If boys basketball had a slaughter rule, it probably would have been invoked at halftime of sixth-ranked Southern's 80-27 rout of Dulaney in a Class 4A North region semifinal last night.
Dulaney (15-9) was coming off Monday's upset of No. 7-ranked Mervo, last season's regional champ and state semifinalist. But the Lions were done in by the stubborn defense of Southern's big men, 6-foot-7 Isaiah Johnson (14 points) and 6-6 Nathan Fields (six).
Then there was sharp-shooting sophomore Melvin Scott, who scored 20 points and seemingly could not miss as the Bulldogs built a 38-7 halftime lead en route to their 16th straight win.
The Bulldogs (18-5) next play No. 11 Lake Clifton (15-6) at 5 p.m. tomorrow in the regional title game at Dunbar.
Southern twice forced Dulaney timeouts in the first period, leading 9-2 after a 9-0 run, and 16-2 at 1: 36 before the period ended. When play resumed each time, so did the Bulldogs' scoring.
Southern led 57-20 entering the final period, when coach Meredith Smith went primarily with reserves.
"They converted early, and they shot the lights out," said Dulaney coach Rod Norris.
Scott nailed 12 of his 16 first-half points from three-point range, scoring with a long-range buzzer-beater just before the half ended. That shot followed a crowd-pleasing fast-break dunk off a quick-flick outlet pass from DarShawn Lucky (10 points).
"First quarter, coach told us to build a lead and hold it. We ran our motion-delay, and that killed them," said Scott, who scored eight points in each of the first two periods. "I felt good, like everything was going my way, but we maintained our focus and didn't let our intensity fall off one bit."
Johnson and Fields geared most of their efforts toward stopping the Lions' 6-8 Romas Krywonis, who had 28 points and 17 rebounds against Mervo. Krywonis didn't score last night until a minute into the third period and finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
"We knew who their best scorers were and concentrated on shutting them down," Fields said.
Dulaney's Scott Headd had 17 points against Mervo, including five three-pointers but did not score last night.
"I contested every shot. I stuck him," said Southern's Darryl Dorsey, who scored 12 points. "I knew he wasn't scoring like that on me."
Norris had to leave the gymnasium with his second technical foul with eight seconds left in the third period. He said he was "disappointed" with the officiating.
Pub Date: 3/04/99