Seasons
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Game of the Week: No. 5 Friendly 54, Gwynn Park 53
No. 5 Friendly 54, Gwynn Park 53
By James A. McCray III
Prince George's County, Content Manager
Standing at the free-throw line Thursday night at Gwynn Park with 3 seconds remaining and the score tied at 53-53, Friendly junior R.J. Sims stood there with the ball in his hands and one could only imagine what may have been going through his mind for those brief moments before he let the ball go.
"I was just thinking this was a big time to make a big play," Sims said on his thoughts.
First place in the Prince George's County 3A/2A/1A League was up for grabs and snapping the 28-game conference win streak of the Yellow Jackets was only one swish of the net away, and it was all up to Sims and his second of two free throws.
And although the ball hit just the back edge of the rim, it found the bottom of the net to secure the win, first place in the league and a 54-53 victory for the Patriots.
"He has been shooting free throws like that all year," Friendly head coach Rob Garner said. "We spend a lot of time in practice on free-throw shooting and for him to be able to come off of the bench like that and make one or two and make the free throw that we need; what can you say about the kid?
"He is a tough kid, mentally tough kid ... and it won't be the last time he will do that."
Sims' late-game heroics were preceded by a few late-game heroics from Gwynn Park (9-4, 8-1).
Down two points with less than 10 seconds remaining, Gwynn Park's Corey Anderson (7 points) put back a missed shot to tie the game at 53-53 setting up the game's dramatic finish.
"Overtime," Anderson said simply on his thoughts after his shot. "Overtime and winning was all I could think about."
Friendly (11-1, 10-0) gained an eight-point advantage entering the fourth quarter thanks to a defensive effort that held Gwynn Park to six third-quarter points.
The lead, however, disappeared thanks to a 12-4 run from the Yellow Jackets that tied the game at 43-43 with 2 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the contest.
Gwynn Park witnessed the Patriots swiftly respond with a 7-0 run of its own, capped off by an A.J. Thomas (13) three-pointer from the corner.
The 7-0 scoring run was sparked by a basket from George Latson who finished with nine points including four during crucial moments of the final period.
"I am a senior," Latson said. "I know I had to get it done for my team."
"I am just proud of our guys because we were able to come over to Gwynn Park and get a very, very tough win," Garner added. "The kids ... wanted to come out and wanted to win the ballgame. I don't know how much we can celebrate because we have to turn back around [tonight] and play a very tough Forestville team at Forestville.
"And guess what? If we lose that game, this game means nothing."
"That was a great high-school basketball game," Gwynn Park head coach Mike Glick said. "It was just typical of our league. I couldn't be more proud of our kids. ... We won 28 straight games in our league, which is a heck of an accomplishment. Yeah the streak is broken, but Friendly has a great team.
Gwynn Park's Brandon Ford led all scorers with 18 points on the night.
"We told our players our number one goal is to get back to Comcast [Center, home of the Maryland state basketball championships]," Glick continued, "and this game has nothing to do with Comcast. All that it is going to do is make us better."
tmccray@digitalsports.com
Friendly 54, Gwynn Park 53
Friendly -- 13 12 14 15; Thomas 13, Latson 9, Sims 7, Brooks 7, Gonzales 6, Hood 5, Adewole 3, Mayfield 2, Baltimore 2
Gwynn Park -- 15 10 6 22; Ford 18, Woodard 9, Peavy 8, Anderson 7, Thomas 5, Williams 3, Blue 3
Three-point goals
Friendly (Thomas 3, Adewole)
Gwynn Park (Thomas, Blue)
