Centennial coach Mike Bossom said all he wanted for his players was for them to be the best version of themselves. Williamsport, of Washington County, made sure that didn’t happen for much of Saturday’s Class 2A state championship match.
The Wildcats played a disruptive offense and corrected when they had to en route to defeating Centennial, 25-15, 25-17, 10-25, 25-14, in the state final at Harford Community College.
“They did a good job of taking us out of what we liked to do,” Bossom said. “We talked about leaving everything we had out on the court today, and I thought that we played as well as we could play.”
The match featured the two most winningest teams in Maryland volleyball history. Williamsport (15-5) entered the tournament with 16 state titles, while Centennial (9-8) had 15. The loss was Bossom’s first in 10 appearances at the state championship match as Centennial’s coach.
Centennial, the defending state champions, lost 60% of its scoring from last year and Bossom wondered how he was going to replace what was lost. He said the team got better and better as the season went on.
“I knew we were capable, but I knew I also knew we had work to do,” Bossom said. “We struggled to find those points at times, but in the end, we played our brand of volleyball. We were the best ‘we’ that we could be.”
Broadneck falls in 4A final: Before the season started, Broadneck looked at this year as a time to grow and see what they were made of. Saturday night, they learned they had some work to do.
The Bruins (16-4) ran into a buzz saw in the form of Montgomery County’s Richard Montgomery. The Rockets (24-1), the defending Class 4A state champions, used a powerful lineup and an experienced roster to defeat Broadneck, 25-19, 25-9, 25-17, in the state final at Harford Community College.
Try as they might, Broadneck just couldn’t get it going against Richard Montgomery. The Rockets used the height of 5-foot-11 Corinne Howard, 6-foot Ema Djordjevic, and 6-2 Katie Mitchell to impose their will offensively.
“There’s only one team that gets to walk away smiling after a match, and obviously it wasn’t us tonight,” Bruins coach Tracey Regalbuto said. “I said before this match that the only way that we would win is if we play amazing. I knew what this team was. They are a better team. Hopefully we’ll be back.”