HS Boys Basketball: Gophers Upset Bruins

In a stunning upset, the Glen Burnie Gophers defeated the 64-54 in last night's region semifinal matchup.

Going into this game, the Bruins were seeded second and the Gophers were seeded third. The game determined which team would go on to challenge the No. 1 -eeded team, the North Point Eagles.

One possible game-changer was an unfortunate ankle injury suffered by Bruins' star forward, Darnell Solomon in the opening seconds of the game.

At 6-4 Solomon is an easy choice for the game tip-off. In this instance, however, an over-crowded landing zone landed him on the bench, a spot he could not escape for the rest of the game.

The remaining 31:55 would be a constant battle for the Bruins. Although they were able to maintain a small lead into the third quarter, the fourth quarter power of the Gophers proved to be too much.

"They've steadily improved throughout the season. I think they play as hard as any team in the county. Coach [Mike] Rudd's experience and their tradition go a long way," said Broadneck’s Head Coach John Williams when asked about Glen Burnie's team—a team they had beaten twice in the regular season.

"They had a nice game plan this evening," he continued. "We went cold there at the wrong time in the fourth quarter. That was difficult to swallow."

Bruins junior Brady George put up 3-pointers by the armful, making a total of four in the first half and one more in the second. This, on top of three overall 3-pointers by senior Bobby Bates and one more by senior Brooks Wiggans, gave the Bruins a total of 27 points off of deep buckets.

Bates led the team in total points, putting up 23 points for Broadneck. George came in second with a total of 17.

"[Broadneck] played their tails off until that point, but our kids hung around enough that once we took the lead, we really did a great job of clamping down defensively," Gophers Head Coach Mike Rudd said when asked about his team's domination of the final minutes of the game.

"That's been a replay of so many games this year that we've played in," Rudd said. "That whole fourth quarter we've played out about nine or 10 times. [Paraphrasing his son's opinion on the Glen Burnie team:] 'These guys have an uncanny way of finishing and closing out games.' That's something you can't coach. That's something that they just do."

Leading in scoring for the Gophers was Larry Mike with a total of 21 points, 11 of which came from free throws in the second half. Brandon Spain came in second with 13 points, three of which came from the team's only 3-pointer of the night.

Glen Burnie saw a total of 35 free throws for the night and was able to make 23 of them, for a 66 percent completion rating.  Broadneck saw considerably less but made them count, sinking 11 of 13 for roughly an 85 percent completion rating.