Falcon Boys Turn Tables On Broadneck

Earlier in the season, Severna Park held a 21-point lead after one quarter and discovered that building that huge margin early wasn’t a guarantee for success as Broadneck staged a frantic rally late to steal victory away.

On Friday, the Falcons demonstrated they’d learned that lesson well.

Nursing a narrow lead for much of their rematch with the Bruins, they turned it on late, pushing a two-point third-quarter lead to 16 in the final two minutes and withstanding another comeback bid to beat Broadneck 62-55, spoiling the Bruins’ senior night.

Severna Park (12-3 overall, 9-3 in county play) got their expected contribution from the perimeter, as Brendan Abell led the team with 16 points and Tucker Moran added 10. But it was patient offense and Upton Young’s willing dirty work in the lane that helped the Falcons pull away.

“We noticed we need to get more into our shot clock (offense), got our looks and didn’t force anything,” Young said. “When I get to the basket, it opens other people up and it creates offense for us. It keeps the defense on their toes.”

Broadneck (10-6, 7-3 county) raced out to an early lead but was kept in check. Numerous shots that normally go in — including nearly double-digit shots from within 5 feet — didn’t fall. Once they surrendered the lead in the first period, the Bruins were able to tie the game on three separate occasions but couldn’t get over the hump.

“Just a challenging week, finished by a rivalry game on senior night. It’s tough,” said Broadneck coach Jeff Starr. “A lot of things that normally go in for us didn’t tonight. But the boys never gave up, and they always believe they’re in the game until it ends.”

Jordan Brown led all scorers with 27 points for Broadneck, including nine in the first quarter where the Bruins scored the first seven points of the game. But after that opening burst, the Falcons were able to hold him as much in check as they could have hoped for, while simultaneously keeping the other Bruins down.

“(Brown) is a player. He’s going to score,” Severna Park coach Pete Young said. “The key is to make him take more shots to get his points and move him around the floor to get his touches as much as possible. For the most part, we did a good job of that.”

Only Devin McGowan joined Brown in double figures, scoring 14.

Broadneck tried to mount one of their by-now-patented late-game rallies, but this time, the Bruins left it too late. Severna Park stretched the lead to 16 with under two minutes to play before seeing their lead whittled to just five with 11 seconds remaining. But Broadneck’s magic ran out and the Falcons celebrated a statement win.

“I never feel comfortable until there’s zero on the clock,” Pete Young said. “This is a tough place to play against a good basketball team. We’ll enjoy this one tonight, but we have another tough game on Monday.”

Both teams return to action on Monday, when Broadneck hosts South River and Severna Park is at Laurel.

Severna Park 62, Broadneck 55

Severna Park    15   11   17   19   --62

Broadneck  13   12   14   16   --55

SEVERNA PARK (62)

Cleary 3 1-2 8, Tenenbaum 1 0-0 3, Moran 3 4-6 10, Young 5 5-9 15, Abell 6 2-3 16. Totals 22 14-26 62.

BROADNECK (55)

Sellman 1 0-0 2, Smargissi 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 2-2 2, Cahall 2 0-0 6, Lewis 1 0-2 2, Brown 11 0-2 27, McGowan 4 6-7 14. Totals 20 10-13 55.

3-point goals: Severna Park 3 (Abell 2, Cleary, Tenenbaum); Broadneck 5 (Brown 5). Total fouls: Severna Park 13, Broadneck 18. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: Broadneck, bench.