Severn rallies past South River to take title, 45-41 St. Mary's tournament

The finals of the St. Mary's Christmas Tournament featured a private school versus public school matchup, and the private school came out on top as the Severn Admirals pulled off a come-from-behind 45-41 victory over South River last night.

Coach Jim Doyle's squad was down for most of the game, but hung around long enough to give them selves a chance to win. The Admirals (12-1) got consecutive three-pointers by Brad Fowler and James Carpenter, to tie the game with a minute remaining in regulation. Jamand Mack shook off some early foul-shooting woes and hit both ends of an one-and-one to put Severn ahead for good.

"We don't get a chance to play county teams too often, so this wasimportant," said Doyle. "We also wanted to win the tournament. We've been trying to get at this level for a long time and I don't think we played as good as we can, but I think this win will help our team's confidence going into conference play."

The last two minutes of the game contained most of the game's action. The Seahawks (4-3) took a 39-35 lead on a Darren Hall shot and extended it to 41-35 on Corey Davis' drive to the basket. But that was when Fowler and Carpenter stepped up and hit their threes.

Mack said after the game that although he had a poor night shooting, his role on the team requires him to make plays with the game on the line.

"I was rushing my shots, early in the second half," said Mack. "I just put everything out of my mind on the last two and didn't even think of the earlier shots. This was a big win for us because South River is a great ballclub, and to beat them in a championship game like this was a great confidence booster."