Two Time Champ Springbrook Heads to States
Springbrook will play at the Comcast Center, March 11th at 7:00 pm vs. Eleanor Roosevelt.
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Deshaunt Walker finished with 25 points and had five 3-pointers.
Photo By: Paolo Galli / GamedayMD.com | VIEW GALLERY
The Rockets best chance to even the score came with just over 2 minutes remaining with the score 49-42.
Photo By: Paolo Galli / GamedayMD.com | VIEW GALLERY
Written by: Marc Bastow
SILVER SPRING, MD - Richard Montgomery boy's head coach Scott Spears was succinct and clear as he discussed his team's game plan prior to the tip of their 4A West region final against two-time defending state champion Springbrook. "We need to get back in transition and close out on the boards."
Spears' team did a great job in executing the game plan, but what they did not count on was the singular excellence of Springbrook senior guard Deshaunt Walker, who led the Blue Devils in their quest for a third straight 4A title with a 64-54 win yesterday at Blair High School.
The win sends the Blue Devils into Thursday night's state semifinal at Comcast Center at the University of Maryland College-Park to face the winner of the 4A South region semifinal between High Point and Eleanor Roosevelt.
The game was intense and high-octane from the start. Before anyone had a chance to get settled into their seat and take a deep breath Richard Montgomery jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind the hot shooting of senior T.J. Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald's two long jump shots combined with a sweet spin move inside by center Shawn Stephens got the Rockets out of the gate, and Springbrook coach Tom Crowell got a quick time out to stem the tide.
The strategy worked, as Crowell's team got right back into the game on the strength of two steals by Devon Pestano that led to easy baskets. Pestano's second steal resulted in a thunderous dunk, whipping the sell-out crowd into a frenzy and put Springbrook up 7-6 with just over 4 minutes remaining in the quarter.
A minute later Stephens picked up his second foul of the quarter and headed to the bench. Senior Drew College replaced Stephens and contributed immediately with two inside moves, and when Brown hit a jumper at the buzzer the Rockets were up 16-13 at the end of the quarter.
Walker opened up the second quarter with a 3-pointer, and another steal by Pestano led to another easy layup for Demetric Austin. Pestano, Walker and Enerio Jones pressed the Richard Montgomery guards on every possession from the mid-court line.
"Our game plan was to pressure their guards, and I think we did a pretty good job of doing that," said Crowell. Indeed, Pestano and Walker challenged every dribble and every pass, with Pestano jumping into the passing lanes and Walker forcing Brown to start Rocket possessions under duress.
The game went back and forth in the quarter, and with the score 26-24 and under a minute remaining, Walker held the ball at midcourt looking to set up a final shot. Walker drove the middle and put up a floater that rimmed out, however Miles Jackson laid the ball back in on a nice put-back at the buzzer to get Springbrook to the half ahead 28-24.
The third quarter was all Walker. "Every game our coach says at the halftime that the third quarter is the biggest quarter of the game. We want to take a lead going into the fourth quarter. I looked up at the clock, and did what I had to do."
What he did was open and close the quarter with 3-pointers, and drop in 4 additional points in between. Walker's burst offset a strong quarter by Richard Montgomery's Fitzgerald, and the Blue Devils went to the fourth quarter up 42-32.
Pestano opened the fourth quarter with a quick basket, but Nick Brown answered with two strong drives to cut into the lead at 44-36. Walker stepped up again with another 3-pointer from the top of the key, but with Fitzgerald still in a zone of his own, the Rockets went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead back to 6 points with just over 4 minutes remaining.
The Rockets best chance to cut even deeper came with just over 2 minutes remaining with the score 49-42 as first Demetric Austin (9 points), and then Sanmi Ogunjobi (6 points, 5 rebounds) both missed two free throws each, giving the Rockets two straight possessions to cut into the lead.
Shawn Stephens delivered a tremendous back to the basket move to get the Rocket's to 49-44, but Walker silenced the Rocket crowd with yet another 3-pointer to extend the lead back to 10 points.
Another backcourt steal and breakaway layup, this time by Enerio Jones, sealed the game with just under 1 minute remaining despite a late effort by Brown and Stephens.
Crowell was pleased with the win, but believes his team can play even better, and will look for that improvement over the next few days as they prepare for a run at a State Championship 3-peat.
For Walker, this was just another game on the way to the ultimate goal: "I want to go out with another ring (his third) for my senior year." Walker will get his chance starting Thursday.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
Springbrook:
Deshaunt Walker, 25 points (5 3-pointers)
Devon Pestano, 12 points, 2 assists, 4 steals
Demetric Austin, 9 points, 10 rebounds
Richard Montgomery:
T.J. Fitzgerald, 14 points
Nick Brown, 13 points, 4 assists
Drew College, 6 points, 3 rebounds
THE GAME CHANGED WHEN:
Deshaunt Walker got hot in the third quarter, finishing with 10 points to lead the Blue Devils into the fourth quarter ahead 42-32.
NEXT GAME:
Richard Montgomery: Season complete
Springbrook: At Comcast Center March 11th at 7:00 pm vs High Point or Eleanor Roosevelt
