No. 13 Broadneck withstood a furious three-point barrage by Annapolis' Garee Boston to end a three-game skid with a 65-56 victory over the visiting Panthers in Cape St. Claire yesterday.
Broadneck (13-5), the defending Anne Arundel County champion, led 51-31 with 5:15 remaining when Boston, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, got a hot hand.
The Bruins, Annapolis and Arundel were all tied for second at 8-3 in the county behind No. 12 Old Mill (14-2, 9-2) going into last night.
Boston, who had a game-high 35 points, including nine threes, scored 20 of his points in the final period, 18 of them on threes. The six threes came in succession in the final 3:28, with his last one making it a 60-54 game with 1:18 left.
"That is one of the more amazing feats I've seen in the county in the time I've been around," Bruins coach John Williams said. "Every time it left his hands, I thought it was going in. I felt as if we had some fairly decent pressure on him, but he was just draining threes with guys right in his face. It was a credit to him, Coach [John] Brady and the team for not giving up."
No. 3 Randallstown 69, Owings Mills 63 --When it comes to the transition game, Rams forward Alex Johnson said his team might just be the best in the state. Last night, the upstart Eagles found out firsthand on their home court.
Led by the 6-4 Johnson, Randallstown beat Owings Mills defenders down the court for fast-break baskets, helping to neutralize the effectiveness of the Eagles' inside game.
"We run so many sprints in practice that I feel we're the most conditioned team in the state," said Johnson, who scored 16 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. "By the third and fourth quarter, they were on their knees tired, and we were ready to roll."
The win was the 11th straight for Randallstown (18-2, 10-0 Baltimore County Class 2A-1A), which clinched the county Class 2A-1A title, increasing its lead over Owings Mills (15-4, 8-2) to two games with one to play.
This one, however, didn't come without a fight. Led by 6-8 junior Andrew Fitzgerald's 26 points, the Eagles erased an early deficit to build a 47-43 lead on Fitzgerald's tip-in late in the third quarter. But the Rams pulled away early in the fourth, scoring eight straight points in the span of a minute.
"We were able to go a little deeper into our bench and stay a little fresher," Rams coach Kim Rivers said. "Their strength was the post, and our strength was the speed and transition. We were able to win the transition game to get the `W.' "
