For Severn, Tuesday's overtime loss to Gilman proved a lesson well learned.
After failing to slow the Greyhounds' up-tempo offense or stop their outside shot, the Admirals had answers to both in yesterday's rematch with a 79-64 win in the final of the Laker Invitational at Boys' Latin.
Severn (4-2) used a trapping defense to create eight first-quarter Gilman turnovers and force the Greyhounds (3-3) into a halfcourt offense. The Admirals then keyed on outside threat Jimmy Fields to shut down the Greyhounds' perimeter game, as Gilman failed to win the Laker Invitational for the first time in three years.
"We wanted to make them walk the ball up," said Severn coach Jim Doyle. "They like the up-tempo, and we wanted to stay away from a transition game. We also wanted to keep Fields from getting started."
Fields was nearly unstoppable in the first quarter of the teams' earlier matchup. The 5-foot-6 guard had bombed away for 15 first-quarter points to pace the Greyhounds to a 31-20 lead.
Yesterday, with a hand in his face on every Gilman possession, Fields was held to three points in the first quarter, as Severn built a 19-5 lead. The sophomore finished with 10 points.
"We came out really intense," said Severn guard Brad Fowler, the tournament's Most Valuable Player. "We played together and didn't let them dictate the tempo like last time."
Said Gilman coach Tim Holley: "We missed a lot of shots that we should have made, including a lot of free throws. We just came out flat."
Gilman made two of its first 14 shots and hit 37 percent for the game.
With Gilman missing, Severn built a lead that ballooned to as many as 16 points early in the second quarter. Led by Fowler (19 points) and point guard Jason Moran (18 points, five assists), the Admirals frustrated Gilman with their patience and crisp passing.
Not that Gilman went down easily.
Led by forward Victor Carter-Bey (28 points, 15 rebounds), the Greyhounds turned a double-digit deficit into a 28-27 lead with 1:01 left in the half.
Severn, however, regained control by scoring 12 of the game's next 14 points to take a 39-30 lead two minutes into the second half, and the Admirals never looked back.
The Greyhounds got as close as four midway through the fourth quarter, but Severn won it at the foul line with 18-for-25 shooting down the stretch.
"We did what we set out to do," said Fowler. "We slowed the tempo and won the game."