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Broadneck downs Meade to regain footing

Posted by Michael Glick at Feb 5, 2019 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )

Teams that suffer two straight losses usually need a good practice to help get back on track.Broadneck’s boys basketball team did the next best thing. After a pair of losses that brought them back to the pack in the county standings, the Bruins rebounded in a big way by winning at Meade, 69-54, on Tuesday. 

Broadneck (14-4) watched a nine-point lead late in the first half turn into a one-point deficit early in the third quarter, but responded by hitting five 3-pointers during a 23-point quarter.“We were excited to have the opportunity to get back out there this evening,” Broadneck coach John Williams said. “We had a tough game (Monday) night against Annapolis and the ball didn’t fall our way.”The Bruins had a 29-20 lead with three minutes left in the first half, but watched the Mustangs close the half on a 8-0 run to go into halftime down by just a point. Meade’s Tre Dunn scored early in the third quarter to complete a 10-0 run and put the Mustangs back on top. After Nick Gatton drew a charge, Jamar Young hit a 3-pointer that started a 7-0 run and put the Bruins ahead for good.Young, who finished with 16 points, hit three 3-pointers during the Bruins’ third-quarter run.“We just had to put it aside. We definitely needed this win,” Young said. “Coach told us this year could really be our year, so we’re just trying to take it step by step.

”Che Colbert, who led the Bruins with 17 points and was one of three starters in double-figures, hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight points in the third. Six of his points came over the final three minutes of the frame and helped the Bruins go into the fourth up by 12.“In the third quarter, we knew we had to come out with intensity, bring it back together and just get a lead,” Colbert said. “If one of us isn’t on, we know we can just bring in someone else and they can do it.”Logan Vican added 12 points, including eight in the second half. The Bruins led by as much as 17 early in the fourth, but the Mustangs fought back to within nine with 2:40 left. Young scored, then Vican scored off a nice feed from Mike Cantrell to extend the lead and helped the Bruins close the game out.

After hitting four 3-pointers in the first half, Broadneck finished with nine.“I think their 3-point shooting was the difference in the game,” Meade coach Mike Glick said. “They were the better team tonight and in the second half they took it to us.”Broadneck, the last team to lose a game in county play, improved to 11-2 in the county. Annapolis kept pace with the Bruins and improved to 11-2, while Old Mill is a half game back at 10-2. Following a 16-game county schedule, the top two teams will play in the county championship on Feb. 23 at North County.

“The kids are aware, and it’s a goal of ours,” Williams said. “We’d like to be in the county championship and we’d like to be in the region championship as well.”Mazhi Thames scored 22 points and added three assists to lead Meade (14-4 overall, 9-3 county). Dunn followed with 14 points and eight rebounds and TJ Speight added 13 points.“I’m actually proud right now to be 14-4 and to be where we are,” Glick said. “We just need to get better and move on to the next game.”

 

Superman has kryptonite. Meade has Old Mill.The Mustangs hadn’t suffered a county loss since December, happily piling up eight Anne Arundel wins.Their last county conqueror? Old Mill.The Patriots rallied in the third quarter to defeat Meade, 63-52, on Friday. That’s what they did the last time too.“I thought the game was eerily similar to the first time we played,” Mustangs coach Mike Glick said. “Even first half and just a bad third quarter.”With an impactful, 11-point fourth quarte, Daevone Johnson led Old Mill (10-6) to the victory with 24 points.“He’s really deceptive with his length. He can defend, he can score,” Old Mill coach Mike Francis said. “He was first-team all-league last year, and I’ve been telling everybody he’s our all-around best player.”Just like last time, the two played neck-and-neck with Meade (13-3) holding a little edge. 

TJ Speight (18 points) proved he’d be a playmaker in this contest by hitting the first basket for two, then following his appetizer with a pair of 3-pointers. Speight pointed to the sky on the last one, a grin washing over his face as cheers from the blackout Meade crowd rained down.Mazhi Thames, who finished with over a third (20 points) of the Mustangs’ total, joined his teammate’s endeavors with seven points, one from downtown.Even as Meade seemed to slow down the Patriots’ usual quick-paced style, Old Mill was able to almost match its hosts as Tra Thomas tallied six points. The Patriots trailed by just two, 17-15, after the first quarter.Save for a pair from beyond the arc by Kanari Smith, the Mustangs were mostly able to corral Old Mill’s scoring efforts in the second, while the Patriots kept Meade from running too far. The hosts improved their first-frame gap and had a slim lead at the half.The Patriots knew how this story played out. 

The first half was just the first act, and things always look a little uncertain at a play’s intermission.The second act was where they’d shine.“We did a better job rebounding and we didn’t let Tre [Dunn], the big kid, control the boards in the second half,” Francis said.Old Mill’s a transition-scoring team, and Meade knows it. That didn’t mean they’d be able to stop it, though, especially once the Patriots shored their own defense up.A technical on Dunn gave Old Mill a golden opportunity at the foul line; the Patriots hit six straight free throws to add to their 10-0 run.“That gave them a lot of momentum, but we struggle when we don’t score the basketball. That was the difference in the game,” Glick said.Meade, meanwhile, didn’t score until there were just three and a half minutes remaining in the quarter – a Dunn putback.“I think what happened was we turned the basketball over, we shot quickly and we shot bad shots,” Glick said.By the end of the third, Old Mill had carved out an 11-point lead, 48-37.Johnson was just getting started.“When we play defense, he gets steals, he gets blocks, he gets layups,” Francis said.He then stripped Meade in the paint, charging down court and hooking a layup, unchallenged. He seemed to enjoy that, so he did it again, punching the ball out mid-air and carrying it up the court for another two points.“There’s a lot of time left!” Glick shouted at his players, who managed to creep within seven points of Old Mill with 58 seconds left. And yet, the Patriots became familiar once again with the free throw line – Johnson especially, who hit four. He screamed, “Let’s go!”, trading laughs with Robinson.

Old Mill’s season season hit some bumps last week, as the Patriots dropped two straight to Broadneck and Glen Burnie.“Meade’s got a great team,” Francis said. “We just played a little better defensively tonight than we have in the last three-game stretch. I’m really happy about that.”Glick lives by a “the most important game is the next game” motto. By that standard, it doesn’t matter to him so much that Old Mill took the battles if they don’t win the war.“If we play them again,” he said, regarding the playoffs, “we’d relish that opportunity.”

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Mustangs Riding High

Posted by Michael Glick at Jan 9, 2019 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )

Mustangs Riding High

MEADE BLAZES THROUGH WINTER BREAK ON WIN STREAK

January 10, 2019 Jack Chavez

The Meade Mustangs boys’ basketball team poses with the Route 175 Classic trophy on Dec. 28. The Mustangs won the tournament by beating La Plata, 90-48, and High Point, 64-62. A year after graduating four of five starters, the Meade Mustangs boys’ basketball team is rolling through January on a six-game winning streak. The Mustangs’ season started somewhat slow at 2-2, but since then they’ve averaged 77 points per game over a winning streak that’s included victories over Oakland Mills on Dec. 19 and Glen Burnie on Friday. “We’re getting better and better every single game,” coach Mike Glick said. “I’m really, really proud of our players.”

Against Glen Burnie, Meade High School’s young team had to enter a loud, hostile gym and maintain their composure against an older, more experienced squad. They answered the call with a 74-59 victory that should put the rest of the county on notice. The most noticeable key to the Mustangs’ success has been the duo of seniors Tre Dunn and Mazhi Thames, whom the opposition has struggled to contain during the winning streak. Thames scored 37 points in the contest against Glen Burnie and has averaged nearly 30 points over the last three games.

“I thought he did a phenomenal job in not getting frustrated and finding his teammates, finding the open man,” Glick said after the game. “So I give Thames a hell of a lot of credit.” Senior point guard Mazhi Thames drives to the basket in Meade’s game at Glen Burnie on Friday. The Mustangs beat the Gophers 74-59. Meade also hosted the annual Route 175 Classic on Dec. 27 and 28. After handling La Plata, 90-48, the Mustangs held on for a thrilling 64-62 victory over High Point to take home first place in the four-team tournament. Again, Thames and Dunn had a lot to do with the outcome.

Dunn provided 15 points and 11 rebounds and Thames scored 25 points, as well as coming up with the game-winning steal as time expired. Thames transferred to Meade this school year from Old Mill. He also played for Meade in his freshman year. Dunn said that familiarity with Thames as both a teammate and opponent has helped solidify their chemistry. “We played [Amateur Athletic Union basketball] together and we just got in synch [over the years],” Dunn said. “When he left for Old Mill, I had to play against him and learn some stuff about him. And then when he came back, I had to learn to control the court with him.

… It was just going to be me [guiding our younger teammates], but now I have somebody else to help me out during the game.” Added Thames: “[We’re] like salt and pepper.” Having two seniors among his ranks has gone a long way in helping Glick’s younger talent develop, players like junior Nick Haylock and sophomore TJ Speight.

Mazhi Thames, Meade boys basketball. Boys athlete of the week.  

BoysMazhi Thames, Sr., Meade, basketballThames scored 73 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and handed out 13 assists and led the Mustangs to three wins last week. He capped his week with a 30-point, 12-assist, seven-rebound performance in Friday’s win over North County.

“Mazhi is a great teammate and has provided tremendous leadership to such a young and inexperienced team making his teammates better every day,” coach Mike Glick said. 

 

 

 

 

Meade knew what it was dealing with before the clock started. Longtime basketball coach Mike Glick called Old Mill “the team to beat.”But like two teams before them, the Mustangs were unable to be the ones to bring the Patriots down. Led by senior Avion Robinson’s scoring spree, Old Mill kept its winning streak untouched, deftly dropping Meade 73-54.Robinson totaled 36 points – including 13 in the third quarter, a frame that practically ensured the Patriots (3-0) their victory.

It would be a career night for most players. Robinson, though, isn’t most players. When he’d walked on the floor to warm up with his teammates, a T-shirt clouded his jersey. His number, 24, was hardly visible, and yet, when he passed a pair of Meade students, one said, knowingly, “That’s their best player.”“He scored 40 the first night we played,” Old Mill coach Mike Francis said. “The bigger the game, the bigger he plays.”Judging by the final score, it’d appear Old Mill had blown its rivals out. But if basketball were only played two quarters, it would have gone to overtime. 

The Mustangs (2-2) screeched from the start on the wheels of senior Tre Dunn, who hit a crowd-pleasing dunk with an ease that made it clear it wouldn’t be his last dunk of the night.Senior Mazhi Thames, opening his own 30-point performance, followed up his teammate with a 3-pointer to put Meade up 5-0. Moments later, Dunn would slam another dunk.Despite the showmanship, though, Old Mill wasn’t rattled, its senior-clad defense already proving difficult for a younger Mustangs squad to handle.

The Patriots lurched to a 15-9 lead at the first timeout, the result of speedy production after rebounds, accurate shot-making and forcing turnovers.“We’re two-time defending county champs, region champs. That stuff doesn’t bother us,” Francis said. “Not the guys who’s been here before.”And it was only the beginning. The Patriots edged Meade after the first, 15-12.Meade’s apex offense arrived at the top of the second quarter. Dunn, naturally, opened the frame with a dunk, followed by a layup from sophomore TJ Speight, which handed the Mustangs the lead. At the same time, Meade had shored up its defense in the paint, holding the hosts to a scoreless, three-minute drought.Given what would happen next, it wouldn’t matter in the game. But Glick has his eyes on January, February. All 32 minutes on Friday could do was build experience for his colts.