Bruins battle to win region title
The odds should have been against Broadneck boys basketball. It began this season against the curve, losing games and players. On Thursday, the Bruins traveled to South River for the Class 4A East Region II final, surrounded by a hostile crowd. They were also down a starter in Jalen Carter, who had been a major scorer in big games.
But that’s not what Amare Jefferies, Jordan Brown, and the other seniors thought about. They had a dream since middle school: to get Broadneck out of the region and into the state tournament.
On Thursday, the second-seeded Bruins strung together the right defensive package to quell a top-seeded South River team, 49-43, that also longed for a first region playoff crown.
“It’s bigger than us,” Jefferies said. “There’s kids behind us, looking at us like we did.”
After reseeding, the Bruins will travel to No. 4 Gaithersburg in Saturday’s state quarterfinal.
Too often, in high school sports, people jump when things don’t start off well. But coach John Williams believed that even after the turmoil of the early season there were people in the locker room who could lift Broadneck out of the region, people who had bought in and were willing to be coached.
Broadneck pushed the Seahawks to the outside with a 3-2 zone, forcing them to take 3-pointers and limiting players capable of driving.
“I think we did a good job feeling things out in the first half, making adjustments, then executing in the second half. I’m extremely pleased with our guys,” Williams said, “with the level of effort and will and resiliency they showed tonight. It was a challenge. Scoring was never easy tonight — never is in the playoffs — defenses are stingy, and every possession seems to be magnified.”
Offensive rebounds kept the Seahawks afloat. Senior James Crimaudo grabbed an offensive board, scuttled back to the arc and fired a 3-pointer to close the gap to one.
It was then the Bruins defense receded. Seahawks senior Cash Herndon (19 points) launched a 3-pointer, and Trashaun Timmons (11 points) followed. South River took an 11-9 lead into the second quarter.
Two-straight 3-pointers from Herndon pushed the lead to 17-11 early in the second. Williams called his players in. This would be where they decided, were they the team that bent to another team’s will, or would they fight back?
“We just talked about recommitting ourselves to the defensive end,” Williams said. “The idea was 16 minutes — guts for glory.”
Jefferies led Broadneck back, draining eight straight points to tie the game at 19 at halftime.
Williams beamed at the thought of Jefferies’ growth from a freshman to the beacon he’s become now. He became a clutch player this year, Williams said, but moreover the example his teammates followed. “I just love my team,” Jefferies said. Jefferies didn’t do it alone; his play was only possible while the Bruins elbowed the Seahawks off the offensive boards again. Michael Schwob, soldiering through a sprained ankle, joined Devin McGowan, Kyle Miles and Grant Kelly in establishing a Bruins monopoly on the glass.
You could hang Broadneck’s win on the first two minutes of the third quarter. The defense held its own.
“And I was hitting shots,” said Brown, who knocked down two subsequent 3s, “and [Amare] was getting to the basket.”
As if that wasn’t enough for South River to handle, foul trouble took pivotal players off the floor. The Seahawks worked to sail with water leaking through the hull. And Broadneck was happily punching holes.
“When they’re protecting the middle, when our shots aren’t falling from the perimeter, it makes it even more tough to get the ball into the paint and score,” Seahawks coach Darren Hall said. “Credit to coach Williams and those guys. We couldn’t get enough stops and we couldn’t get enough shots.”
Broadneck pushed a 31-28 lead after three quarters to 40-32. But South River kept coming back. Blake Burrows scooped a loose ball and dropped a layup-and-one to tie the game at 40. But when Broadneck surged back ahead, Herndon got hit with his fifth foul.
Without his heroics, South River lacked the one player who’d been able to skirt Broadneck’s defense consistently all night. The rest of the Seahawks poured their all into it. Senior Jeremy Berger’s free throw pulled them within 45-43.
But the fouls just kept hitting South River. Brown went to the free-throw line twice, landing four shots. Broadneck’s dream brightened. South River’s died.
The Seahawks seniors would have been the program’s first true region champions, and it had been their hope. But Hall tries to look at the positives: they were in it. That’s something that South River boys basketball couldn’t have said for a long time.
“As we told these guys, a loss is going to hurt. It will for a while,” Hall said. “But what they’ve done for our program, our school and each other, that’s not going to go anywhere.”
Meade 60, Reservoir 51: The Mustangs overtook the Gators in the Class 4A East Region I final with a 16-6 third quarter. Shawn Jones had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and went 13-for-16 from the foul line, while Xavion Roberson had 22 points and eight assists.
Stephen Decatur 72, Northeast 60: Cam Albury led all scorers with 32 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles lost on the road. Jadyass Fifer scored 10 points, while Chase Buttry and Johnnie Hutton contributed six and five, respectively, for Northeast (18-6).