Catonsville’s girls basketball team has been to the state championship game the past two years — winning it all in 2017 and losing in 2018.

This year’s Comets (17-6) embarked on their 2019 playoff journey with a 70-41 victory over visiting Perry Hall in the first round of the Class 4A North Region playoffs.

Catonsville will play at Howard at 7 p.m on Tuesday in the second round.

The Comets’ complete effort was something Catonsville coach Mike Mohler hasn’t seen in a while.

“I told all the kids, that’s the best game we’ve had since December,” said Mohler, who has 519 career coaching wins.

Seniors Gabby Douglas and Aysia Ferguson, the only two returning starters back from last year’s finalists, were ready for prime time.

Douglas poured in 16 points, to go along with six steals, six assists and three rebounds.

Ferguson had 15 points, four assists and three steals.

Junior Sophi Wrisk added 13 points and four steals, while Larrie Sydnor (seven points, five rebounds) and Princess Lawson (four points, eight rebounds) had strong inside games.

Kara Dietrich led the Gators (10-10) with 15 points.

The pressing Comets defense forced 13 Perry Hall turnovers in the first quarter and 10 of Catonsville’s 11 field goals were layups.

Douglas canned a 3-pointer and Lawson sunk two free throws for the other points.

“We definitely knew we had to come out strong, lose and you go home and we definitely want to see how far we can go, so we just were focused and ready to play,” Douglas said. “We just had really good ball movement and we were trying to play as a team and help our teammates get better shots, so I think it just came down to team play.”

cclary@baltsun.com

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C — Douglas 16, Ferguson 15, Wrisk 13, Sydnor 7, McLean 6, Dickey 5, Lawson 4, Saunders 2, McDevitt 2.

PH — Dietrich 15, Hines 7, Tolentino 6, Ellenberger 6, Masseaux 5, Bender 2.