Howard County, MD — Holiday tournament high school basketball is in full swing, with 11 out of the 12 Howard County public school teams playing in events around the area.
Chapelgate, which already won the Fairmont Heights Christmas Tournament from Dec. 22-23, is competing in the CKA Holiday Basketball Invitational on Wednesday along with Long Reach. Glenelg, meanwhile, begins play in the Severna Park Winter Jam on Thursday.
Here’s a roundup of results from around the area:
Paint Branch Holiday Hoopfest (Burgundy Bracket)
River Hill 62, Richard Montgomery 56
The first three minutes out of halftime encapsulated how River Hill secured a six-point win over Richard Montgomery on Wednesday afternoon.
Jaden Martin began the third quarter with a corner 3-pointer, and Luke Champion finished a layup about 30 seconds later. Then, after Jacob Krause drove for a bucket in close, Martin hit his backcourt mate down low, and Krause finished the layup while in midair.
With River Hill leading, 39-27, at the 5:19 mark of the period, Richard Montgomery needed a timeout.
The Hawks would hold on for their seventh straight win to start the season behind their senior trio, who torched the Rockets by combining to score 45 points.
“The thing I’m impressed with is that they share the ball extremely well,” coach Matt Graves said. “We know who our shooters are, we know who our slashers are and we put ourselves in a good position to score.”
Martin led the way for the Hawks with 19 points, while Krause, who entered the game averaging 16.2 points per game, kept his double-digit scoring streak alive with a 14-point performance. Champion scored 12 points, including a person 5-0 run in the third quarter that put the Hawks’ ahead by 13.
With the victory, River Hill advances to the Burgundy Bracket championship Thursday at 5 p.m. at Paint Branch High School. The Hawks will play the winner of Sherwood and Potomac (Md.).
River Hill came out sharp despite last playing Dec. 22. Krause drilled a 3-pointer, Martin splashed midrange jumpers and Championship finished layups through traffic inside, helping the Hawks score 18 points in the first quarter and end the period with a six-point advantage.
“It’s always being ready,” Martin said. “We want to keep our streak alive, and so I think we have each and every game prepared to play whether there’s a crowd or not. We did well today, and we have to do it tomorrow as well.”
After a turnover-plagued second period, the Hawks extended their lead to start the second half and held on late in the game despite allowing several easy layups and second-chance opportunities from offensive rebounds.
Richard Montgomery senior guard Daryn Alexander led all scorers with 21 points.
“Definsively, the key right now for us is making stops grabbing rebounds and not giving up straight line drives,” Graves said. “But all in all, we came out ready to play, which is nice to see after a couple of days off.”
River Hill (7-0) — 62, Richard Montgomery — 56
RH — Martin 19, Krause 14, Champion 12, Mann 8, McKenna 4, Kraket 3, Daniels 2.
Half: 30-25, RH
Next for River Hill: vs. Potomac (Md.) (Thursday at 5 p.m.)
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Oakland Mills Holiday Tournament
No. 9 Dulaney 74, Oakland Mills 61
Before Oakland Mills fans were settled into the stands for the school’s boys basketball game on Wednesday night, Dulaney built a multi-possession lead it would carry to the final buzzer.
Within the first 30 seconds, senior Josh Cornish drilled two corner 3-pointers. Then freshman Ryan Conway scored on a layup, and Oakland Mills coach Jon Browne had seen enough.
Fourty-five seconds into its holiday tournament opener, the Scorpions were down, 8-0.
While Browne’s team made mini runs to give itself a chance in the second half, No. 9 Dulaney was too much offensively in a 74-61 win on Oakland Mills’ home floor.
The Lions (5-0) advance to Thursday night’s championship against Boys’ Latin, while the Scorpions (4-2) will play Arundel in the consolation game that afternoon.
“We probably won the game on the offensive end, not the defensive end” Lions coach Matt Lochte said. “So, I thought we came out great … but then we got sloppy. We missed a lot of layups, we missed a lot of free throws.”
“We’re going to have to play a lot better to beat [Boys’ Latin],” Lochte added.
Lochte did make sure to praise the performance of Cornish, a Southern Utah commit who scored a game-high 25 points and made five of his seven shots from behind the arc. It seemed as though whenever the Scorpions gained some momentum, Cornish halted the run with his perimeter jump shot.
Sophomore guard Che Evans Jr., meanwhile, helped out by scoring 16 points.
Junior Daeshawn Eaton and senior Robert Burgess were bright spots for Oakland Mills, combining to score 40 points, but Browne viewed was disappointed with the overall result.
“It was a lack of effort on our part,” Browne said. “We made a little run, but as soon as we did, we turned the ball back over and gave them easy layups. We didn’t really give ourselves a chance to win this game tonight unfortunately.”
The Scorpions appeared to settle in after falling behind, 8-0, and the teams went back and forth in a high-scoring first quarter. However, their five-point deficit ballooned to a double-digit one thanks to a lack of rebounding and failing to get back on defense.
Browne estimates his team gave up at least a dozen points on breakaways in the first half.
The Lions invited Oakland Mills back into the game to start the second half by missing a layup and turning the ball over twice, and Burgess scored six unanswered points in response. The Scorpions were back within six.
That’s as close as they would get. Cornish halted the run with a layup, and a few possessions later, sank a a 3-pointer from the top of the key while getting fouled.
Similar to that jumper, the Lions’ overall performance wasn’t flawless but was enough to pull out yet another victory.
“We were making a lot of mental mistakes, and that comes with having a young group,” Cornish said. “We’re going to keep building off of that and learning."
Dulaney (5-0) — 74, Oakland Mills (4-2) — 61
Dulaney — Josh Cornish 25, Evans Jr. 16, Conway 13, Isaiah Cornish 8, Sharp 8, McGee 2, Amoruso 2.
OM — Eaton 21, Burgess 19, Chance 6, Hairston 5, Greggs 3, Brown 3, Simpson 2, McFadden 2.
Half: 40-28, Dulaney.
Next for Dulaney: vs. Boys Latin’ (Thursday at 7 p.m.)
Next for Oakland Mills: vs. Arudel (Thursday at 3 p.m.)
Liberty Holiday Tournament (Liberty Division)
Mt. Hebron (3-4) — 55, South Carroll — 46
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MH — Prox 15, Ilchrist 10, Nazaire 9, Kinloch 8, Carguilo 6, Crump 3, Lawson 2, Coleman 2.
Halftime: 29-15, MH
Next game: vs. Liberty (Thursday at 7 p.m.)
Liberty Holiday Tournament (Freedom Division)
Marriotts Ridge (2-5) — 73, Damascus — 51
MR — Held 20, Lee 10, Ross 8, Brennan 8, Stepke 7, Snell 6, C. Brown 6, Ingersoll 4, Little 4.
Half: 36-25, MR
Next game: vs. Century (Thursday at 5 p.m.)
Howard Holiday Tournament
Howard 67, Chopticon 61
Howard survived a roaring fourth-quarter comeback attempt from Chopticon to advance to the championship of its holiday tournament. The Lions will play Northbrook on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Senior guard Andrew Blanco paced the Lions on Wednesday, finishing with a team-high 19 points. That included the floater he hit to put his team up two possessions with 39 seconds to play. Junior Aiden O’Connor chipped in 11 points, while junior Savien Wilson while added 10 in the victory.
“Great offensive effort and the focus and attention was there for most of the game,” coach Seth Willingham said. “We gave up 21 points in fourth quarter and lost focus. Need to stay more focused throughout.”
Howard (2-5) — 67, Chopticon — 61
Ho — Blanco 19, O’Connor 11, Wilson 10, Wiliams 9, Agbai 7, Johnson 6, Dawkins 4, Stephanos 1.
Half: 38-26, Ho
Springbrook Tournament
Reservoir (5-1) — 54, Friendly 43
Re — Okolo 13, Moore 13, Bradford 6, Soto 5, Odunowo 5, Ricketts 5, McCallum 3, Toler 2, Harrison 2.
Half: 19-15, Re
Next tourney game: vs. Springbrook (Thursday at 7 p.m.)
CKA Holiday Basketball Invitational
Chapelgate — 64, Cristo Rey Jesuit — 36 (Tuesday)
CH — Heard 13, Wesley 10, Hatcher 9, Wise 9, Dickerson 6, Morant 6, Phillips 5, Levi 3, Cofield 3.
Half: 29-18, CH
Chapelgate — 79, Friends — 72
CH — Wise 31, Heard 23, Dickerson 11, Wesley 8, Morant 6.
Half: 42-39, Friends
Friends— 55, Long Reach — 53 (Tuesday)
LR — Jones 7, Casserley 6, Davis 6, Shupe 6, Young 6, Thompson Jr. 5, Modeste 4, Raymond Jr. 4, Moore 3, Lee 2, Martin 2, Olivis Jr. 2.
Half: 25-23, LR
Long Reach (3-5) — 76, Cristo Rey Jesuit — 60
LR — Thompson Jr. 13, Jones 11, Moore 8, Young 7, Raymond Jr. 7, Dix 7, Modeste 6, Davis 5, Lee 4, Olivis Jr. 4, Martin 3, Shupe 1.
Half: 43-24, LR
Next tourney game: None
Governor’s Challenge
Takoma Academy (Md.) — 84, Atholton (3-4) — 54
A — Mitchell 15, Parkins 13, Oates 9, Murray 6, Carey 2, Marsh 2, Agbor-Baiyee 2, Daniel 2, Nwaeze 2, Porras 1.
Half: 35-22, Takoma Academy (Md.)
Next game: vs. Edmondson (Thursday at 11:45 a.m.)
Glen Burnie Tournament
Old Mill — 62, Centennial (3-3) — 59
C — Hohmann 13, Taylor 12, Williams 10, Eudell 10, Addisu 4, Ford 4, Hill 4, Hollwdell 2.
Half: 25-21, Old Mill
Next game: vs. Thomas Stone (Thursday at 1 p.m.)
Bernard Eckert Holiday Classic
Gerstell Academy — 64, Hammond (3-3) — 61
H — Gordon 31, Henry 15, Stallings 8, Bourne 3, Evans 2, Asa 2.
Half: 34-29, Gerstell Academy.
Next game:
Other:
Seneca Valley — 58, Wilde Lake (1-5) — 55
WL – Keys 20, Hunter 17, Greene 9, Zimmerman 4, Marshall 3, Kamara 2.
Half: 28-26, Seneca Valley