Thanks, Maestro! Smithsburg girls tally win in regional playoffs, move to semifinals

SMITHSBURG, Md. – Another game. Another strong performance. On Tuesday, the Smithsburg girls basketball team was in concert again.

The Leopards were in harmony as senior Skyla Mastronardi kept them in tune. On this day, Mastronardi should have been Maestro-ardi.

Mastronardi hit high notes with 18 points while adding nine rebounds, nine assists and five steals, all important in helping top-seeded Smithsburg junior forward Jenna Todd. Todd, who normally plays in complimentary roles for the Leopards, came to the forefront with a team-high 21 points against Francis Scott Key.

“Before the game, we were talking about just getting offensive rebounds and being ‘bigger’ on offense, because we were taller than all of (FSK),” Todd said. “A lot of my successes from my teammates. They are giving good passes to me. They help get me open with the place we run.”

Todd stepped forward with seven points of Smithsburg’s first 18 points in the first quarter for a 13-point lead with 3:52 left in the period, capped by her layup.

“I told them before the game ‘we saw FSK a couple weeks ago and we have a little bit of a size advantage with Jenna down low, so, let’s se rg e if we can capitalize on our height advantage.’” Bono said. “I thought today we did a great job. That was our point of emphasis on the boards to get it going early.”

Mastronardi’s ball-handling and Smithsburg’s defense held FSK to one basket – a three-pointer by Ava Himes – for the first 7:25 of the game, building a 22-7 lead. Liv Thomas got a last-minute basket for the Eagles, making it 22-9 at the break.

“I was really just looking for what was open.” Mastronardi said. “When I was driving, a lot of people were collapsing on me. It just made my teammates more open a little bit. They were putting themselves in the right spot, so it made it easier.

“I get the same amount of joy (scoring a basket or getting an assist). I mean, two points is two points. If I score it or if my teammates score it, I don’t really care.”

Smithsburg scored the first eight points of the second quarter, all on layups off steals, passes and hard moves to the basket, for a 30-9 lead.

“That’s the thing with us, you can’t really get too caught up in the score, just because we can put up 10 points in 30 seconds with our defense,” Bono said.

Mastronardi scored four of the last six points in the half for Smithsburg for a 36-14 lead at the intermission.

“If she’s not hitting threes or scoring 25 points, she’s always an unselfish player,” Smithsburg coach Todd Bono of Mastronardi. “She leads our team and assists, so that’s what she does. She’s got great vision, great ball-handling skills. She’s a high level, high IQ kid.”

All of Mastronardi’s stats helped to orchestrate a seamless offensive attack for the still-undefeated Leopards while swinging the spotlight on 6-foot-1

Todd and Mastronardi took control in the third quarter, combining for 16 of the Leopards’ 19 points to push the lead to 55-23. Todd stepped out and hit a pair of 3s for six of her eight points in the quarter.

“(Todd) just did a really good job today at cutting and driving to the basket, really using her height advantage,” Mastronardi said.

Smithsburg held a 56-19 lead with 3:11 remaining in the third quarter, starting the running clock for the rest of the game. The running clock is invoked when leads reach 35 polnts.

The Leopards scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to post a 63-23 lead and didn’t score again in the last 5:41.

Claire Bono was Smithsburg’s third scorer in double figures with 12 and added three assists and four steals. Kara Hoover had seven rebounds and five assists, while Jayda Tyler added eight points and five rebounds.

Smithsburg recorded assists on 19 of its 27 baskets and had 15 steals.

For the Leopards, this victory was a chance to prepare for a possible next four games, which would take Smithsburg all the way to the state title game next week at University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

“(Todd) is going to have to have big moments in the playoffs,” Todd Bono said. “(Teams are) going to focus on Skyla and Claire down the road. So, we need all five of (the starters). And it’s good when you can get post points … points in the paint. That’s what we’re trying to do.”