South River lights up Crofton from the perimeter
Seahawks’ 78-40 victory on Monday improves their winning streak to seven
South River, undefeated against Anne Arundel County opponents, ruled 3 ½ quarters and crushed Crofton, 78-40, Monday night to push its winning streak to seven.
The Seahawks acknowledge the confidence that’s brought them here. But they’re not willing to celebrate it too much yet — not with a difficult week ahead and games against Severna Park, Southern, Annapolis and Arundel.
“I don’t think we’re at our max potential,” said junior Cash Herndon, who recorded 17 points. “I think we have a lot left, a lot we can still give. We’ll see where we fall at the end of the year.”
With Trashaun Timmons missing on Monday, a different player took over. Senior Zarek Wheatley unfurled his abilities, scoring a team-high 18 points predominantly from the perimeter, as the senior tallied four 3-pointers.
“Zarek can shoot the ball. We have confidence in Zarek. … He stepped in and played well. He’s gonna help us, as he did tonight,” Seahawks coach Darren Hall said.
Crofton did not act like a team with one win during the first five minutes.
The Cardinals nipped South River’s shooters in pursuit, closing any airspace the Seahawks would’ve liked to almost nothing. As such, Crofton kept considerably close to their crosstown opponent in the first quarter.
Cardinals junior Sam Ross gave his team an early lead with an opening free throw and shut the gap to 6-5 with another two after a steal.
That exemplified the progress coach Jeff Starr glimpsed in his team just before Crofton (1-6) shut down for 21 days because of coronavirus protocols. When the Cardinals returned last week, Starr felt like they’d lost their progress, that they were starting over again.
“We have three goals: We’re trying to play hard, we’re trying to rebound, we’re trying to get back on defense,”
Starr said. “The execution part, we’re gonna get there. Shots are going to start falling. Skills are going to start improving.”
When the Cardinals’ defense allowed South River to think about its shots, that all began to disintegrate. As Hall said, the Seahawks began to run the floor with purpose.
“They miss the first two [3-pointers], we want them to shoot the third,” Hall said.
Players like Herndon tore into Crofton’s defense; as it collapsed, James Crimaudo hit a triple and South River swiftly embarked on a 7-0 run. Blake Burrows’ made 3-pointer came after the Seahawks passed the ball around for 15 seconds. Wheatley’s subsequent
triple came on a wide-open shot, as did Herndon’s just after.
To forge a 22-9 lead at the end of the first, the Seahawks had drilled four back-to-back 3-pointers, a stark example of how drastically South River had shaken off Crofton.
As much as Hall doesn’t want his offense to rely too heavily on their 3-point shooting, it’s a point of intense focus in practice.
“We work on cuts, seriously,” Wheatley said. “Moving the ball, different plays, make certain people open so it’s not the same person shooting all the time. It opens up the offense.”
Herndon closed out the first half first by stripping the Cardinals, gliding down the court, spinning around his mark gracefully and popping in the basket that gave South River a 43-21 lead.
Even that was slow by the Seahawks’ standards. Hall drew his flock in at halftime and, Herndon attested, hyped them up.
“We came out and probably played the best third quarter we’ve played all year,” Herndon said.
Burrows nailed back-toback triples — their seventh and eighth of the night — before getting a turnover. By Wheatley’s next three, the Seahawks accumulated more points from 3-pointers than the Cardinals had total.
Even with just one starter on the floor, South River coasted to a 62-27 lead at the end of the third. It wasn’t just the starters getting in on the perimeter, either: senior Connor Chick drained the 12th Seahawks three off the bench.
“We want guys to play with confidence,” Hall said. “We believe in our guys.”