Every day before practice officially starts, Springbrook High School boys basketball coach Tom Crowell asks his players to shoot 100 free throws.
That seemingly tedious task paid dividends in Tuesday's 61-59 win over Prince George's County's Gwynn Park on the first day of the Roberts Oxygen Holiday Invitational at Springbrook.
The Montgomery Gazette's fourth-ranked team (6-1) made 14-of-22 free throws, which allowed them to prevail despite a six-point third quarter. Most importantly, senior Demetric Austin netted both of his attempts with six seconds remaining in regulation to all but clinch the game at 61-56.
Gwynn Park is ranked sixth by the Prince George's Gazette.
Yellow Jackets junior Jalen Harris' fourth 3-pointer of the night fell in at the buzzer.
“I've got to thank my coach,” Austin said. “That just showed how important free throws are.”
Added Gwynn Park coach Mike Glick: “Free throws are a huge part of the game. A lot of games are decided by free throws. They ran a great out-of-bounds play to get the ball into [Austin] and he knocked down both of his shots.”
Springbrook's two-day tournament pits two of Montgomery's best against two of the best Prince George's has to offer. Austin said a bit of intercounty rivalry made the game even more exciting.
The Blue Devils are scheduled to face fourth-ranked Eleanor Roosevelt at 5 p.m. Wednesday, with Magruder and Gwynn Park to follow at 7 p.m.
Springbrook took advantage of Gwynn Park's (4-1) slow start Tuesday and jumped to a 31-16 halftime lead. Once the Yellow Jackets' shots started falling, however, they were able to employ their full-court press and the Blue Devils struggled to adjust to the pace.
Gwynn Park outscored Springbrook,17-6, in the third quarter to cut the Blue Devils' lead to 37-33. The Yellow Jackets twice got within three in the final minute of regulation.
“They started trapping and we did not know what to do,” Austin said. “We didn't have a game plan. Then [Crowell] told us a couple of plays to open up the lanes.”
Once Springbrook started to penetrate the paint and dish the ball out to Austin (25 points) for the pull-up jumper or to inside-out threats Charles Taylor (13) and Tomazye Anderson (12), the Blue Devils were able to regain control.
Harris scored nine of his team-high 17 total points in Gwynn Park's fourth-quarter comeback bid. Ten of 6-foot-9, 230-pound senior center Marcel Boyd's 14 points were scored in the second half.
“Springbrook is an excellent team, one of the best teams we'll play,” Glick said. “We're just trying to get better.”
jbeekman@gazette.net
Springbrook 61, Gwynn Park 59
Gwynn Park (4-1) 8 8 17 26—59
Springbrook (6-1) 15 16 6 24—61
Gwynn Park: Jalen Harris 17, Marcel Boyd 14, Xavier Richards 11, Jarvis Hawkins 6, Robert Flint 4, Eric Batts 3, Achkel Bazil 2, Trevor Ford 2. Springbrook: Demetric Austin 25, Charles Taylor 13, Tomazye Anderson 12, Wayo Adjei 5, Brandon Emery 4, Timmy Christian 2.
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