By Andy States
SMAC Content Manager
After a relatively rough start to the season, with three consecutive losses to start things off, the Archbishop Carroll Lions were looking to steady the ship and end the year on a high note at the Panther Holiday tournament hosted by Patuxent High.
Carroll picked up some momentum heading into the New Year, with Devin Miller and Blake Price leading the Lions to an 83-68 win over Patuxent in Tuesday night’s tournament championship game. Miller scored a game-high 19 points, while Price, named the tournament’s most valuable player, scored 17 to help the Lions earn some tournament hardware and get the team’s record above the .500 mark before heading into the brunt of its arduous Washington Catholic Athletic Conference schedule.
“We defniitely needed a win,” Price said. “We were only 1-2 in the conference. This puts us at [5-4] overall, so we got above .500 with this tournament.”
Carroll (5-4) wasted no time in imposing its will on the host Panthers in the championship tilt. The Lions opened the game on a 9-0 run, capping the the flurry with a fast-break lay-up by Miller barely a minute into the game. Patuxent’s Justin Ford stopped the run with a three-pointer at the 6 minute 39 second mark to pull the Panthers to within six, but that was as close as the hosts would come the rest of the night.
After the Lions stretched the lead to as large as 15 in the first quarter, Patuxent (4-3) eventually cut the deficit back to six when Mike Swearingen‘s basket capped a 6-0 run late in the opening period. C.J. Shorter converted one of two free throws to cut the deficit to 26-19 early in the second, but Carroll proceeded to outscore the Panthers 23-10 the rest of the quarter to take a 49-29 lead into the half.
Typical of its early-season performances, though, Patuxent battled back in the second half. After a winless 2007-08 season, the Panthers won three games before the holidays and then defeated North County in one of the tournament’s semifinal games. In the third quarter, Kenny Mullins opened up with a three-pointer to get Patuxent on track. That led to a five-minute stretch that saw Patuxent outscore Carroll 19-10 before the visitors called a timeout following Darryl Stewart’s basket with 3:24 remaining in the third.
“I was very pleased with the second half,” Patuxent coach John McGuffin said. “Not so much the first half, but obviously with the caliber of a Carroll team I’m very pleased with the overall tournament. I thought our second half showed that we can do some good things.”
Carroll responded to the run by scoring eight of the quarter’s final 10 points, five coming courtesy of Price, to again establish control of the game. Four Lions finished the game in double figures scoring, with Ahmad George tallying 13 points and DeVaughn Kerr 10 to support Miller and Price.
“Right now it’s going good,” Price said. “We started off slow, but we’re starting to pick it up, starting to build chemistry.”
Marcus Bullock scored 15 points to lead Patuxent’s effort. Bullock scored 11 of his total in the fourth quarter, and was the Panthers primary presence down low and on the boards throughout the game. C.J. Shorter scored 12, while Ford and Mullins each chippped in with 10.
Patuxent, at 0-1 in SMAC play at the break, will open the heart of its conference schedule next week with games against conference contenders Chopticon and North Point before finishing the week against county-rival Calvert.
“I really am thankful to the guys for battling back in the second half. This is getting ready for a tough week in SMAC,” McGuffin said. “The winless part of last season, it’s in us but it’s behind us. Win or lose, we’re using this as a springboard. The first half was not that springboard. The second half was.”
C.H. Flowers takes third
Kyle Evans scored 15 second-half points to lead C.H. Flowers (3-2) to a 56-52 win over North County (2-7) in the tournament’s consolation game. The Jaguars trailed 25-24 at the half, and trailed for much of the third quarter before a Derek Campbell field goal put Flowers in front 38-36 at the end of three. Evans then scored the first four points in the fourth to kick off an 12-2 Jaguars run to keep them ahead to stay.
Evans scored a game-high 24 points, while Davon Morris added 10. Ronald Morris and Jordan Diggs each tallied 13 to lead North County.
Championship game
Archbishop Carroll 83, Patuxent 68
AC 26 23 17 17
P 18 11 20 19
Carroll: Miller 19, Price 17, George 13, Kerr 10, Osse 7, Johnson 5, Dunkin 4, Thompson 4, Robinson 2, Manga 2
Patuxent: Bullock 15, Shorter 12, Ford 10, Mullins 10, Swearingen 4, Mindick 4, Stewart 4, Robinson 2, Gray 2, Walker 2, Roberts 2, Hunter 1
Consolation game
C.H. Flowers 56, North County 52
NC 11 14 11 16
CHF 16 8 14 18
North County: Fisher 13, Diggs 13, Kess 9, Dines 7, Davis 4, Manns 3, Beatty 3
Flowers: Evans 24, Morris 10, House 6, De. Campbell 4, Jackson 3, Wood 2, Johnson 1
Semifinals
Patuxent 81, North County 77
Justin Ford scored 21 points and Marcus Bullock contributed with a 19-point, 17-rebound night to help the Panthers past the Knights.
Archbishop Carroll 62, C.H. Flowers 51
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