They say it's hard to beat a team three times in one season, although Wednesday against Calvert Hall in the first round of the MIAA A Conference playoffs Glenelg Country managed to handle the task well.
Warren Powers dropped in 22 points, while Kevin Boyd (12 points) and Chancellor Barnard (10) also reached double digits, as the Dragons led the entire second half on their way to a 63-56 victory.
Glenelg Country's balanced attack spoiled a terrific night from Cardinals' senior Denzel Richardson, whose game-high 27 points just weren't quite enough to upend a Dragons team that seems to simply have Calvert Hall's number this winter.
"The biggest thing for us is continuing to focus on what we do well, especially our man-to-man defense and pushing the ball in transition," Glenelg Country coach Kevin Quinlan said. "For the most part tonight and the other two times we played them, we did those things. We have faith that if we execute the way we know we can, it doesn't matter who we're playing."
Glenelg Country (8-8, 16-11), which advances into a semifinal match-up on Friday at Mount St. Joseph, did face some adversity in the early stages against Calvert Hall (7-9, 12-16).
After a nip-tuck opening quarter, Richardson sparked an 11-0 Cardinal run that put them up 20-16. The senior forward scored all but two of the points in the spurt.
"We were finishing plays," Calvert Hall coach John Bauersfeld said. "We made free throws, made a couple lay-ups, a three in the corner … we put some pressure on them."
But over the final four minutes of the half, Glenelg Country answered and retook the lead. Powers, who also grabbed 11 rebounds on the night, scored eight points during a 10-2 run that made it 26-22.
"In those last couple minutes (of the half) Warren hit a couple shots, made a couple big plays and he tends to be a very passionate guy that energizes the rest of the team," Quinlan said. "I thought that was a huge stretch."
Glenelg Country didn't slow down out of intermission, this time putting together a 12-2 run to take the game's first double-digit lead, 38-25. From that point on Calvert Hall never fully recovered, failing to get itself any closer than seven points over the final 11 minutes.
"We always talk about those first few minutes of the third quarter being the most important and we left a couple shooters open, made a couple silly turnovers and it cost us," Bauersfeld said.
In the fourth quarter, to maintain its cushion, Glenelg Country hit 19 foul shots.
Glenelg Country 63, Calvert Hall 56
GC (8-8, 16-11): Powers 22, Boyd 12, Barnard 10, Jones 8, Jove-Vives 7, Moune 2, Davis 2.
CH (7-9, 12-16): Richardson 27, Davis 12, Beck 6, Edwards 6, Grace 3, Evans 2.
Half: 26-22 GC.