The Boys' Latin basketball team had too many offensive weapons and too much hustle for Annapolis Area Christian School, and the Lakers used those assets to gain a 67-62 victory over the Eagles in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference championship Sunday afternoon at UMBC.
Boys' Latin (24-6) won its first basketball championship since 1990.
"To me, it's really about these seniors that we have," said Boys' Latin coach Cliff Rees, referring to Blair Brooks, Jerel Archer, Patrick Spencer and Shawn Stepney. "They have been in the program for four years and given everything we have asked. They have made us better each and every year. Then to finally close it out for them with a championship is pretty cool."
Spencer and 6-foot-7 junior forward Kodye Pugh carried the Boys' Latin offense.
Pugh, who has received Division 1 scholarship offers from Georgetown, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals.
Spencer, a 6-3 forward who has signed to play lacrosse at Loyola University, had 20 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals.
Spencer hit nine of 12 shots from the field.
"He could be a Division I basketball player," Rees said. "He can do everything on the court."
Spencer and Pugh led the Lakers, but 6-3 Annapolis Area Christian junior forward Justin Williams scored a game-high 31 points.
Spencer's impact was felt more in the first half.
He scored 12 points in a four-minute stretch — including two three-pointers — to turn a Boys' Latin 10-point lead into a 35-16 bulge in the middle of the second quarter. The Lakers led at halftime, 38-25.
"You just can't get down to a great team like Boys' Latin by 19 points," Annapolis Area Christian coach Doug Scheidt said. "They were hitting their shots, they were smoother and making the extra pass. We were doing none of those things. Who knows how the second half would have played out if we would played well in the first half? The fact is, we didn't."
Boys' Latin became careless with the basketball in the third quarter. That helped Annapolis Area Christian (18-8) reduce the lead to 42-36 in the first five minutes by going on an 11-4 run.
Williams was also a huge factor during that stretch, scoring nine points.
Boys' Latin used an 8-1 run to start the fourth quarter to push its lead to 55-42, but the Eagles hung tough and made a furious rally late.
Annapolis Area Christian hit three three-pointers in a 34-second stretch to make it 64-60 with 26 seconds remaining. Williams made two of them and Ryan Rawlings had the other.
Boys' Latin, however, got an uncontested layup from Pugh and a free throw from Brooks (10 points) in the final seconds to preserve the win.
"Every time we made a run, they made enough of a counter run to keep us at bay," said Scheidt, whose team shot 39 percent (25-for-63) from the field.
No. 13 Boys' Latin 67 Annapolis Area Christian School 62
BL—Pugh 24, Spencer 20, Brooks 10, Andrews 6, Bradsher 5, Stepney 2. Totals: 27 9-17 67.
AACS— J. Williams 31, Eberle 9, Vina 8, Foley 4, R. Rawlings 3, K. Rawlings 2, Austin 2, Jacobs 2, C Williams 1 Totals: 25 6-12 62. Half: BL, 38-25.