Missing its rock, can Springbrook still roll?

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Missing its rock, can Springbrook still roll?

by Dan Greenberg | Staff Writer

E-mail this article \ Print this article

All year, the Springbrook boys basketball team has played games at an advantage — perhaps that, more than any other reason, is why it finds itself in the Class 4A state final four.

No matter whom it was playing, there were generally two key areas it had a leg up on opponents with. On the perimeter, no team in Montgomery County had a more indestructible player than 5-foot-10 two-guard C.J. Garner, the team’s leading scorer at 21.5 points per game. But aside from the Blue Devils’ advantage on the outside, their only underclassman in the starting lineup usually provided an advantage on the interior too.

But junior forward Jamal Olasewere picked a bad time to get ejected, the regional final. In the state semifinals, he won’t play and what has been an advantage for Springbrook all season, may likely be a disadvantage.

Olasewere was tossed from the Blue Devils’ 64-52 victory over Magruder Saturday for allegedly slapping at Colonels point guard Alex Lee, which warrants an automatic one-game suspension. It was a slap the 6-4 big man dismisses, regarding it as ‘‘pushing his hand away,” and head coach Tom Crowell said that there’s a chance his staff would send footage of the incident to the county’s director of athletics, Duke Beattie, if tape revealed that Olasewere did not throw a slap. But he also said he expects to be without his best post-presence — not to mention over 15 points and 10 rebounds per game on the season — when his team faces 4A South title-winner Laurel (Prince George’s County) this Thursday at 9 p.m. at Comcast Center. Worse yet, it has to face 6-8 senior Will Alston, an interior monster unlike any Springbrook has seen this year.

‘‘That game might have cost us the state championship,” said Crowell. ‘‘That’s a serious team we’re facing and they only lost one game in P.G. County. We’re not going to try to change anything, we just might need to get a few more points from anybody else, because Jamal’s about a 20-point guy when he’s on.”

Just as much for his production, Olasewere’s size will be missed against the tall Spartans’ lineup. Alston is the most noteworthy presence, a transfer from Montrose Christian and Archbishop Spalding with several NCAA Division I programs (Jacksonville, Virginia Military Institute) recruiting him.

The Spartans aren’t the only team with height on their side. In the tournament’s other semifinal, Thomas Stone (23-2) of Charles County won the 4A East Region championship with three starters 6-4 or more. Thomas Stone’s opponent will be the 4A North’s representative, Baltimore County’s Parkville (18-6), who ousted North Carroll, 71-58, this past weekend to qualify for its first state tournament since 1987.

‘‘I know they can win the game — I have confidence that they’d come out with the W,” he said. ‘‘I’ll be all painted up, cheering for them.”

Class 4A state boys basketball semis

Springbrook (23-2) vs.Laurel (22-2)

When: Thursday, March 13, 9 p.m.

Where: Comcast Center, University of Maryland-College Park

Players to watch: Springbrook —C.J. Garner (21.5 ppg), Jamal Olasewere (15 ppg); Laurel — Will Alston (17 ppg), Killian Azah (14 ppg)

Last state titles: Springbrook — 1988 (2nd); Laurel — 1980 (1st)

Other semifinal: Parkville (18-6) vs. Thomas Stone (23-2), 7 p.m. (at Comcast)

Final: Saturday, March 15, 8 p.m. (at Comcast)