In Wednesday's game against Anne Arundel County rival Southern, the No. 9 Annapolis boys basketball team hit some patches of poor play that are often common in the early season.
But the strengths that has the defending county champion Panthers once again the favorite — fine outside shooting, quality depth and the ability to clamp down on defense when called upon — showed up a little more.
Senior guard Delonte Joyce finished with 15 points, junior guard Sean Lee provided a much-needed spark off the bench with 14, and the Panthers overcame a last-second scare to come away with a 63-62 win over the scrappy Bulldogs in Annapolis.
After Joyce missed the front end of a one-and-one at the foul line with 12 seconds left to keep the lead at one, the Bulldogs gave the ball to standout senior guard Bryan Harris (13 points) after a timeout. He pushed the ball hard up the floor, stopped at the top of the 3-point line to get separation from his defender and had a clean look at the basket. His shot hit the back of the rim with two seconds left before Joyce grabbed the rebound to close out the win for the Panthers.
After the game, Joyce talked about his team's turnovers and some bad shots. But he also talked about how a number of players stepped up and how they came together as a team when it was needed the most.
"I think we have a lot of potential," he said. "The good thing is, we played bad against a good team but still got a win We know we have a lot of work to do."
The Panthers, who had 10 players score in improving to 2-0, hit seven 3-pointers in the first half — Lee made three in scoring all 14 of his points before the break — to help build a 44-32 lead early in the third quarter before the Bulldogs steadied themselves and rallied.
They closed out the third quarter on an 18-7 run — Harris accounted for six points — to trail, 51-50, and then took their first lead since early in the game when Everett Marshall (13 points) hit a 3-pointer on their opening possession of the fourth.
But the Panthers always found an answer in the fourth quarter. After Davonte Burke gave the Bulldogs a 62-60 lead with 2:44 to play, the home team got a follow basket from Domico Jones to tie the score at 62 with 2:36 left. Joyce hit one free throw with 1:19 to play, and the Panthers kept the Bulldogs from scoring the rest of the way.
"We just didn't finish," Southern coach Ray Bowen said. "But I thought our kids played their hearts out. It's Annapolis and Southern — they're the kings. We hope to one day knock them off. I thought we gave them a [heck] of a matchup."