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Bowie senior Trevor McDade brings down the house with this breakaway dunk and one to cap a 17-6 run for the host Bulldogs.
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By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Manager, Washington D.C. Metro Area

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Typically, teams that take momentum into halftime seek to carry it over into the third quarter.

But for Bowie, looking for its first-ever win over Wise, first-year Coach Cedrick Holbrook hoped to curtail his team's emotion, to maintain focus during the 10-minute intermission.

And the Bulldogs needed every word of motivation Holbrook offered.

Bowie weathered a late Wise run to survive at home, 67-62, for its first win over the Pumas in their fifth all-time meeting on Monday.

"I went crazy and yelled at them about the stuff we were doing wrong," said Holbrook, laughing, after his team's sixth-straight win. "That's my job. You can't get on a high and lose focus on what you're supposed to be doing. They were excited and I kind of caught them."

"But ... they're starting to believe they can win close games and that's what really matters."

Making his task that much more challenging was how the Bulldogs sprinted into the locker rooms.

While jumping out to a 21-10 lead, Bowie rattled the rafters with three first-half dunks, including a jam-and-one by senior Trevor McDade that capped a 17-6 run.

Then, when the Pumas trimmed the advantage to three points with a 3-pointer by senior Melvin Barfield with :03 seconds left in the half, Bulldog guard Temi Shonibare retaliated with a half-court, buzzer-beating three of his own that ignited the capacity crowd.

"Coach congratulated us but then got on us about our defense," said McDade, who finished with eight points. "He said we weren't rotating right and that half-court shot wouldn't mean [any]thing if we don't win.

"But we pulled it out and we won. So I guess it means a lot."

By playing a torrid third quarter, though, Wise almost made the miracle heave a minor footnote.

The Pumas cut the Bulldog lead to two points by the end of the third before taking their first lead with 7:40 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Bowie lead was not safe until junior guard Randall Castleberry completed a three-point play with a successful free throw with 4:52 to go.

"[Wise] picked up the pressure," Holbrook said of the comeback. "And they put us in a position where we were more defensive than offensive. We weren't getting into our sets right, offensively. We weren't creating any movement."

"We run a spread-motion offense. If we get in the spread properly, we created space. If we don't, we sit and just sort of stare. That's what happened, we were stagnant."

One Bulldog who was restless during the Puma run was senior Mike Ewii.

Although Ewii scored 11 of his game-high 18 points after halftime, the renowned athlete was left out of Bowie's second-quarter slam contest, thus missing what has become his nightly highlight dunk.

But fortunately for Ewii -- and those in attendance -- the feat was accomplished on a final-period fast-break, despite a trailing pass that limited his room for take-off.

"I was kind of cherry-picking, trying to get one," Ewii said. "I finally got one in the fourth quarter ... It feels good, felt like we have momentum on our side."

E-mail: pmurphy@digitalsports.com


Wise      8   20  17  16  --   62
Bowie   15  19  14  19  --   67

Wise -- Golladay 5 3-4 13; Boyd 6 0-0 12; Wood 4 1-2 12; Barfield 2 2-2 7; Makell 2 0-0 5; Mitchell 2 0-0 5; Thomas 2 0-2 4; Till 1 0-0 2; Lavery 0 2-2 2. Team totals: 24 8-12 62.
Bowie -- Ewii 7 4-5 18; Castleberry 4 6-7 14; McDade 4 0-1 8; Goldsmith 3 1-4 7; Jordan 3 0-0 6; Rodriguez 2 0-0 6; Jacas 2 0-0 4; Shonibare 1 1-2 4. Team totals: 26 12-19 67.
Three pointers -- Wise 6 (Wood 3, Barfield, Makell, Mitchell); Bowie 3 (Rodriguez 2, Shonibare).