Annapolis rallies to beat Meade

9-0 run in fourth quarter leads Panthers past defending region champs

A lot of what Annapolis did so well in Thursday’s victory over North Point was missing in Saturday’s Class 4A East Region final against Meade.

The three-point shots weren’t falling, the Panthers were struggling from the foul line and Chris Jones was held to a pedestrian 11 points through three quarters.

The struggles continued well into the fourth quarter Saturday, but the Panthers rallied from a six-point deficit with 2:45 left and defeated two-time defending region champion Meade, 59-55, in the Class 4A East Region final.

Annapolis (17-8) won its state-record 28th region title and second in four years. The Panthers will play Perry Hall in a state semifinal at 7 p.m. Thursday at Maryland.

“This is probably one of the first times we came back from that much down that late this season,” Annapolis coach Dan Smalley said. “I’m really proud of the guys.”

Jones, who hit five 3-pointers and scored 29 points in Thursday’s win, didn’t hit a 3-pointer Saturday.

He scored nine of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, including seven as part of a 9-0 run in the span of a minute that helped turn the six-point deficit into a three-point lead.

“We struggled here and there and we had some downfalls,” Jones said. “We just had to rely on our intensity and defensive and offensive rebounding.”

The Panthers missed their first four free throws of the fourth and were shooting less than 50 percent from the line, but went 8-for-12 down the stretch to close out the win.

After Jones hit a pair at the 2:33 mark, Will Dion hit a couple 11 seconds later to cut the Meade lead to two. The Panthers quickly forced a held ball and Jones pulled up for a short jumper that tied the game with 2:08 left.

The Mustangs turned the ball over on their next possession and Jones drove the lane and scored while getting fouled and converted the three-point play to put the Panthers up for good.

Daryl Turner, Trey Gross and Nyonjae Spriggs each hit key free throws in the final 51 seconds to help seal the win.

Annapolis enjoyed an advantage on the boards Saturday, including a huge offensive rebound by Gross off a missed free throw with 40 seconds left.

“Him keeping the ball on [our] side of the court was absolutely critical,” Smalley said.

Gross had 11 points and 13 rebounds and Spriggs finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for the Panthers, who’ve lost their past six state semifinals since playing in the state final in 1989 and 1990.

A — Spriggs 5(2) 1-4 13; Jones 7 6-10 20; Dion 2 2-2 6; Ralph 2 0-0 4; Gross 4 3-4 11; Davidson 0 0-0 0; Johnson 0 0-0 0; Turner 2 1-3 5; Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22(2) 13-23 59.

M — Cunningham 2 0-1 4; Jennings 0 0-0 0; Moses 1(1) 0-0 3; Sturdivant 1 1-2 3; Thames 6(3) 2-2 17; Williams 3 1-3 7; May 0 0-0 0; Washington 6(5) 2-2 19; Evbuomwan 0 0-1 0. Totals: 19(9) 8-12 55.

Half: A, 28-23