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Centennial boys basketball beats Glenelg, 61-44, to open season
By Brent Kennedy
Baltimore Sun Media Group
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Centennial boys basketball guard Isaiah White -- who had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks -- talks about the team's opening night win at Glenelg. (Brent Kennedy/Howard County Times video) (Brent Kennedy/Baltimore Sun Media Group)
On the road for the team’s season opener on Friday against Glenelg, Centennial coach Chad Hollwedel talked to his guys beforehand about establishing the tone right from the opening tip with tough, hard-nosed defense.
The Eagles apparently heard their coach’s words loud and clear.
On the strength of an 11-0 run midway through the opening quarter, Centennial grabbed the lead and never looked back on the way to a 61-44 victory over the Gladiators.
“I thought we did a really good job defensively on their guards right from the opening tip,” Hollwedel said. “They have so much balance and we were really focusing coming in on our perimeter defense, so our effort there really set the tone. And the great thing was that our energy then translated to our offense on the other end.”
Isaiah White ended up leading the way with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks, but Centennial also got 15 points and 8 rebounds from Tom Brown in the winning effort. By the end of the game, 10 different Eagles had scored at least two points.
The Eagles’ lead was 15-7 after the first quarter and 33-17 at the half. Glenelg made a mini run in the third quarter to trim its deficit to 11, but Centennial put its foot back on the accelerator to go up by as many as 19 points on three different occasions in the final quarter.
Hollwedel said he and his guys had been eagerly awaiting a chance to play a real game, especially against an experienced Glenelg team.
“I was excited to start with Glenelg, because we knew they were going to be one of the top teams in the county and we wanted to see where we stacked up,” Hollwedel said. “These games, in this kind of environment, are where you learn a lot about where you are and what you need to work on.”
Nick Oates (16 points) and Matt Hammert (14) led the way for Glenelg in the loss.
“Centennial was the more aggressive team tonight and they played well on both ends,” Glenelg coach Jansen McMillan said. “We’ll just come back out tomorrow and try to get better, that’s all we can do.”
Glenelg played the game without senior forward Daine Van de Wall, who suffered an ankle/foot injury in practice on Tuesday. There is no official time table for his return, with McMillan saying he will be reevaluated in two weeks.
Centennial 61, Glenelg 44
C (1-0): I. White 19, Brown 15, Clemens 6, Strothers 5, Wilson 4, Merkey 4, E. White 2, An 2, Geist 2, Hohmann 2.
After a back and forth game full of lead changes and clutch shots by both teams, the Raiders' Blake James sank a lay-up as time expired in overtime to lift Atholton to a two-point victory over the visiting Lightning on opening night.
James finished with eight points on the evening and was joined by four other Raider players —Brandon Willis (11), Cole Mason (9), Casey Kelly (7) and Noah Mendelsohn (7) — with seven or more points.
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"I'm extremely proud of all of them," Atholton coach Jared Albert said. "It's not easy, especially this early, to be in an overtime game like that and be able to stay composed like they did."
Albert had especially high praise for Mason, who sank four big foul shots in overtime and finished 9-10 from the foul line on the game. He also secured several big rebounds and steals in clutch situations. "He made big play after big play … as far as I'm concerned, he was our MVP tonight," Albert said.
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Long Reach was led by Terrell Lamar (15 points) and Kevin Duckett (10) in the loss. Duckett was responsible for hitting a big three at the end of regulation that tied the game at 43 and forced overtime. Later, David Clark delivered a big three of his own that tied the game at 49 with just under 20 seconds left in overtime.
But Atholton called timeout, set up a play and ended up finding James for a basket that sent the Raider crowd spilling onto the floor in celebration.
A: Willis 11, Mason 9, Carter 2, Kelly 7, Washington 2, Waterworth 5, Mendelsohn 7, James 8.
LR: Avery 7, Brodnax 4, Carter 4, Clark 5, Duckett 10, Lamar 15, Menusan 2, Stamatiaoles 2.
Half: 23-22 LR; Regulation: 43-43.
River Hill 53, Wilde Lake 46
The game was tied at 42 in the fourth quarter before the Hawks pulled away.
RH (1-0): Thomas 25, Sandler 14, DeSimone 9, Martin 3, Borucki 2.
WL (0-1): Barnes 12, Bowie 9, Jordan 9, Morgan 6, DeLaRosa 5, Cantwell 3, Lamptey 2.
