Leading by 19 points at the start of the final period, Southern of Anne Arundel had to survive a Dulaney rally spearheaded by James Russo to hold on for a 62-60 victory in the Maryland Sports Medicine Unseld Classic last night at CCBC-Catonsville.
The No. 16 Bulldogs (2-3) will meet defending champion Randallstown in the semifinals tonight at 8. The No. 3 Rams defeated Eastern Tech, 77-48, in the opening round finale last night. Woodlawn and Thomas Stone of Calvert County will meet in the other semifinal.
Southern coach Tom Albright said his team was fortunate to avoid what would had a been a major collapse. "We didn't win it, they just didn't have enough time to win it," he said.
The Bulldogs denied Dulaney (2-4) a chance to win or send the game into overtime, stealing the ball with under eight seconds remaining and running out the clock. Senior guard Justin Holland led Southern with 15 points and Adrian Gross added 13. Russo led all scorers with 36.
Russo, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, put on one of the best performances in the 17-year history of the Unseld tournament, hitting nine three-pointers. His fourth three-pointer of the fourth quarter, with 58 seconds remaining, brought Dulaney to within 61-60.
Southern's Steve Gibson hit one of two free throws with 50.1 seconds left for a two-point cushion. The Lions called timeouts with 41.4 and 15.2 seconds to play as Southern was determined to keep Russo from getting a final attempt in regulation.
"I thought that would catch him off guard," said Albright. I knew he was going to set up a play off that flex offense he runs, so I said go back to 13 [Mike Lawler] but get out on 12 [Russo] because that's who they're looking to go to."
On the inbounds play, Holland denied Russo the ball, and the Lions tried to get Russo open on a reverse. Dulaney passed the ball inside, hoping to kick it back out to Russo, but the ball was knocked away by Southern. The Bulldogs gained possession, pushed the ball to their end of the court and ran out the remaining seconds.
Through the first 24 minutes, Southern dominated the Lions, building a 41-25 advantage. The Bulldogs held a 57-38 lead early in the fourth quarter after a layup by Charles Warring.
The Lions, however, came charging back with Russo connecting on back-to-back three pointers, closing the margin to 59-50 with 2:39 left. Southern then turned the ball over on three straight inbound attempts and its lead was down to 59-57 30 seconds later.
A layup by Gibson with a feed from Holland pushed the lead to 61-57 with 90 seconds left before Russo's final three-pointer had Dulaney within one. Russo fell six points shy of tying the Unseld single-game scoring record of 42.
"He was open and he made the shots all night long," said Gross, a 6-foot-6 center. "We played him very well in the end."
A matchup of two state semifinalists from last season turned into a mismatch as Randallstown throttled Eastern Tech (4-2). Senior guard Levi Stukes scored a game-high 18 points for the Rams (6-0), who have won three of the past five Unseld championships.
Junior guard Lance Fuller had a game-high 34 points, lifting Woodlawn to its first victory of the season, a 60-51 decision over Urbana of Frederick. Fuller had 11 in the third quarter as Woodlawn turned a 28-27 halftime deficit into a 42-34 advantage.
Thomas Stone raced past Milford Mill, 78-59, in the opener. Junior forward Daniel Bell scored 29 points for the Cougars, and Antonio Lewis chipped in 19. Senior guard Keith Ryles scored a team-high 27 for the Millers.