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Two years ago, Kamari Williams emerged as a sophomore on Broadneck’s boys basketball team, trying to will the Bruins to victory in the region final at Bowie.
They came up short that day, but the experience gained — and built upon over the next two years — would come in handy down the road.
This time, the senior version of Williams and another sophomore, Liam Sabo, answered the ball and got Broadneck over the line in crunch time.
Williams clutched up as the distributor and Sabo, struggling to find his scoring game, delivered a dominant defensive performance as Broadneck beat Bowie 42-38 on March 4 to win the 4A East 2 region final and advance to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2023.
“Those two guys made some great plays, but as a whole, everyone that went in did their job,” said Broadneck coach Jeff Starr. “We were just able to make the winning plays that we needed to make in the fourth quarter.”
The entire game was played within a margin of 11 points: Bowie’s largest lead of the night was six points, Broadneck’s five. The Bruins scored the first point of the game but didn’t lead again until late in the third quarter on a 3-pointer from Ashton Sellman.
Sabo, who had trouble scoring early, helped himself and Broadneck find a groove by moving from the perimeter to the post in the second half. He scored only 10, to Williams’ 12, but his active defense resulted in six blocked shots in the second half alone and several other steals and tough rebounds.
"We knew coming in here as an away game we could get it done because of what we had done in the past, beating defending state champion teams (Laurel and Cambridge-South Dorchester) on the road,” Sabo said. “It was a tough game, and my shot wasn’t falling early, but I knew I could trust myself down in the post and went to work. I know that when it doesn’t fall, I know I’m a rebounder and can make stops on defense, and if I go for a super aggressive play, my teammates have me on the help side.”
That toughness and Williams’ fearlessness provided the winning formula. But it took the collective: Kemarri Collison doing tough work inside; Alijah Hawkins providing ball movement and perimeter defense; sophomore Mason Hunt emerging as a reliable No. 2 ballhandler; Cole Schabow stealing minutes amid foul trouble and offering a 3-point threat; Sellman’s length and athleticism giving Bowie one more thing to think about.
Tagged with four fouls, Williams made a decisive, fearless move that changed the course of the game: he drove to the basket anyway, shifting his body just enough on the drive to get the blocking foul rather than a charge.
“I knew for my team I had to put my body on the line whether I fouled out or not. It was the right play to make,” Williams said.
He hit both free throws to put Broadneck up five in the final minutes. The ball came back into his hand at the foul line with a second left, and he hit one of two for the final points to set up a celebration on Bowie’s home court.
Though the road would end two nights later in a 74-54 loss to undefeated top seed Charles H. Flowers, the Bruins put everything on the floor and ended the season with a 16-9 record, a region championship, and no regrets.
“The kids fought hard and never quit. (The Jaguars) are good,” Starr said.
Hunt had a team-best 17 points in the loss, while Williams added 16 and Sabo 10.
The Bruins will graduate five seniors from this season’s squad: Williams, Sellman, Collison, Hawkins and Evan Zelinsky.
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