Holiday Tourneys Bring Out the Best in Area Players

Their latest triumphs came during the J.T. Bogle tournament last week, when they beat Edgewood and host Glen Burnie in overtime to win the title.

Senior point guard Julian Watson scored 17 points in the 73-70 championship-game victory over Glen Burnie, including two free throws with 10 seconds left in overtime to increase Arundel's lead by three.

Watson was named tournament MVP. Brandon Johnson-Farrell, the wide receiver whose exploits propelled Arundel to the football title game, scored 11 and played outstanding defense on Glen Burnie's Jarvez Pierce, holding the Gophers' top scorer to eight points (two after halftime).

"That was a complete team effort," said first-year coach Jeff Starr. "We've been getting different guys scoring in double figures on a nightly basis."

Arundel is off to its best start since going 11-2 to open 2004-05.

The Other Winning Patriots

After an uncharacteristic 12-11 season last winter, Old Mill boys again are showing the winning form that sent them to the state final in 2005-06 as part of a 24-3 season. The Patriots won the Christmas Classic at Southern last week to improve to 7-0 and are the only remaining undefeated boys' team in the county, public or private.

Only one of the seven victories, however, has been against a team with a winning record -- 79-77 against St. Mary's-Annapolis (8-5).

In the Christmas Classic opener last Thursday, Patriots senior Brandon Riley had a game-high 22 points as Old Mill outscored Kent Island by 33 in the second half, en route to an 80-51 win. In the final against Southern, Riley had 17 points and five steals in an 86-60 win and was named tournament MVP.

The Old Mill girls are a perfect 6-0 this season, with victories over Randallstown of Baltimore County (51-41) and host Westminster of Carroll County (65-43) at last week's holiday tournament. Senior Ariana Guyton had 12 points and seven rebounds in the championship game win over Westminster. Senior Aleah Queen and junior Cierra Lucas were named to the all-tournament team.

Westminster "tried to slow the tempo down, but once we got the fast break moving we were able to score," said Coach Craig White, "and our full-court pressure was more [visible] than in the first game" against Randallstown.

The defending 4A East champions Patriots have been getting balanced scoring in the season's first month, with contributions from Guyton, Queen, Lucas, sophomore Kourtney Salisbury and senior Patrice Jones.

Gophers Take Third Title

The Glen Burnie girls won their third Capital City Classic in five years last week with victories over Annapolis and Franklin Regional from suburban Pittsburgh. The Gophers (5-2) got 15 points from senior guard Jessica Taylor in the title game win over Annapolis, 60-47.

Jasmine Mitchell, coming off a leg injury that forced her to miss two games, had 13 points and nine rebounds. The day before, juniors La'Bree Williams and Taniqua Williams scored 11 each in a 50-47 win over Franklin.

"I think our quickness is going to give teams problems this year," said Coach Dan Mangum. "I'm excited, and the kids are excited. We want to see how we do against some of these top echelon teams [in the county]. I don't see why we can't compete against them." . . .

Southern's girls won the Holiday Hoops Classic at Washington Bible College. Their 67-55 victory in the title game came over a strong South River team. Sophomore Raquelle Jones had 18 points, sophomore Jasmine Wells had 17 and senior Kim Schneck 13 as the Bulldogs improved to 5-3 and handed South River its second straight defeat after six consecutive wins to start the season.