Springbrook advances to 4A boys basketball state final

Raphael Talisman⁄The Gazette-Star Springbrook’s Brandon Davis (left) drives the baseline against Laurel’s Kilian Azah during the Class 4A state semifinals Thursday at Comcast Center in College Park. Davis, a junior reserve, had a big game, scoring 16 points to help Springbrook to a 49-41 win and a trip to Saturday’s state final against Charles County’s Thomas Stone at 8 p.m. at Comcast. Featured Jobs See all jobs

‘‘I had a lot of confidence in our big men, who practice hard every day,” said Springbrook senior guard C.J. Garner, who scored a team-high 20 points. ‘‘Coach tells them they always need to be ready when they get the call.”

Springbrook (23-2 record) will face Charles County's Thomas Stone in the state final Saturday at 8 p.m at Comcast. The Cougars (24-2) were 73-64 winners over Baltimore County's Parkville (18-7) in the other semifinal

Davis, Olasewere's replacement in the starting five, scored a season-high 16 points. More importantly, he and Touray, as well as 6-6 junior reserve Kwambina Coker, locked down Laurel's 6-7 Division I college recruit, Wil Alston. Alston came in averaging roughly 21 points and 12 rebounds per game, and left Comcast with two points and eight rebounds.

Touray only scored four points, but contributed a game-high nine boards.

The Blue Devils held the advantage throughout the gradually played contest, keeping the Spartans (23-2) to six points in the first quarter, and not many more after that. Springbrook's defensive effort was a clinic on how to take away a big post player: long-armed guards denied the entry pass, and immediate help forced Alston to give the ball up nearly every time he caught it.

‘‘This is the first time all year we've run a zone defense,” Springbrook coach Tom Crowell said. ‘‘And the zone was specifically to stop Wil Alston. ... That's very satisfying [that he scored two points]. That was a team, team effort. At one point, we had all five guys packed into the paint. I said, 'If you leave the red, you're wrong.'”

The Blue Devils went into the locker room enjoying a 19-14 lead, and in a game like Thursday's, five points was a huge margin. Springbrook maintained about that advantage for most of the second half. A key moment came with 1 minute, 30 seconds remaining, when Laurel's Marcus Hebron had a shot to cut the lead to two. He missed, and Mounda Williams' rebound led to a breakout layup for Davis. The Blue Devils iced the game from there.

Thursday was Laurel's first appearance in the state tournament since it won the 1980 Class AA (now 4A) championship. Without any contribution to speak of from Alston, and an 0-for-7 performance from 3-point range, there would be no repeat of that feat. Kilian Azah led the Spartans with 20 points.

‘‘We took 49 shots; they took 43,” Laurel coach Keith Coutreyer said. ‘‘We had 32 misses. ... We're used to making shots, and when the shots don't fall, it took us out of our game. We got frustrated and didn't play to our identity.”

Olasewere will return for Saturday's state final, the first of Crowell's long career in the county. Crowell nearly missed Thursday's semifinal; he missed Wednesday's practice due to illness.

But Crowell made it to Comcast in time to watch his team, and his fill-in power forward, put on quite a show.

‘‘I just had to stay focused and play tough defense on Alston,” Davis said. ‘‘I knew our team needed a big offensive effort, too, so I did what I had to do.”

Thomas Stone 73, Parkville 64

In the night's other Class 4A semifinal, Thomas Stone sprinted away from a tied game courtesy of an 11-0 run late in the fourth quarter. Six straight turnovers spelled doom for Parkville down the stretch. The lead went as high as 12 before a halfcourt 3-pointer at the buzzer for Parkville.

With the Knights' loss, Baltimore County will go another year without a Class 4A state title. Only one team from Baltimore County has ever won a boys basketball title in the state's largest classification: Towson High, in 1963.