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Jerrium Beale
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***Click HERE for a mixed photo gallery of both games from Wednesday night***

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

Boys: Click HERE for the boys' highlights and interviews

Laurel 50, Friendly 41
It takes 32 minutes and numerous plays to win a high-school basketball game. Momentum swings back and forth with each made basket and each scoring run, and the trick lies in earning that momentum at the right time of the game.

In Wednesday night's Prince George's County boys' basketball championship game, Laurel's Jerrium Beale single-handedly stole the momentum --at the perfect time-- from the opposing Friendly Patriots in critical moments early in the final quarter, and helped lead the Spartans to a 50-41 victory, Laurel's second-consecutive county title.

"We lost one of our [centers] due to some problems," Beale admitted. "So, I had to step up as a [center]. That's not really my position but they asked to do it, so I came out and did what I had to do.

Friendly had all of the confidence after ending the third quarter with two consecutive three-pointers and starting the fourth quarter with an additional three-pointer, taking a 35-31 lead.

Laurel proceeded to go on a 10-0 run as the last five points were scored by Beale, two on a successful alley-oop dunk, and a three-point play the possession after to take a 41-35 lead.

" ... They drew up the play, [I] dunked it, and the momentum changed."

"Jerrium re-gained his focus when we started him in the third quarter," Laurel head coach Antoine Gaither said. "He took off and we fed off his momentum. He got the lob, and then the and-one, and then the block, and he was the difference tonight. He bought the intensity that we needed."

Friendly eventually cut the lead down to four points at 43-39 with 2 minutes, 40 seconds remaining, but that would be as close as the 3A/2A/1A champions would get.

Friendly's Justin Strong led all scorers with a game-high 14 points, and Marcus Hebron led the Spartans with 13 points, respectively.

The county championship was the second consecutive county title, and first for Gaither as head of the program.

"Tonight was a confidence booster," the coach said. "You want to win every game you play, but the most important thing tonight is that we are leaving healthy."

Both teams are now set to begin their respective region tournaments as Laurel (4A South) and Friendly (3A South) each have byes in the first round of tournament play.

Laurel 50, Friendly 41
Friendly   --   10   14   8   9; Strong 14, Thomas 11, Brooks 6, Latson 3, Gonzalez 2, Sims 2, Baltimore 2, Morton 1

Laurel     --    6    14  11  19; Hebron 13, Wood 10, Azah 10, Beale 10, Blackson 7


Girls: Click HERE for video highlights from the girls' game.

Eleanor Roosevelt 68, Largo 52
Point guard, shooting guard, it did not matter what position Eleanor Roosevelt Lady Raiders senior guard Noel Bullock played Wednesday night in the county championship game against the Largo Lady Lions.

Naturally a shooting guard --known for her three-point shooting-- Bullock was inserted into the role of point guard Wednesday night due to a knee injury to starting point guard Nickia Gibbs.

Bullock played a vital role in Roosevelt's 68-52 victory over Largo with her 17 points and high-level of consistency running the Lady Raiders' offense.

"Oh, my goodness," was the first response from Roosevelt head coach Rod Hairston upon hearing Bullock's name post-game. "Noel Bullock did a tremendous job today. She stepped up and filled in that gap that we needed. We needed that play from the point guard position.

"She did a great job taking care of the basketball, and did a tremendous job with Largo's pressure. She handled it like the veteran that she is. I wasn't surprised with the job that she did, but I definitely was impressed."

"My coaches have been telling me all season that we have to take care of the ball," Bullock said. "We have to make sure we get it into the post, get it to the wings so, basically, what I was focusing on was making sure I handled the ball and I didn't turn it over."

Bullock indeed followed the coach's game plan of getting it into the post as most of her interior passes headed in the direction of Olivia Applewhite as Applewhite found much success inside of the paint.

Applewhite led all scorers with 23 points in the victory.

However, even with the win, the Lady Raiders remained composed after the game with sights set on another one of its goals, a fifth consecutive state championship.

"It feels good," Applewhite said of the county title. "This was not our main goal, but it feels good to get the [win]."

On her inside presence, Applewhite added: "We knew they were going to be small and we were going to pound the ball inside."

The turning point of the game may have come in the second quarter as the Roosevelt defense held Largo to five points, giving the Lady Raiders enough cushion to earn a victory.

"I think [Largo head coach] Ayana [Ball-Ward] does a great job with that team," Hairston said. "We were definitely aware of their ability to score and that's what we focused on."

Brittany Taylor led all Largo -- the No. 1 seed in the upcoming 3A South playoffs-- scorers with 15 points on the night.

Eleanor Roosevelt 68, Largo 52
Largo   --      15   5   16   16; Taylor 15, Lyons 12, T. Johnson 6, C. Johnson 6, S. Johnson 5, Stern 2, Holland 2, Maxwell 2, Winslow 2

Roosevelt --   22   21  15   10; Applewhite 23, Bullock 17, A. Hall 7, E. Hall 7, Revis 6, Gibbs 4, Mallory 2, Chicbu 2

E-mail: James A. McCray III