Ninth-year Gwynn Park High School basketball coach Mike Glick sat down for approximately three seconds at the beginning of his Yellow Jackets’ late afternoon matchup against Frederick County power Urbana as part of the Stanley Martin Homes Basketball Tournament at Magruder High School. His short-lived rest came to a loud halt as the Gwynn Park head man bounded up from his chair, signaling his team.

“Double fist, double fist,” Glick shouted out, thrusting his two clenched fists into the air as his Yellow Jackets swarmed the ball from the opening whistle. For the first 4 minutes and 40 seconds of the game, the intense defensive pressure held Urbana scoreless as Gwynn Park jumped out to a 13-0 lead — an advantage that propelled them to a 66-55 win against the previously undefeated Hawks.

“That set the tone of the game,” Glick said of his team’s early run.

From the opening whistle, Gwynn Park enforced their physical, fast-paced style of play on an Urbana team that seemed more comfortable slowing things down in the halfcourt. When their “double fist” fullcourt pressure didn’t produce a turnover, the Yellow Jackets were able to lock down the Hawks’ scorers with a suffocating 2-3 zone that held Urbana without a field goal until Leon Thibault connected on a 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining in the first quarter — the Hawk’s eleventh attempt of the game.

“The game plan was to speed them up — make them play at a fast pace and make them play at our tempo,” Glick said. “It also enabled us to score better because sometimes we struggle scoring and we can get turnovers and easy buckets. I thought our kids executed it really, really well.”

For as slow of a start as Urbana got out to offensively, Gwynn Park was that hot, shooting 8-of-12 from the field in the first quarter, including 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Junior Aaron Parker, who finished the game with 14 points, converted on all of his four field goal attempts in the first quarter, including a number of tough finishes through traffic. Senior Desha Curtis, who finished with a team high 16 points, converted on his first three attempts from long range.

“I was looking to attack more,” Curtis said after the win. “Lately, I haven’t been attacking and I know my team needs more scoring [from] me. I came out tonight with an attacking mindset.”

Gwynn Park finished the game 23-of-50 (46 percent) from the field and went 10-of-18 (55 percent) from 3-point range — putting together a performance Glick called “the best we shot all year.”

“We are a 3-point shooting team and we have a lot of kids that can shoot,” Glick said. “If we’re hitting shots, we’re a different team. We struggle and we’ve struggled when we’re not hitting shots.”

Urbana, a semifinalist in the Class 3A state tournament last season, eventually woke up from their slumber, using small scoring runs to whittle the lead down from 15 and 16, to as close as five. But each time the Hawks threatened, Gwynn Park seemed to have an answer on either end of the court.

Throughout Monday’s game, Glick could be heard shouting, “Get Isaiah a touch,” referring to junior Isaiah Miles, who leads the team in scoring with 18.3 points per game. But against Urbana, Miles’ greatest contribution came not in the form of his 13 points, but rather in his key blocks, rebounds and assists that helped the young Yellow Jackets hold on to a key win heading into the new year.

“Isaiah is our most experienced player,” Glick said of the 6-foot-4 junior. “He’s our best player and Isaiah’s grown up as a player. He’s understanding basketball is more than just scoring ... he’s learning to let the game come to him.”

Tuesday night, Miles in particular will have his hands full in the title game of the tournament, as Gwynn Park will face River Hill, a school that features big man Charlie Thomas IV, who has signed to play at University of Wisconsin next season.

“I’ll enjoy playing against them,” he said with a smile.

agutekunst@gazette.net

Gwynn Park -- 20 17 11 18 -- 66

Urbana -- 12 17 11 15 -- 55

SCORING Gwynn Park -- Desha Curtis 16; Aaron Parker 14; Isaiah Miles 13; Marlon White 9; Parris Miles 6; Evan Crump 5; CJ Miller 3.

Urbana -- Ian Eversull 16; Jaik Thompson 16; Leon Thibault 13; Trey Lucas 10.