BERLIN, Pa. — No. 1 Southern led Berlin Brothersvalley wire-to-wire Thursday, and Carly Wilt was 10 for 10 at the foul line in the fourth quarter to help the Rams to a 71-62 road triumph and their 12th straight win.
Southern (18-2) led 14-6 after the first quarter and 29-21 at the half, as Wilt hit a trio of first-half 3-pointers as part of her 11 points. She finished with 27 — 14 in the fourth quarter — and was 12 for 12 from the line.
Berlin (16-5) — which defeated Mountain Ridge, 62-43, Allegany, 68-47, and Fort Hill, 57-40 — cut Southern’s lead to 47-45 entering the fourth. Star freshman Coral Prosser scored 16 of her team-high 25 points after halftime.
However, Wilt was clutch at the foul line in the decider, as was Emelee Parks, who was 5 of 6 from the stripe in the fourth and finished with 12 points, as Southern held on.
Southern’s victory sets up the biggest girls basketball game of the season next week. The top-ranked Rams (18-2, 7-0 Western Maryland Athletic Conference) head to Frostburg to battle No. 2 Mountain Ridge (16-3, 6-1 WestMAC) on Monday at 7 p.m.
If the Rams win, they’ll clinch a conference title outright and the No. 1 seed and home court in the Class 1A West Region I playoffs.
If Mountain Ridge wins, it’ll force a share for the conference championship and give the Miners the same number of losses as Southern with two games remaining.
In the case of matching records at year’s end and a season split (Southern won the first meeting 56-49 on Jan. 11 in Oakland), a coin flip will determine the higher seed.
Southern closes out the year with struggling Fairmont Senior (1-16) at home on Thursday.
Mountain Ridge has a tougher finish, hosting state championship contender Catoctin (16-3) on Wednesday before closing out its regular season at Clear Spring on Friday.
No. 4 Allegany 58 Clear Spring 35
CLEAR SPRING — Avery Miller and Shylah Taylor both recorded double-doubles, leading No. 4 Allegany to a road win over Clear Spring on Thursday.
Taylor scored a game-high 17 points with 11 rebounds for the Campers (11-7).
Miller recorded 16 points, 11 steals, seven assists and five rebounds.
In Miller’s last three games, she has combined for 23 assists, 20 rebounds and 20 steals.
Ella Shade scored 10 points in the first half and finished with 14.
Kara Hoover led the Blazers with 12 points off four 3-pointers.
Callie Alkire and Abby Curry each scored 10 points.
The Campers led 16-12 after one quarter, 34-21 at halftime and 50-29 heading into the fourth quarter.
Allegany hosts Bishop Walsh on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Campers already clinched the City League title, but can clinch an undefeated record against Cumberland foes with a win.