Boys Basketball: Laurel 70, Eleanor Roosevelt 43

By James A. McCray III
Prince George's County, Content Manager

There are plenty of words associated with Friday the 13th, horror, scared, and superstition to name a few.

However, after this particular Friday the 13th, Laurel can now be added to that list of words after the Spartans boys' basketball team traveled to Eleanor Roosevelt on Friday night and earned a 70-43 victory, its fifth consecutive win.

What was indeed scary was Laurel's defense, in particular the second-quarter defense as they only allowed six second-quarter points, and in turn ended the first half on a 12-0 run to go into the locker room leading 31-16.

"All week, our practices were 80 percent defense and 20 percent offense," Laurel head coach Antoine Gaither said. "It was our defense that got stops. We held them to six points in the second quarter. For us to do that against a high-caliber team such as Roosevelt is a huge success."

"We didn't expect to win by this much," Laurel's Kilian Azah said. "... We listened to coach, ran our offense, and we played as a team and got it done."

Laurel (15-5, 14-2 4A League) led from the mid-way point of the first quarter through the end of the game, a far cry from when the two teams met on Jan. 22, a game which was won by Laurel thanks to a Romel Blackson buzzer-beating shot.

"Our defensive intensity," Gaither said of the difference of the two games. "Tonight we got a lot of stops early which allowed us to play in transition. I think that was the difference. We traded buckets with them a lot last time."

Controlling that transition game was Laurel point guard Corey Wood (13 points) as he often found a split in the Roosevelt press finding teammates for open shots.

"We wanted this game more than anybody," Wood said. "We want that [Prince George's] County championship. ... This game really put a lot of pressure on everybody to do their best."

Marcus Hebron led all Laurel scorers with 17 points on the night to help lead Laurel to the fifth straight.

"If we are going to go on a run, let's go on a run now," Gaither said. " ... Right now we are on a good [streak] but we have to take it one game at a time. ... We have put all of the kids on the 24-hour rule. Win or lose, they have 24 hours to enjoy it or 24 hours to [be sad], whatever they do, but after that, time to come back in the gym and get after it."

Eleanor Roosevelt (15-5, 11-5) came into the game on a streak of their own at six consecutive games won; however, fell just short in its bid for a seventh.

"They just hit shots, and we didn't," Roosevelt head coach Brendan O'Connell said. "Every loose ball, every rebound, and every ball on the floor they came up with."

As far as Roosevelt's mindset after this game, O'Connell added: "I think we just try to forget this one, learn from it, and move on."

Post-game celebration
Friday the 13th was also the day that that another chapter of the Friday the 13th Jason movie released. And with a well-earned win, teammates Corey Wood and Kilian Azah plan on celebrating the win by taking in the movie.

"I am about to go see that Jason movie tomorrow," Azah admitted.

"I'm going to see that," Wood agreed on the Jason movie.

E-mail: James A. McCray III


Laurel 70, Eleanor Roosevelt 43
Laurel      -- 15   16   19   20; Hebron 17, Azah 16, Wood 13, Beale 12, Blackson 10, Johnson 2

Roosevelt -- 10    6   16   11; Kromah 18, McNeal 8, Smith 5, Ashe 3, Okoroh 3, Bostic 2, Abraham 2, Wood 2