No. 5 Glen Burnie faces adversity in victory over South River
Glen Burnie girls basketball is glad it saw South River now. The Gophers hope they never see the Seahawks again.
An intensely physical and suffocating Seahawks defense forced Glen Burnie to think outside the box on offense. It made No. 5 Glen Burnie adjust from what it likes to do — and does well — in favor of other tactics that kept the Gophers afloat long enough to fight back to its own brand of attack. It’s what sustained their 56-44 victory.
“The environment is crazy, coming on the road against a really good team and keeping your head for a victory,” Glen Burnie coach Sam Porter said. “When we came in here, did we doubt on winning? No. But at the same time, we knew it was going to be a fight.”
It’s that kind of growth that shows senior Lania Nick (15 points) how much further along Glen Burnie (11-0) is now than it was at this same point a year ago.
“We didn’t know what we’d walk into last year. This year, we know what’s coming at us,” Nick said. “We know what people want. We know what their goal is. So, we’re ready to take on any challenge.”
Turnovers stifled Glen Burnie’s quick start. Led by sophomore Raegan Ogle, the Seahawks scarfed up rebounds and monopolized loose balls, putting the onus on California State University, Bakersfield-bound Amourie Porter (23 points) to cleverly carve her way to the basket for Glen Burnie.
Nick doesn’t like placing that burden on Porter; none of the seniors do, she said. So, they shouldered the weight with her. If their love for transition baskets and fiery drives to the basket was going to get shut down by South River, then they’d try another way.
“We just played our ball: go. Didn’t let the refs bother us, the crowd, the other team,” Nick said. “Just played our basketball.”
At the end of the first, Nick’s closing 3-pointer have Glen Burnie a 13-8 lead. If the Gophers were forced outside, they would own the perimeter. Nick, Cassidy Wilkerson and Layla Washington prospered beyond the arc with four treys between them.
“We work on that at practice a lot. We take 100 shots before we even start prac- tice,” Nick said. “Yeah, we can drive to the perimeter. But when teams start closing in on us, we can go to the outside and know we can knock them down.”
South River was able to break into the paint, but not enough as it still trailed 26-15 — with plenty of silence to follow.
The Seahawks suffered through six scoreless minutes while Glen Burnie capitalized on its newfound increasing freedom to the net — and the fouls it drew.
Porter stressed to his team at the half that defense would be key to stopping the Seahawks. Even when South River did score, a measly pair of free throws subdued Glen Burnie about as much as a single raindrop in a fire.
Two swift treys from South River freshman Kiera West (14 points) in the final minute of the third couldn’t fix that. South River trailed 39-24 at the third’s end, as the Seahawks couldn’t help but send their guests to the foul line over and over. Nick, who’s shooting 86% at the stripe, took six of those alongside a jumper and 3-pointer.
“She loves that role. Nia loves the spotlight,” Porter said. “She really stepped up and I’m really proud of her in this game.”
It was a helpful aid in withstanding South River when it chose to wake up shortly into the fourth. A 19-point margin shrunk as West, Ogle, Ryleigh Adams, Calen Norton (10 points) and Skylar Woodyard rattled off shots from every spot.
But unlike before, South River couldn’t deploy the same kind of smothering defense to complement its hot streak.
That’s where Glen Burnie’s season motto came into play: “Level up.”
“We know teams are gonna make a run. They wanna try to level up on us, sure, we’ll go up to another level,” Porter said. “Is it always going to go where we want, ball fall in the hoop? No.
“But we’re bringing that tenacity. We’re bringing that fight. Sometimes we need a team like South River.”
Other girls basketball scores:
North Harford 59, North East 30 Broadneck 46, Chesapeake-AA 41 Southern 46, Huntingtown 44
Havre de Grace 56, Perryville 43 Harford Tech 52, C. Milton Wright 38
Westminster 47, Linganore 46 St. Mary’s 62, St. Timothy’s 52 Severna Park 47, Meade 26