3A State Title Poly Stuns Howard

<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">3A State Title Poly Stuns Howard</span></strong> In a sloppy first half where neither team shot the ball particularly well Poly led Howard 23-15 at the half.  Dispite having a lot of good looks from the three to point blank range the rim just was unkind.  Howard had only three players score in the first half led by freshman Meghan Yarnervich who had seven points.  The Engineers were led by junior Da’Braya Clark with eight points.  The downside for Poly was that [player_tooltip player_id="325340" first="Taylor" last="Addison"] who had 6 points went down with an injury with 1:22 to play in the half. The second half kicked off without Addison in the lineup, however, the shooting did pick up for the Engineers with [player_tooltip player_id="304622" first="Mickelle" last="Lowry"] and Clark leading the way as the score ballooned to 41-24 after three quarters.  In the fourth quarter Poly never let up but increased the pressure stretching the lead to over 20 points.  Howard got a couple late three pointers from [player_tooltip player_id="163864" first="Gabrielle" last="Kennerly"] and Mehgan Yarnevich’s shot started falling, however, the lead continued to increase into a 60-37 final score. Key Players: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="325340" first="Taylor" last="Addison"] - Combo Guard - Poly - 2023</strong> Taylor was having a great start before an injury in the first quarter derailed her.  She was second ont the team in scoring before the injury and was poised to have a huge game.  She kept her team’s energy up from the sidelines as it seemed like the Engineers wanted to win it for her. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-400034" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/DSC_0476-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="304622" first="Mickelle" last="Lowry"] - Guard - Poly - 2024</strong> Mickelle was big in the second half scoring 8 of her 13 points after the break.  She hit a couple of three pointers late to put a seal on the outcome and shot 50% for the game. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/DSC_0493-scaled-crop-2049x1345-1647128712.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-400037" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/DSC_0493-scaled-crop-2049x1345-1647128712-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="163864" first="Gabrielle" last="Kennerly"] - Guard - Howard - 2023</strong> Gabrielle started off slow but picked things up in the second half to lead the Lions with 15 points.  She hit a couple of three-pointers late in the game and added 4 assists in the loss. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-401683" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/DSC_0507-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /> <strong>Riley Holiday - Post - Poly - 2023</strong> Riley was the sole post presense for Poly as she had to battle against three six footers from Howard.  She held her own making life rough for the big three.  When she exited the game for a breather the Engineers lineup looked really small.  She nearly notched a double-double with 9 points and a game high 12 rebounds. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-400038" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/DSC_0499-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /> <strong>Gabrielle Scott - Wing - Howard - 2022</strong> The Towson commit had consistent play on both ends, she was solid but someone needed to take over.  she had 9 points on 4 of 7 shooting and was the only Lion outside of Kennerly to hit a three pointer. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-401685" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/DSC_0517-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="303119" first="Meghan" last="Yarnevich"] - Post - Howard - 2025</strong> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-401687" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/03/DSC_0519-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /> It was a tale of two halves for Meghan as nothing would fall for her in the first.  Switching ends she caught fire in the second but trading baskets with Poly wouldn’t be good enough.  She scored 13 points and 8 boards with 5 on the offensive end.