The boys basketball team defeated Quince Orchard 49-46 Feb. 7, bouncing back from a two-point loss to Clarksburg.
The win improved the Bulldogs to 15-4 on the season as the team only has three regular season games left until playoffs. In the game, the Bulldogs almost blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter but managed to hang on with a win.
“We haven’t been able to defeat zone defense well which hurt us in the fourth quarter,” senior Louis Rothstein said. “We were settling for too many jumpers.”
The Bulldogs were outscored 18-10 in the fourth quarter but played solid defense on the last play of the game by double teaming the Cougars point guard to ensure the game would not go into overtime. The Bulldogs have played stellar defense as they held their last five opponents to under 50 points.
“We pride ourselves on defense,” Rothstein said. “We have lots of confidence in our defense to hold small leads at the end of games.”
The previous game the team lost at Clarksburg 47-45 Feb. 3, ending the teams eight-game win streak. Despite the loss, the Bulldogs already won the Montgomery 4A South Division title for the second year in a row. The team went 9-1 in the Division and beat every team in the division twice except for Whitman.
“Winning the division was a great accomplishment but we still have a lot of work to do,” head coach Matthew Miller said. “We’re still not satisfied though, right now we’re going to practice hard to get ready for the games remaining and then playoffs.”
In the loss to Clarksburg, the Bulldogs struggled to score, as they did not hit any three-pointers in the game. The team shot 14 for 52 from the field, and went zero for 14 from behind the arc.
CHS also struggled to score in the two previous games, scoring only 50 points against Walter Johnson Feb. 1 and 49 points against Richard Montgomery Jan. 31. After a quarter of play against Walter Johnson, CHS was only up 7-6. Although the Bulldogs played smothering defense throughout the first quarter, offensively, the team had many turnovers and could not buy a basket.
“After the first quarter, Miller told us to slow the ball down more to prevent turnovers, to move the ball around more and to feed off each other’s energy,” senior captain Christian Bonaparte said.
The game was close at 19-14 until senior Sam Edens broke the game open. After being fouled on a shot, Walter Johnson was called for a double technical foul. Edens proceeded to hit all six free throws and a layup, scoring eight points in six seconds. In the game Edens had a career high with 24 points.
“The technical fouls really helped us pull away in the game,” Bonaparte said. “And even though our offense was sloppy, our defense was strong enough to win us the game.”
The Bulldogs’ defense was also a huge factor in their 49-41 win at Richard Montgomery. CHS held Richard Montgomery to only 17 first half points and forced many turnovers throughout the game. Edens and junior Dominique Williams led the team in scoring with 11 points each. Senior Quan Gill also had a big contribution off the bench with seven points.
“Whenever RM went on a run to make it a close game everyone remained positive,” Miller said. “Our senior heavy team keeps our team’s confidence up and helps us pull away in games.”
