Conway scores 55 points to lift Dulaney
Hereford basketball coach Jim Rhoads watched Dulaney junior guard Ryan Conway score 45 of his career-high 55 points in the first half of the Lions’ 96-58 victory on Wednesday night and wasn’t ready to change anything.
“I wasn’t going to change and have two guys chasing him,” Rhoads said. “We weren’t going to stop him at that point. He was on fire. He was a video game player at that time.”
After making three 3-pointers in the first quarter and scoring 14 points, Conway exploded for 31 in the second quarter and had converted 12 3-pointers.
At one point, he made eight straight 3-pointers and was 11-for-12 from beyond the arc. He was making 3s from just over half-court and from the deep baseline corners.
“Once you get hot, it’s just like shooting at a hula hoop,” said Conway, who played just 22:20 minutes and added eight steals and four assists.
He scored the final 18 points on six 3-pointers to help the No. 7 Lions (9-3) take a 65-28 halftime lead.
Dulaney coach Matt Lochte, who has seen him play since he was 6 years old, had witnessed his shooting clinics before.
“I could feel the crowd, but I’ve been in the gym with him a few thousand times over the years, so I’ve seen him go off and he’s capable of doing it,” Lochte said.
With 6-foot-6 starting forward Cam Byers out with a shoulder injury and starting guard Latrell Harper missing because of a back spasm, the Lions relied on its pressure defense to force11turnovers in the first quarter and take a 28-9 lead.
Darvin Green canned a pair of 3pointers and Jaylen Amoroso had four points and a pair of steals while Conway was just heating up.
Jaylin Webster fed Conway for his first 3, one of his 10 assists, just 23 seconds into the second quarter, and it was showtime.
“What I learned was always feed the hot hand, if someone’s hot don’t be selfish, feed the hot hand,” Webster said. “He’s a great teammate and if somebody else was hot he would do the same thing, so I tried to be a great teammate and keep feeding him.”
Conway, who said he has never scored 45 in a half or 55 in a game, was confident in himself and his teammates.
“I was very confident in our team,” said Conway, who is averaging 27.2 points per game. “My coach put together a very good game plan for us and I just happened to get hot early, but this team did a really good job of feeding the hot hand, so that’s how I got the scoring I did.”
Conway is being recruited by Maryland, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Stanford and Vanderbilt.
Hereford coach Rhoads, whose 5-5 squad was led by Dan Benna (13 points), Justin Capan (12) and Charlie Suchy (eight), was certainly impressed.
“He’s a very good player and he has really changed from last year, he’s gotten bigger, stronger and he’s more mature physically,” Rhoads said.
Lochte was even more impressed with how his team made sure Conway got his touches.
“We have a lot of trust in each other and his teammates have a lot of trust in him,” Lochte said. “That was a team 55, here he comes out with the number 55, but they are finding the hot man.”
But, the coach couldn’t help but praise the 4.0 GPA student, who was 12-for-19 from beyond the arc, 6-for-8 from inside it and 7-for-11 from the free-throw line.
“It was a special performance. He’s a special player,” Lochte said.
No. 1 St. Frances 78, No. 9 Glenelg Country 53: Center Jamal West scored a game-high 39 points to lead the host Panthers (21-2, 9-0 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference) over the Dragons (10-6, 7-4). St. Frances went on a 22-8 run to start the second half. Noah Charles had 12 points for Glenelg Country. The Panthers are ranked No. 10 in the country by ESPN. The only two losses suffered by St. Frances were to out-of-area opponents. The Panthers fell 73-55 to Sunrise Christian (Kansas) at the City of Palms tournament in Fort Myers, Florida, on Dec. 20 and 85-67 to host IMG Academy (Florida) in the Ascender Classic in Bradenton, Florida, on Jan. 11. St. Frances will travel to No. 4 Mount St. Joseph Friday at 7 p.m.
No. 13 Franklin 68, Overlea 50: Chandler Johnson scored a game-high 20 points and Micah Lowery played tough defense as the visiting Indians (6-2) beat the Falcons (2-9). Franklin extended it’s two-point first-quarter lead with a 20-12 run in the second quarter. The Indians travel to Eastern Tech on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Severn 59, St. Paul’s 51: Adam Angwafo scored 19 points to lead the host Admirals (6-10, 3-3 MIAA B Conference) over the Crusaders (7-12, 1-4). Severn hosts St. John’s Catholic Prep Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Oakland Mills 72, Hammond 61: Truth North scored a game-high 29 to lead the host Scorpions (10-2) past the Bears (5-7).
Wrestling
No. 14 Arundel 37, Southern 33: Arundel heavyweight Nate Kloss knew the team score when he stepped onto the mat at Southern Wednesday night. The No. 14 Wildcats trailed by two points, and with nobody left to count on, Kloss didn’t shy away from the moment.
“I saw the team score and I was like, I’ve got to win this match,” Kloss said, “and I went out there and I performed.”
Confident and in control with the dual meet on the line, Kloss took Bulldogs heavyweight Robert Lankford down to the mat in the first minute, and 40 seconds later used every ounce of his weight to turn Lankford onto his back. It took only another second for the referee to signal the fall and seal Arundel’s 37-33 victory.
“I like the arm bar, but I couldn’t get it because (Lankford’s) arms are too short,” Kloss explained. “So, I was like, ‘I’m just going to ram this kid over,’ and I know when I get on top of people, it’s over.”
Arundel was without four of its six top starters on Wednesday, including thirdplace state finisher Caleb Chaves, which had coach Dwayne Vogel nervous before the match against a Southern team that has been up and down all season.
“There was definitely doubt. We came in here pretty beat up,” he said.
No. 10 River Hill 68, Centennial 36: The host Hawks made their shots, and the Eagles didn’t.
River Hill shot 56% from the field — compared with 28% for Centennial — en route to a win over the visiting Eagles.
“In the past, I haven’t spent as much time on offense. Now we’re trying to spend some extra time on it. We’ve put the time in on shooting in practice,” said River Hill head coach Teresa Waters.
While River Hill’s efficiency throughout the game was impressive, it was even better in the first three quarters — before backups started entering on both sides. Led by Saniha Jackson’s 26 points on 12-of-14 shooting, River Hill (8-0 Howard County, 11-3) was 25 for 40 (62.5%) from the field in the first 24 minutes.
“They’re a good ball team,” said Centennial coach Rob Slopek. “They’re undefeated in the county and are defending state champs for good reason.”
The performance from Jackson is her second highest point total this season. Her previous high was 30 points in a win over Oakland Mills on Dec. 20. She added seven rebounds and five blocks in the triumph Wednesday. The senior forward is leading the team with 15.8 points per game.
Centennial (4-3, 5-6) opened the game at River Hill with an 11-9 lead. The Hawks then trapped took advantage of a sixminute scoring drought from the Eagles and went on a 24-0 run. Turnovers were a key reason for the 24-0 run and throughout the game, as the Hawks forced 22 turnovers in the game.
Both teams are back in action Friday. River Hill travels to Long Reach, while Centennial plays at undefeated Howard.
Winters Mill 48, Francis Scott Key 38: Winters Mill was without three of its captains Wednesday — Chelsey Acha, Allie Cullison, and Madison Harmening — when it traveled to Francis Scott Key.
The visitors didn’t let the absence of those players keep them from bringing their best effort against the Eagles, and they utilized girls from the bench in different positions to come away with a 48-38 victory, good for their third Carroll County Athletic League win this winter.
Junior guard Katelyn Heffner commanded the Falcons on offense with a game-high 14 points. Veronica Paylor scored eight, and Emily Kowalski and Sophia Barnes notched seven points apiece for the Falcons (4-7, 3-2 CCAL). It helped make up for the loss of Acha (injury) and Cullison and Harmening (both illness).