In last year’s season shortened by the coronavirus pandemic, McDonogh girls basketball thought it had something special when it beat St. Frances. Since there was no title, the Eagles never got to prove themselves.

Monday night at Harford Community College’s APGFCU Arena, the top-ranked Eagles accomplished their goal, winning the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship by beating No. 4 St. Frances, 77-65.

The title ends a streak of five straight

championships won by the Panthers (19-4). The last team to beat St. Frances for the IAAM A Conference crown was McDonogh (22-4), which won the league in 2015.

Eagles junior guard Paris Locke led all scorers with 24 points. Ja’La Bannerman led St. Frances with 20 points.

“I’m really proud of our kids,” McDonogh coach Brad Rees said. “We knew we had a good and talented team this year, but tonight we became a great team. I give [the players] a lot of credit.”

After losing a few games in national tournaments, the Eagles went undefeated this year against A Conference competition. They also finished the year on a 17-game winning streak.

McDonogh set the tone on defense from the start of the game. Although the Eagles only built an 8-0 lead midway through the first quarter, McDonogh held St. Frances scoreless for the first 5:50 of the game. After a Bannerman layup got the Panthers on the board, the Eagles held St. Frances scoreless again until 17 seconds were left in the quarter. McDonogh led 17-5 after the first quarter.

“These games [against St. Frances] are so physical,” Rees said. “I think we struggled with their physicality at times, but we got it together when we had to. Even when we got into some foul trouble, there was no drop off from the kids coming off the bench.”

McDonogh continued its offensive onslaught early in the second quarter and eventually took a 35-14 lead with 2:09 left in the half. St. Frances, behind nine points by Bannerman, went on an 11-5 run to end the half, and McDonogh went into the break with a 40-25 lead.

Locke began to assert herself in the third quarter. With the Eagles leading 45-29, she scored six of the next eight points to give McDonogh a 20-point lead with 4:11 left in the quarter.

Early in the third, St. Frances’ Kimmya Hicks and Daimoni Dorsey both fouled out, but the Panthers continued the defensive intensity, eventually cutting the deficit to 67-57 with 3:37 left. They would get no closer.

“We knew this would be a fight, and it was,” Locke said. “We just continued to push the ball up the court, and we waited for the opportunities to come, and they did.”

McDonogh sophomore Kennedy Umeh summed up the memorable night for the Eagles.

“We’ve worked so hard for this,” Umeh said. “Ever since we started practice, we’ve had Feb. 21 on our minds. We played as a team and shared the ball, and now we’re champions.”

No. 1 McDonogh 77, No. 4 St. Frances 65

SFA: D. Dorsey 4, K. Dorsey 2, Bannerman 20, Hicks 11, Sutton 11, Cherisier 9, Turner 8. Totals 16 31-37 65.

McD: Mitchell 11, McKennie 2, Greene 9, Yarborough 13, Quimby 10, Locke 24, Jenkins 3, Umeh 5. Totals 24 24-41 77

Halftime: McD, 40-25