By Varun Shankar February 18, 2023 at 8:56 p.m. EST

The Mustangs topped Broadneck to capture the crown in Anne Arundel County on Saturday. (Varun Shankar/TWP)

During a second-quarter timeout, Meade forward Shawn Jones told his teammates he was going to dunk.

The Mustangs had just called Stack, a play that set up a three-on-two and gave guard Xavion Roberson two options: find the shooter in the corner or feed the post. Roberson picked the latter and bounced a pass to Jones, who fulfilled his promise with a slam over a defender before briefly hanging on the rim.

Jones notched 26 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks as Meade won the Anne Arundel County championship Saturday afternoon, defeating Broadneck, 60-51, at Arundel High School.

The dunk kick-started Jones, he said, encouraging him to finish strong at the rim and get to the free throw line. Twenty-four of his points and all six of his free throws came in the last three quarters, but the slam also seemed to demoralize the Bruins.

“After the dunk, I just changed my whole mentality,” Jones said. “We knew that was a momentum-changer. Their players started arguing at each other and fussing at each other.”

Broadneck beat Meade by 16 when the teams first played on Feb. 8. Jones scored just 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting in the loss and struggled to finish through contact. To prepare for the rematch, a Meade assistant coach hit Jones with a pad in practice to simulate the jolts he’d feel at the rim and to get him finishing toward the basket.

It worked. The Bruins threw multiple defenders at Jones but it didn’t matter as he closed them out by dominating inside.

Late in the game, with Meade up just five, he rebounded a missed free throw and put it back up for a layup. On the ensuing Bruins’ possession, he contested the shot and grabbed the rebound before feeding a teammate for an and-one that all but sealed the game.

While the win had no impact on the region standings and the playoff seeding, it meant a lot to the Mustangs.

Meade lost to Arundel in the county championship game last season — and although the Mustangs exacted revenge by beating those Wildcats later that year in the 4A region final, players wanted to bring home the school’s first boys’ basketball Anne Arundel championship since 2016.

Meade will take a couple days off to enjoy the win and then return to practice Tuesday preparing for elimination games, Coach Mike Glick said. The Mustangs could have lost this game and their season would have continued. That won’t be the case moving forward.

Meade will host until the state semifinals — the round it lost in last year to Churchill — if it continues to win. Its playoffs start Feb. 28 in the region semifinals against the winner of Old Mill and Arundel.

“We [know] that the season is dwindling down,” Jones said. “This is what we’re all meant for right here … just embrace the moment.”