By KATHERINE FOMINYKH | Kfominykh@baltsun.com
PUBLISHED: January 26, 2024 at 10:38 p.m. | UPDATED: January 30, 2024 at 1:29 p.m.

The game ended with the ball in the hands Meade freshman Keon Scott which, given how the fourth quarter went, seemed fitting.

When both teams’ defense turned the third quarter into a scoring desert, Glen Burnie got the better of it, transforming what had been a more comfortable Mustang lead into a 10-point margin.

Scott recognized the opportunity before him. If no one sparked a run, his squad could easily let the game slip to the Gophers. The freshman levied the first six Meade points of the fourth to keep the Mustangs afloat before his teammates stepped in, preserving a 58-45 finish on Friday. .

“I could try to take credit for Keon, but he’s a special player,” Meade coach Mike Glick said. “He’s so far beyond his years, basketball-wise. We want his ball in his hands at the end of games.”

With the victory, Meade keeps the top spot in Class 4A East Region I (which it shares with the Gophers, North County and Crofton). That, Glick said, had always been the primary objective for his young team.

“This was the most important game of the season to us because our goal is to host the playoffs. That supersedes counties and everything else,” Glick said. “So I am very proud of how this team handled itself on the road. We just kind of keep getting better.”

Scott led Meade with 14 points, but to lay the laurels on the freshman and ignore the rest of the Mustangs’ efforts on Friday night would be wrong. Under Meade’s triangle-and-two defense, Glen Burnie shooter Greg Pittman became a ghost, disappeared by a double-team which involved Scott. When Gophers Eric Daniels and Davon McLeod stepped into that void, Mustangs like Moses Gakodi flushed in to stop them, too, blocking both from landing a single field goal in the fourth quarter.

“Josh Holmes came off the bench and did a really great job of just monitoring shots, blocking shots, as did Arouna Soumaoro,” Glick said. “We went with a bigger lineup because they were trying to drive the ball at us. We wanted to be a little big longer inside to try to answer those shots.”

Whatever Glen Burnie brought to the post, the Meade bigs batted down. Initially, the Mustangs’ shots equally missed their marks, but the more its defense won, the more offense seemed to draw power from it.

The offense snowballed after Scott’s layup. Zamar Jones hit a 3-pointer and Ashton Thurman deposited two baskets himself en route to an 18-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“Turnovers are gonna put us into a hole, but we missed some easy shots,” Gophers coach Mike Rudd said.

But as Meade looked to extend the lead to a demoralizing range, Daniels cracked the door back open with three points. McLeod took his lead, battling through the black-clad trees under the net to narrow the gap to 23-18.

Which was about as close as Meade felt comfortable with.

Spurred by Jones, the Mustangs offense hit the nets and built a 37-21 halftime lead.

And then, the Mustangs simply stopped scoring.

For three-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter, Meade didn’t land a single shot. Glen Burnie could have taken advantage of that time and at the very least flashed bright headlights in Meade’s rearview. But two points from McLeod in the first minute, and nothing for another three, couldn’t exactly put the Mustangs’ lead in real danger.

“The shots rolled out, but our defense was constant,” Glick said.

Only when Scott ended the scoring drought by draining three points did Glen Burnie reach for its chance. Daniels and Chris Maddox broke down Meade’s defenses time and time again to shave the visitors’ lead down to just 10 by quarter’s end, 44-34.

And by early in the fourth, key Mustangs like Lucaya Baldridge and Jones, cycled off the floor in foul trouble. The Mustangs that replaced them made what could’ve been a tide-turner for Glen Burnie into something nearly unnoticeable.

That’s what separates this year’s team from last year’s. Losing starters to fouls might’ve been disastrous for players on last year’s state runner-up Meade team fit into roles. With most of its seniors not starting, with different figures constantly subbing in, the Mustangs were able to hold Glen Burnie off.

“It just goes to whoever’s hot,” Scott said.

While Scott offensively held Meade’s lead together through the early part of the fourth quarter, the Mustangs defense stamped Glen Burnie’s offense into two mere foul shots so that Meade outscored the hosts 10-2 in the final four minutes.

“We kept chipping away,” Rudd said, “but it’s hard to chase a team uphill all night. It’s frustrating.”

Meade’s Ashton Turman goes for a layup as Glen Burnie’s Tim Shadare guards him in the first quarter. The visiting Meade Mustangs played the Glen Burnie Gophers in boys high school basketball. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)
Meade’s Ashton Turman goes for a layup as Glen Burnie’s Tim Shadare guards him in the first quarter. (Paul W. Gillespie/Staff)