St. Frances holds off No. 7 Glen Burnie

During halftime of Saturday’s Glen Burnie/St. Frances girls basketball contest, Panther seniors Ande’a Cherisier, Kameryn Dorsey and Kimmya Hicks were honored.

The trio made sure their final home game was victorious as the No. 3 Panthers defeated the seventh-ranked Gophers, 59-53, in a non-league special in East Baltimore. Cherisier finished with 16 points for St. Frances (22-3 overall), and Hicks added 15.

The perennial IAAM A Conference powerhouse Panthers needed a couple of plays in the final minute to fend off the Anne Arundel public champs in their regular season finale. Friday, St. Frances topped fourth-ranked St. Vincent Pallotti in its final IAAM A regular season match.

“We just had to keep working…shots weren’t falling,” said Cherisier. “Eventually, we just had to have fun and be aggressive.”

Trailing 32-31 at halftime, St. Frances went on a 20-8 run to build a 51-40 advantage late in the third quarter. The Gophers did not go away, pulling to within 55-53 after two free throws from Lania Nick with 2 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in regulation.

Cherisier, who will play for the University of Delaware next season, converted two free throws with 1:39 remaining for a 57-53 advantage. The Panthers forced three misses by Glen Burnie standout guard Amourie Porter before Sydney Sutton’s breakaway layup with nine seconds left closed out the game.

Hicks said slowing down Porter, who’s committed to Cal State Fullerton, was St. Frances’ focus in the second half.

“I played with her over the summer so I figured I’d be the best person to defend her,” said Hicks, who will play for Loyola next season. “We knew Glen Burnie was a good team and wanted to beat us.”

The Gophers (17-2) were ready Saturday as Porter scored 14 of her 16 first half points in the second quarter. She drained a 3-pointer for Glen Burnie’s first points of the second half and a 35-34 lead.

It would be Porter’s last basket Saturday as well as the Gophers’ final advantage. Two free throws from Cherisier, a rebound and basket by Dorsey and Hicks’ transition layup put St. Frances ahead, 40-35.

The lead grew to 47-39 as Dorsey found Hicks for a quick layup in a possession aided by Cherisier’s second effort. Cherisier, an agile 5-foot-10 forward, converted off a hard drive, giving the hosts a 49-39 advantage with under a minute remaining in the third.

Glen Burnie became the aggressor in the fourth, attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line. Porter’s two free throws got the Gophers to 52-49 before Aichatta Soumaoro converted the visitors’ only basket in the fourth, making it 53-51 with 3:05 left.

Nick’s free throws with 2:24 remaining would be Glen Burnie’s final points. Porter finished with 23 points (seven in second half) while Soumauro had 10 of her 15 points in the second half, and pulled down 13 rebounds.

Gophers coach Sam Porter was “super excited” by his team’s effort against arguably the area’s most decorated program.

“We played hard the whole game, we had a few lapses here and there, but we’re playing against one of the greats,” said Porter, whose team’s other defeat came against No. 6 Mercy at the Public vs. Private Challenge at McDonogh last month. “We gave them more than they could handle…they’re tough but they also saw we’re tough.”

St. Frances coach Jerome Shelton was frustrated with his team’s ball security in the fourth quarter.

He said Glen Burnie gave the Panthers a lot to focus on heading into next week’s IAAM A playoffs.

“I think that we have to tighten up some things offensively and I think we’ll be fine,” said Shelton. “The main thing is we got to get confidence from our defense first…play off our defensive energy and it let carry over to the offensive end instead of vice versa.”

Glen Burnie completes its regular season slate at Broadneck Wednesday. Saturday, the Gophers play Severna Park or South River in the Anne Arundel County championship at Arundel.

The Gophers had a breakout 2021-22 campaign, winning the Anne Arundel championship and reaching the Class 4A state semifinals. They suffered their only loss to eventual state champion Western.

Porter thinks Saturday will propel Glen Burnie into the upcoming postseason.

“This team is mentally tough. Last year, it was the energy of being undefeated and history,” said Porter. “This team understands that was last year, and now, they have to write their own chapter.”

The latest chapter of St. Frances’ storied postseason history starts Thursday against Pallotti or Archbishop Spalding in the IAAM A semifinals. The Panthers swept both teams during the regular season.

St. Frances, the No. 2 seed, is projected to meet reigning champ and second-ranked McDonogh, the No. 1 seed, in the championship finale, Feb. 20 at APGFCU Arena at Harford Community College.

The Panthers have won 13 IAAM A titles, and five of the previous six.

“We got to tighten a couple of things on defense and come out early with energy,” said Hicks.

NO. 3 ST. FRANCES 59, NO. 7 GLEN BURNIE 53

Glen Burnie - Porter 23, Soumauro 15, Wilkerson 9, Washington 4, Nick 2. Totals 11 28-35 53.

St. Frances - Cherisier 16, Hicks 15, Osby 9, Suggs 7, Dorsey 6, Sutton 6. Totals 19 19-24 59.

Glen Burnie 11 21 10 11 - 53

St. Frances 13 18 20 8 - 59