Boredom appeared to be Southern's most formidable foe in last night's opening round of the Southern Christmas Tournament.
The Bulldogs took a 22-point lead over St. Mary's-Ryken midway through the second quarter, had twice as many points as the Knights at the half and then laughed their way to a 90-42 victory.
Senior forward Scott Crandell stayed focused long enough to collect a game-high 20 points and junior Matt Thomas wasn't far behind with 18. Rico Gross rounded out the double-digit scorers for Southern with 10 and sophomore guard Jeff Crandell added nine.
The Bulldogs (3-3) will meet Frank W. Ballou of D.C., a 62-45 winner over Great Mills in the other first-round game, in tonight's championship at 7:30.
"I just told the guys not to play the scoreboard and to keep going," said Southern coach Tom Albright.
"I put a lot of different combinations out there and our first team didn't even play the second quarter, basically."
Southern forced turnovers, beat the 0-6 Knights down the floor and led 14-2 following a drive down the lane by Glen Hurley.
Thomas and Scott Crandell owned the offensive boards in the second quarter and were a big reason the Bulldogs led 38-19 at the half.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Jeff Crandell from the top of the key and a hook shot by Thomas gave the hosts a 64-30 advantage and Jeff Crandell's third and final three-pointer -- this one from NBA range -- gave Southern a 71-32 lead heading into the last eight-minute period.
Even with most of its substitutes in the game in the fourth quarter, Southern still managed to outscore the visitors from St. Mary's County, 19-10, creating the 48-point margin.
Ballou, which plays in the Washington D.C. Interhigh League, took a 32-21 halftime lead over Great Mills and never had to worry about playing in the consolation game.