While warming up for its Class 3A East Region I semifinal at South River, Severna Park’s guards barked and hollered at one another. It turned South River’s heads, though they tried not to notice.
But it was a warning, the official end to five days of peace, which began with the Falcons’ bitter loss to the Seahawks in the county championship. Rather than responding to being routed with fire and vengeance, coach Pete Young and his Falcons took the opposite approach.
Despite the typically animated personalities that make up Severna Park’s roster, every practice this week was balanced, focused. On the bus ride to Edgewater on Thursday, Young hardly heard a word.
Even at halftime with his team holding a two-point lead, Young spoke with a casual tone. When the Seahawks knocked on the door in the fourth quarter, Severna Park kept an even keel, enough to hold South River back, 54-45.
“It’s a great feeling. We were here last year, same round, this place,” senior Upton Young said. “We got taken home. We knew this one was it.”
The Falcons will play at top-seeded Stephen Decatur next Tuesday in the region final.
“We got to go in there the same as this one. It’s just another team,” senior Brendan Abell said. “Our five versus their five. We like our five all the way.”
South River coach Darren Hall knew the problem he faced. The Seahawks’ thrashing of Severna Park for the county title was fueled by vengeance for losing the week earlier. But now they’d done that. It’s hard to rework emotion and purpose.
“We knew we were going to be in for a battle,” Hall said, “but we could not stay consistent.”
After racing out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter, Severna Park’s lead was whittled to a single possession, 36-35, late in the third quarter. Both sides could sense how fragile the moment was. If the Seahawks tied or jumped ahead, they’d be pushing Severna Park back to a cliff’s edge. If they didn’t, the momentum they generated from their comeback would fizzle.
Everyone knew what it meant when Abell was sent the foul line, just for him to sink both shots to end the third quarter. It was the beginning of the end. Abell lashed a 3-pointer to start the fourth, sparking a decisive a 12-2 run.
“We felt like we were on the verge a few times, but we couldn’t finish on either end, making possessions or getting a stop when we needed to,” Hall said.
South River Senior James Crimaudo, a beacon to his team all year, stayed on the floor despite picking up a fourth foul. But he hit three foul shots and swallowed his fourth foul with a few minutes left, but didn’t leave the floor. He sunk three foul shots. Jamie Finn followed his lead with a 3-pointer and the Seahawks were back within 51-45.
But Severna Park met potential disaster calmly. Abell and Tucker Moran added points from the foul line to answer Crimaudo’s.
Severna Park struggled to manage clock earlier in the season, coach Young said. But in the fourth quarter, it was the Falcons players leading the conversation on it in huddles — get to the back half of a shot clock. If four minutes remain, run 30 seconds off each possession.
“We just knew we had to take the easy shot, and let them foul us,” Upton Young said.
Severna Park got started when Liam Cleary broke open for a go-ahead layup that sparked a 13-2 run in the first quarter. The Falcons carried an 18-10 lead to the first stop.
South River’s defense began to shut down Severna Park but struggled on the glass where it had a big advantage in the county championship.
“We weren’t as aggressive attacking the offensive boards as we were on Saturday,” Hall said, “and part of that was we weren’t getting the same quality shots as we were. And that’s a credit to Severna Park defensively; they really stepped up.”
Jaden McDuffie capped the second quarter with a last-second basket that ricocheted faithfully back into the net get the Seahawks within 24-22. Severna Park mustered only six points in the second quarter.
At halftime, “Basically, I talked to them [evenly], and said this [Thursday’s second quarter performance] was our third quarter on Saturday. If you guys wanna get this done, to take that two point lead and stretch it out to 10, we have to get back to playing five-man basketball,” Pete Young said.
Hall, as much as the loss hollowed him, understood that this season of South River’s was not promised when it graduated four of its five 2022-23 starters. There’ll be a time when Thursday’s results don’t sting, and he’ll think of the year more sweetly.
“We won 18 games, second-most wins in school history and first county championship. I’m just super proud of these guys. There wasn’t a whole lot of people early who believed we’d be where we’re finished up,” Hall said. “These guys, every day, were relentless and never let doubt seep in. Tonight, we just had nothing left in the tank.”
Severna Park — 18 6 14 16 — 54
South River — 10 12 13 10 — 45
SP: Young 19, Abell 14, Moran 8, Hartman 6, Cleary 4, Tenebaum 3
SR: Finn 16, Crimaudo 13, McDuffie 6, Barney 4, Schrader 4, Hall 2