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Boys basketball: Glenelg breaks through against Marriotts Ridge

A season filled with ups and downs, hit a high point Friday for Glenelg. The Gladiators, who had come close to knocking off county-leading Centennial earlier in the week, took the next step and earned a signature win over second-place Marriotts Ridge at home.

Troy Spurrier dropped in 20 points and four other Gladiators scored nine points or more, as Glenelg pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 68-60 victory.

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"We treated this like a playoff game. We told the guys to play like this was their last and they did that in all aspects," Glenelg coach Jansen McMillan said. "Mentally and physically they competed, all 11 guys played and everybody contributed."

For a Gladiator team that is now 6-11 in county play and 6-14 overall, it was a breakthrough performance.

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"It's an awesome feeling because we knew we were capable of this, just, because we don't have a lot of experience, we've not been able to put together a full game," Spurrier said. "For us to be able to pull through and not fold is huge for our confidence."

After falling behind in the first few minutes, Glenelg rebounded toward the end of the first quarter to grab an 18-15 lead. Then in the first three minutes of the second, the Gladiators built themselves a six-point cushion, 25-19, following a 3-pointer by Colin Randle (9 points).

Marriotts Ridge answered with a flurry of its own, scoring 11 unanswered points in a little over two minutes to retake the lead. The Mustangs kept rolling into halftime, taking a 36-30 lead into the break.

But when things picked up again, Glenelg did a good job of not losing touch with the lead. Although the Gladiators never did tie things up in the third quarter, they did trim the deficit down to one point entering the fourth.

"With us, there isn't going to be a game without some kind of adversity," McMillan said. "But I was proud of the way they responded. They chipped away slowly, paid attention to detail and made some shots."

It was Spurrier that got things going on the deciding run at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The senior made a pair of shots in the lane and a foul shot to put Glenelg back in front and things never slowed down. By the time all was said and done, the Gladiators had outscored Marriotts Ridge 20-11 in the final eight minutes.

"We started shooting the ball with much more confidence and some of that was seeing one or two (shots) go in," Spurrier said. "We were making the extra pass and believing our teammates were going to make shots."

Two of the guys making shots were freshmen Matt Hammert (11 points) and Nick Oates (11), who each hit a 3-pointer during the final quarter run.

"They didn't play like freshmen tonight," McMillan said. "They each hit a couple of big threes, played good defense and this should be a huge confidence builder for them as we go forward."

Marriotts Ridge (13-4, 16-4), which is now two games behind Centennial in the county standings, lost its second straight game. D.J. Tucker (14 points) led four guys in double figures in the defeat.

Glenelg 68, Marriotts Ridge 60

G (6-11, 6-14): Spurrier 20, Oates 11, Hammert 11, Randle 9, Tolbert 9, Chahine 6, Grimes 2.

MR (13-4, 16-4): Tucker 14, Davis 12, Patel 11, Harrison 10, Miller 4, Kratochwill 4, Delaney 2, Durham 2, Willsey 1.

Half: 36-30 MR.

Other games:

Centennial 63, River Hill 50

After falling behind by 10 points early, as River Hill's Walt Moody scored 12 points in the first quarter, Centennial regrouped to pull out a 13-point victory on the road. Omari Ringgold (21 points) and Keonte Potts (19) led the Eagles' charge.

C (15-2, 16-4): Ringgold 21, Potts 19, Goldsmith 10, Klima 7, Tinuoye 4, Fletcher 2.

RH (3-13, 3-16): Moody 25, Thomas 10, Sandler 5, Richardson 4, Qiu 4, Rueben 2.

Half: 30-28 RH.

Glenelg Country 50, Mt. Carmel 46

GC (8-8, 16-11): Powers 23, Boyd 11, Barnard 5, Davis 4, Jones 3, Moune 3, Flores 1.

MC: Onwudeigwu 12, Todd 11, Juozatazicius 6, Poli 6, Brown 5, Groom 4, Gallina 2.

Half: 28-22 GC.

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