Falcons shot just 6-of-16 (37 percent) from the foul line.

“It’s tough,” said Severna Park coach Kris Dean. “Meade is good. Hats off to them. [Mustangs head coach] Aanika [O’Connor] does a great job, they all do a great job, so I’m proud of her. But I’m proud of our girls. We don’t have anything to hang our heads about.”

It didn’t matter that the stage was set for another SP edition of March Madness—Old Mill, Severna Park’s erstwhile playoff nemesis, defeated Arundel on Tuesday and would have hosted their three-year bugaboo Falcons on Thursday for a playoff rematch.

Instead, the Falcons pushed the season as far as they could, not playing their best game but fighting and scrapping to the bitter end all the same.

Said senior Kelsey Powers, “I think tonight was an example of no matter what happens, ups and downs, the girls are all there for each other and always will be there for each other.”

It was a mentality that carried the Falcons through an uncertain beginning, a midseason slump and a strong run leading into the playoffs.

The Falcons didn’t know what they had in early December, but they were open-minded in solidifying their roles.

“I think there were a lot of growing pains in the beginning, but we’ve had a good portion of girls who have played every year together, and we have a lot of love for each other, and we play hard for each other,” said senior Rachel Ward. “When we get on the court, everyone wants to do it for the team. There’s no selfish players or anything, we all just want to do it for the team, because we love each other…By loving each other and wanting the best for everyone we were able to get on our feet pretty quickly and start our success early in the season.”

Wins followed. The Falcons started 4-3, but they surged into 2019, rattling off six straight victories through late January. After a 50-13 demolition of Broadneck on January 11, Powers notified Anne Arundel that the Falcons were trying to be “the best defensive team in the county.”

Dean concurred: “The first half of the season, we didn’t have an offense,” he said. “We just played defense. The girls bought into every defensive thing we gave them. I was really impressed with them.”

A midseason slump, when the Falcons dropped three out of four with losses to Meade, Arundel and South River, forced a reckoning.

“These girls answered,” said Dean. “We sat down and talked after the South River game, I think we had dropped three straight maybe? And we just kind of reset ourselves. I was proud of the girls and the way they responded to that particular time of the season, bounce back, go and beat Old Mill, finish the season on a five- or six-game win streak and put ourselves in a position to have a home playoff game.”

The victory over Old Mill, a 43-38 win in Millersville on February 12, was another feather in the cap of the Falcons, adding a chapter to #WeBeatOldMill lore in what has emerged as one of the best sports rivalries in the county in the last three years.

Wins over the Patriots, Northeast, Annapolis, Glen Burnie and Broadneck gave the Falcons a 16-6 mark entering the postseason—a pretty strong record for a team lacking an offensive star and relying mostly on defense, depth and energy to make its way.

The Falcons were eclipsed by a better opponent in Meade come playoff time, but it didn’t change their view of themselves.

“I think coming into it we weren’t really sure what we were going to have, and it was a little bit of a different dynamic, but the coaches we have are people you want to work hard for, and that’s where a lot of our success came from,” said senior point guard Rachel Spilker, the Falcons’ floor general and minutes leader. “It didn’t turn out exactly like we planned, but we had a great team and a great season, and my career here is one of the best parts of my high school years, and I’m really grateful for that.”

In The Bonus

Seniors Ryan, Spilker, Powers, Ward, Delaney Ott and Campbell Kline shared in remarkable success of the program in the past few seasons. Ott, a reserve player, noted everyone’s commitment to her role on the team.

“Even the people that don’t play all the time, they still work extremely hard in practice to push the starters and make everyone better, so everyone’s always giving 100 percent,” she said.

That sentiment extended to team managers Dylan Davidoff and Mia Alexander, who expressed gratitude to the players and coaches making them feel at every step like true members of the squad.

“I said it in the team room, and I think I speak for Mia and I that we’ve never felt more a part of a team as managers,” said Davidoff, who is also manager of the Severna Park softball team. “I think that they know how important it is that we play a role in this team. They don’t ever ignore it, they’re always there celebrating us, giving us a night, making us feel as much a part of the team as possible, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the past four years and being friends with them.”

Alexander, who is also team manager for the football team, expressed similar appreciation.

“I’m just really grateful to be the manager on this team,” said Alexander. “I’m so happy I met all these girls. I’m so grateful to spend four years with them, the memories we made and how much they make us feel a part of the team. It makes me feel really happy, and I’m glad I got to spend these four years with these people.”

No Days Off

Dean reflected on the work of the team, past, present and future.

“Minus Sundays and days off, today is Day 91, and that’s a long time,” said Dean. “That’s a lot of work, and these girls don’t take days off. It just shows who they are and how they’ve been raised. I’m so proud of them. They’re going to be so successful in what they do. I’m excited to see where our seniors go. I’m proud of these girls and what they’ve accomplished the last few years.”

By Wednesday, Dean will join assistant coach Mere McAlister on the softball field to prepare the Falcons to defend their state championship on the diamond, but Severna Park basketball is not going anywhere anytime soon for the rest of the county. Stasuli, Betch, Albert, McLaughlin and Chew all return, and the Falcons coming up from JV were county champions over Meade two weeks ago.

“I’m excited to get the work done in the offseason that we need to,” said Dean. “We’ve got a lot coming back, a lot of young ones that are just ready.”