Falcon Boys Close Basketball Season In Region First Round

Severna Park’s promising finish to the boys basketball season ended a couple of rounds earlier than hoped, but it wasn’t for a lack of execution or effort.

The Falcons had their season come to a close with a 61-59 overtime loss to Arundel in the first round of the 3A East Region I playoffs on February 28 at Severna Park High School.

In a quality game where the Falcons played mostly crisp basketball, it was Arundel’s athleticism and experience that ultimately proved to be the difference.

“We had a lot of kids who were on a good JV team, and they needed to learn what it takes to go up against a bigger, stronger, faster varsity team night in and night out,” said Severna Park coach Pete Young. “As coaches, you’re always looking for the things you did wrong that you can improve on, but you’re hoping to get the team to a point where you’re seeing more and more of the things you’re doing right to help the team be successful. By the end of the season, we were pretty close to being a good, crisp, clean basketball team. The kids rose to that challenge.”

Behind the growth of junior point guard Garrett Moden, junior forward Dash Havens, sophomores Xavier Marshall and John Batty, and freshman Blake Coard, the Falcons (16-8) won three straight games heading into the playoffs. Each win came in such a narrow fashion as to give them valuable experience in closing out tight games.

They beat Arundel 55-53, then North County 55-52, then Northeast 57-52 to close out the regular season. The following playoff game against Arundel, though, proved to be one trip to the well too many.

Though Severna Park had a large sophomore and junior class on the roster, they’ll bid farewell to three seniors: Keaghan Gorski, Charlie Hartman and Charlie Gonzalez, each of whom contributed to the program in his own way.

“It’s hard to put into words what Charlie (Hartman) means — four-year varsity player, leader, locker room guy, just everything you want,” Young said. “Keaghan really came into his own this season and stepped up, which was really important for us. And Charlie (Gonzalez), what he did for us is really undervalued, to help get the guys ready to play every single night.”