The flu ripped through Annapolis Area Christian School and left only eight boys basketball players healthy enough to play on Wednesday night. It couldn’t be worse timing, with the postseason looming and a chance to climb the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference standings at hand.
So, Eagles junior Eli Croskey couldn’t just be one player. He had to account for the work of four.
Any time he wanted, Croskey blurred through Indian Creek’s defense to rain down 40 points. He raised the host Eagles up to an 80-72 victory and delivered the squad the bounce back it needed from Saturday’s loss.
“We need big wins to gain momentum right now. I just knew, down some guys, I had to have a big game to contribute, get us a win on senior night,” Croskey said. “It’s all about the seniors.”
The last three games of AACS’ regular season could break a lesser team: A Conference McDonogh, Archbishop Curley and Severn. But AACS has shaken off a rough start and has won four of its last five games to move right behind front-running Severn in the B Conference Black Division standings.
“We started this season slow, but we’re picking it up to get better every single game,” Croskey said. “We’re looking to make a deep run to the playoffs and hopefully win a championship.”
Aidan Evans’ jumper whistled from his fingers delivered Indian Creek its first lead early in the third quarter, something the team would only briefly enjoy. AACS kept answering every Indian Creek charge and a pair of late baskets from Croskey put AACS up 58-55 after three.
Indian Creek’s opportunities kept bouncing off the rim. treated opportunities with bounces off the rim. Kyle Harvin closed the gap to one, but that became forgotten after a series of AACS 3-pointers. Before long, the lead swelled to 71-58.
“We just had to finish, to come up with the energy and come out swinging,” Croskey said. “We needed something like a 10-0 run to finish out the game, and that’s exactly what we did.”
AACS jumped out to a 17-14 lead after the first quarter on the strength of its perimeter shooting and success at the foul line.
It was obvious what Indian Creek needed to do.
At the top of the second quarter, the visitors adapted to push its zone outward and pressure the hosts to the edges, enough to force air balls but not to keep host Eagles from taking as many long-range shots as it wanted. Once AACS identified the outside was to packed, one figure especially rocketed to the post.
“We knew we had to have guys cut to the middle and Eli’s such an instinctive player,” AACS coach Doug Scheidt said. “I’d love to take credit for it, but I can’t. He’s just so effective in there.”
Croskey had a passport to any basket he desired, leading his team’s attacks both inside the paint and from downtown. His third bucket shoved Indian Creek to the edge of a double-digit deficit at 30-21.
“I just trusted my teammates to find me open,” Croskey said, smiling.
Under senior Justin Chandler’s defense, Aidan Evans’ visible first-quarter impact for the visitors paled to almost nothing for most of the second quarter. In his stead, Indian Creek’s Harvin acted like fly traps to his hosts; the more they flocked to him around the net, the more their mistakes stuck. Harvin scored six straight points to cut a 37-28 AACS lead to 37-34 with 12 seconds left in the half.
“We were forcing it,” Scheidt said. “Trying to make great plays rather than the play that was there. They want the crowd roaring, but if you make good plays, good things are gonna happen.”
AACS worked desperately to earn the final word of the half. Croskey heard his teammates counting down to zero and fired. At 0.2, his jumper touched the strings for a 39-34 halftime advantage.