Current Severn boys basketball players had never known what it was like to beat their bitterest rival: St. Mary’s. The last time the Admirals beat the Saints was in 2020, by a point. Since, Severn has played pawn in St. Mary’s championship story for two seasons running. Severn missed the entire 2020-21 season while their rivals sharpened.
After Wednesday, however, it’s clear a new story may be starting. Severn controlled the game through all four quarters to thrash St. Mary’s, 69-38. It was a far cry from the 43-42 victory of four years ago, and the largest win over the Saints in coach Mike Glasby’s six seasons.
Senior guard Kingston Price liked this new feeling.
“That team likes to talk a lot of trash. They like to get excited. I think beating them back sends a message,” Price said. “It also gets our spirits up.”
Price headed the Admirals’ attack with 19 points, but he was far from the only weapon — exemplary of exactly what makes Severn’s offense so tricky for opponents to stop this year. Freshman Corey Dixon, son of University of Maryland legend Juan Dixon, funneled most of his 14 points from the perimeter. Freshman DJ Lee chipped in nine points.
“What makes this offense so dangerous is we have so many threats. All our guys are really confident and pretty much everyone can shoot,” said Price, who is only 34 points shy of 1,000 for his career. “Defenses never can key in on one guy.”
The Saints (4-9, 1-2) used their superior size against Severn (7-5, 2-0) early, but the Admirals were more accurate. The undersized hosts blockaded the paint, securing a 11-2 run and a 13-7 lead through the first quarter. Only Saints centers Riley Costello (18 points) and Mason Hopper managed to claw through Severn’s defenses for baskets. The rest, rain droplets on pavement.
Severn’s Sean Harvey and Jayden Thomas peppered 3-pointers in quick succession to christen the second quarter. Junior Jacob Randall flashed a grin as he stole St. Mary’s ball and flipped to his teammates, resulting in a Daniel Growney 3-point play. Thomas followed suit, feeding the layup from Lee that pushed the margin to 25-9.
The Saints hardly had a chance to hold the ball, let alone respond. Despite a 20-3 rebounding edge, 14 turnovers hampered the St. Mary’s offense. Its closest shot at scoring — Hopper taking aim — was smacked down by Harvey and the lead grew to 29-9.
Severn honed in on stops as a key to dismantling St. Mary’s big-led play-style.
“When we switch, we switch really aggressively,” Price said. “On those switches sometimes, they kind of relax. It weakens their passing lanes, and we get those steals.”
The effect isn’t unique to Severn. St. Mary’s coach Trey Quinn lamented his young team’s ongoing struggle with letting pressure spoil ball control.
“And we just struggled with some decision-making,” the coach added. “But there’s an experience piece to it. A lot of our guys have not played in this rivalry game, which is always tough, and on the road.”
Still, a 33-13 lead couldn’t give Severn the ease a 20-point lead would typically grant. They carried leads similarly large against Broadneck and at Norfolk Collegiate out of Virginia over the holidays. Both shrank in the second half.
“You don’t want to be overwhelmed by any moment, but you do have to have a sense of urgency to have success,” Glasby said. “Understanding whether we’re up 30 or down 30, having a certain level of focus and attitude to the things we do is the principles of our play.”
The same situation threatened to unfold in the third quarter when Costello and Hopper clipped the gap to 15. But a trio of 3-pointers from Dixon and Price, as well as a jumper from Bo Fowler, were enough to push the lead back to 24.
Even as Saints freshman James Dibitetto finally found his way into the net, hope dwindled for the visitors of preserving their upper hand in the rivalry. The Admirals faced the fourth quarter up 52-24. Lee furthered the rout to 30 points with a steal to layup as the very first play of the final quarter.
“When we beat St. Mary’s last in the gym, it was handily. The second time wasn’t so much,” Glasby said. “At the end of the day, we feel really good and confident, but we know we have to be ready when we see them again in a few weeks.”