Broadneck Boys Bounce Back With Regional Quarterfinal Win

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All the frustration of three losses came pouring out of the Broadneck boys basketball team in the Class 4A regional quarterfinal on February 28.

Visiting North Point of Charles County just happened to get in the way.

The Bruins (17-7) coasted past North Point, 55-39, and ended their three-game losing streak.

“It’s nice to get back into the win column,” Broadneck boys basketball coach John Williams said. “We had a 13-game winning streak in the middle of the season after starting 4-4. Then we sputtered toward the end.”

Broadneck junior shooting guard Jalen Carter scored a game-high 17 points, including 12 in the second half. Senior shooting guard Amare Jefferies and senior point guard Jordan Brown both had 12 points — all of them coming for both players in the second half.

“We have been led in the scoring category all year by those three guys,” Williams said. “They just show the will of a champion. They love playing together and hate to lose.”

Carter totaled 10 points in the third quarter, including two 3-pointers. His effort sparked the Bruins to a strong second half to overwhelm the visitors.

“He is the X factor for us,” Williams said of Carter. “He can do a multitude of things and score in a variety of ways. “He can match up with anyone from a point guard to a big man. He is our heart and soul.”

North Point’s top player, 6-foot-3 center Miles Goffe, led his team with 16 points.

He scored 12 in the first half, but Broadneck limited his production in the second half when the Bruins employed a man-to-man defense. Williams had forwards Kyle Miles and Devin McGowan play tenacious defense on Goffe by double-teaming him at every opportunity.

“That was the conversation at halftime,” Williams said of slowing down Goffe. “And the kids got the message.”

Broadneck didn’t play that well in the first half, trailing 25-18 at halftime.

But the second half belonged to the Bruins as they held the Grizzlies to 14 points.

Broadneck opened the third quarter on a 9-3 run over the first 4:39 to make it 29-29.

Jefferies put his team ahead for good, 31-29, on a layup 26 seconds later.

Then Carter sank consecutive 3-pointers to push his team ahead 37-29.

The Bruins took control early in the fourth quarter with a 9-2 spurt highlighted by four points from Brown.

“We are not afraid to fire up the 3-pointers,” Carter said. “I think we are a really dangerous team when we are hitting our shots like that.”

The Bruins move on to play South River in a regional semifinal on March 2 in Edgewater. The two teams beat each other during the regular season.

“They are very deep and hard to stop,” Williams said. “We will take a look at some film and figure out how to best stop them. Both teams are very familiar with each other, so I think it will be a pretty fun basketball game.”

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