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View photos from Thursday's Flowers-Suitland boys basketball game

Thursday night's Prince George's County 4A League boys basketball showdown between Charles H. Flowers and Suitland was a microcosm of making adjustments on the fly.

The Jaguars fell behind early, but by the end of the first half, coach Billy Lanier began to see his team execute its game plan more successfully. Flowers seized control in the second half and earned a 52-43 victory.

Suitland built a 13-point lead in the second quarter, and standout guard Roddy Peters had 10 points at the break. But before the second quarter was over, Flowers already had begun to cut into Suitland's advantage. The Rams' lead was down to three points, 25-22, at halftime.

“I thought we weren't playing pressure defense like we were supposed to,” Lanier said. “We were letting [Suitland junior guard Roddy] Peters control the game too much. We needed to get it out of his hands and make other guys make plays. I think we did a better job of that in the second quarter which got us back into the game.”

In the second half, Flowers virtually shut down the Rams' offense and pulled away to secure the victory. Flowers improved to 7-2, and Suitland dropped to 8-2.

Jaguars' senior guard David Barnes scored 11 points and was a catalyst on defense.

“We like to press,” Barnes said “We try to come out from the start and try to disrupt the ball handler as much as possible. And then we give them different looks and rotate to kind of wear the ball handler down, which leads to easy baskets and we make a run. When we make a couple of defensive plays, our sixth man — our crowd — gets us going.”

While the Jaguars may have snuck up on a lot of opponents last season — when they unexpectedly reached the 4A South Region final — this season has been a vastly different experience.

“Coach always tells us that now we are the hunted and everybody is going to come out and give us their best so we have to be prepared,” said Flowers forward Brandon Green. “We have to score more off turnovers. We missed a lot of layups tonight that could have led to more points.”

Meanwhile, Suitland has yet to find a solution at point guard after Will Gilmore, who solidified the position last year, was lost to graduation. The Rams are trying to find consistency at a position where experience is lacking.

As a sophomore playing in the county high school ranks for the first time last year, opponents first got a glimpse of Peters' capabilities. This season he is the county's leading scorer, averaging 25.1 points per game. But that means opposing defenses know he's a threat. The challenge for the Rams this season is to build the confidence of the players around Peters.

“I feel sometimes my teammates have to go at it by themselves, but I put that on myself. In practice I have to make them work harder because I can't do everything myself,” Peters said. “If I have them with me, I'm good. I'm confident in them, but we need more. The bigger games we play this season aren't going to be any easier, so it's about progress.”

Suitland coach George McClure acknowledged that the team has a tendency to rely on Peters.

“We talk about it all of the time and it really shows on tape,” McClure said. “We've gotten away with it at times this season, but if you see us, you'll see the coaches yell to push it to the other guards. It's a learning experience. We're going to have to figure it out. They're not bad players. The problem is they're inexperienced.”

Flowers 52, Suitland 43

Suitland 16 9 13 5 — 43

Flowers 6 16 17 13 — 52

Leading Scorers

Flowers: Brandon Green 12; David Barnes 11; Dontae Holloway 11

Suitland: Roddy Peters 17; Daquan Page 10; Arvel Atwater 7