After facing a pair of seven-point deficits in the first quarter of Tuesday’s Southern Maryland Athletic Conference boys basketball championship game at North Point, the St. Charles High School squad reversed the course of the contest in the second quarter en route to an 80-52 victory over Chopticon in the conference title game.
St. Charles (16-5) had slipped past Chopticon 70-67 when the two teams had met four weeks earlier in their lone league encounter, but in the initial stages of Tuesday’s contest the Braves displayed ample energy early and led 17-10 following a three-point field goal from senior Jordan Pernell and again 19-12 on a layup from freshman Braylon Harrison.
Chopticon (14-8) owned a 19-14 lead when the first quarter expired, but the next eight minutes proved detrimental to their chances. After Harrison scored the first bucket of the frame for Chopticon, St. Charles countered with an emphatic 15-0 run for a 26-21 lead then countered a three-pointer from Pernell to close the half on a 10-2 run for a 36-26 advantage at the intermission.
“You have to give Chopticon credit for coming out and playing with a lot of energy and intensity early,” St. Charles coach Brett Campbell said. “That’s a very well coached team and they came in here ready for us early. But once we shifted our defensive focus a little bit and started to force some turnovers and get layups in transition we took control of the game from that point.”
St. Charles outscored Chopticon 22-7 in the second quarter to claim a 10-point lead at the intermission, but the Spartans virtually sealed the verdict in the opening stages of the third quarter.
St. Charles got consecutive buckets from seniors Xavier Buchanan and Tajir Webster and junior Bryce Selby and the Spartans had nearly doubled the margin to 44-26 with six minutes left in the third quarter.
“I thought we came out and did a lot of really good things early,” Chopticon coach Brad Leydig said. “Being on the big stage is definitely something new for us. The two years before I got here we were 3-21, so to get to 14-8 this season says a lot about how much the program has improved. It had been 21 years since the last time Chopticon had played in the SMAC boys championship game, so for us just getting here is a great accomplishment.”
Chopticon chipped away the deficit in the late stages of the third quarter on a bucket and two free throws from junior Jacob Waddell. But a late, conventional three-point play from Buchanan lifted the Spartans to a 56-40 lead heading to the final frame and St. Charles promptly opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run with senior Shamir Taylor adding a three-pointer of his own.
This Sunday both St. Charles and Chopticon will find out which teams they will face in the opening round of the 3A South Region tournament, but it does appear possible that they could meet again in the region final. Chopticon would have to avenge an earlier setback to Great Mills, however, to earn that berth.
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