By Kyle Wannen
For DigitalSports.com
The brake lights of hundreds of incoming vehicles illuminated the streets in Rockville, Md. last night as lines stretched in three separate directions. Inside the gym, seating went quickly and soon turned to standing room only. Even the three glass windows which overlook the gym were packed with eager faces.
Friday’s highly touted matchup between two of the nation’s top high school basketball teams, #3 Oak Hill and #6 Montrose Christian, earned a telecast spot on ESPN and did not disappoint with aerial acrobatics, a close score and even a few tempers boiling over. In the end Oak Hill came out quick and held off Montrose Christian for a 69-63 victory at Georgetown Prep.
Oak Hill (38-0) used a quick first quarter start to build a lead and benefitted from great defense to establish an 11-point lead early in the second quarter.
“I tried to give a little motivational talk and I didn’t feel they needed a big speech,” Oak Hill coach Steve Smith said. “It’s obviously a huge game.”
“Basically our coach told us to go out there and play hard,” center Keith Gallon said. “Just take them out of the game.”
Gallon, who is ironically nicknamed “Tiny”, had an extremely large game for Oak Hill in a great matchup with Montrose Christian center Mouphtaou Yarou. Gallon scored 20 points including a couple of rim-rattling dunks that would intimidate Shaq. On one play Gallon drove underneath the rim only to rise around it and slam the ball home. He will play for Oklahoma University next season.
“Basically just going out there and playing my game,” Gallon said. “That’s the only thing I want to do is play my game and don’t let nobody take me out of it.”
“I’ve never coached a guy that big who’s that agile,” Smith said. “He’s got great footwork, great hands, gets off the floor for a guy his size. He loves to play. He tells me to quit worrying about things.”
Four of Oak Hill’s starters finished in double figures. Guards Doron Lamb and Lamont “Momo” Jones scored 13 and 12 points respectively while small forward Glenn Bryant chipped in 10.
Despite playing in a neutral site, the fans were predominantly for Montrose Christian. However every time Montrose Christian would make a run and close the gap, Oak Hill answered right back and maintained the lead for almost the entire game.
“It was tough coming back to play them a second time,” Jones said. “We played them in front of their home crowd. They had the fans. They had everybody. It was on ESPN so there was a lot of pressure put on both teams but whoever came out with the most heart, the most intensity and wanted it more was going to win.”
“Don’t ever bust under pressure,” Gallon said. “That’s the number one thing if you bust under pressure, that’s going to take you out but we just kept our heads and stayed in the game.”
Montrose Christian (21-2) lost for only the second time this season and both were to Oak Hill. Oak Hill won in double overtime in a tournament in Hawaii earlier this season. The Mustangs were led by Yarou who finished with 24 and guard Terrence Ross finished with 16 despite hurting his knee in the third quarter.
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