Omar Strong, an All-Metro guard at Douglass last year as a junior, had not been feeling well lately, and his team suffered two straight losses before last night.
Strong felt good last night as he led the host and No. 7 Ducks to a 67-54 romp over No. 10 Walbrook to win the first Rose Backus-Davis-Hamm Trophy.
"I had been feeling restless last weekend at the Function at the Junction, but I got a good rest last night," said Strong, who had a game-high 23 points, including 12-for-13 from the line.
"I took an Epsom salt-and-alcohol bath, and I came in ready to play," he said. "This was a big win, and I think it's going to take us a long way."
The Ducks (2-2) get to keep the Backus-Davis-Hamm trophy for a year. Backus-Davis-Hamm was a teacher-administrator at both schools over the past decade and was honored by them last night.
Douglass took advantage of poor shooting by the Warriors (3-2) and exploited the latter's zone defense to take a 32-17 lead at the half. Walbrook hit only two of 18 shots from the field in the first period, was 6-for-26 at the half and finished the game shooting 28 percent, or 18 of 65.
The Ducks' pressure 1-2-2 defense had a lot to do with that.
"We were just ecstatic to find out that we could get some shots over top of their zone, and we also got in the gaps of that big zone they play," said Douglass coach Rodney Coffield, whose team shot 37 percent for the night, making 19 of 51 shots.
Justin Berry was also in double digits for Douglass with 17 points, and the Ducks hit 21 of 29 free throws in the second half, and 26 of 36 for the game. Sophomore Roscoe Smith led the Warriors with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and George Johnson scored six points with 14 rebounds and two blocks.
pat.omalley@baltsun.com