Stumped By Recent Skid, Bruins Chasing Solutions

Every sports season has its share of ups and downs. The trick is to learn from the downs and make sure they don’t become canyons, and to do that in a way that gives higher highs.

The last few weeks have proven an almighty test for the Broadneck boys basketball team. But despite the recent struggles, the Bruins are choosing optimism.

After a four-game win streak put the Bruins at 10-3, they hit a skid that stood at five straight games after a 59-46 setback at South River on February 7.

“It’s been something different every time,” said Broadneck boys basketball head coach Jeff Starr. “We don’t give up a lot of second shots, and we turned the ball over. We thought we did a better job of that in the second half, but they got what they needed to keep extending the lead.”

The South River game was the fifth, and it came a week after a narrow home loss to Severna Park, 45-41. Old Mill, Arundel and Southern were the other three teams to overcome Broadneck in this string.

The Bruins have relied on the scoring of junior guards Kamari Williams and Ashton Sellman, with post contributions from senior Joey Smargissi and freshman Liam Sabo, who’s emerged as a scoring leader on a regular basis in the last month. Junior forward Kemarri Collison has stepped into a more visible role as a paint presence and someone who’s willing to attack the basket from the post.

All have flashed moments of dominance, but rarely have the Bruins fully been in sync. In the South River game, as an example, it was an inefficient first-half offense combined with uncharacteristic rebounding and second-chance points issues that doomed Broadneck. The Bruins fell behind by double digits late in the first quarter and couldn’t get the deficit under 10 until there were 90 seconds left in the game.

In turn, the bench has gotten much deeper in recent games as the Bruins try different combinations to unlock the team’s maximum efficiency.

“We’re trying different things, using the whole roster to figure out a way to come back in a game. We had some guys who have given us some good minutes, battle a little bit,” Starr said. “We’ve hit some tough stretches here on the streak we’ve been on, but we’ve shown fight. We’ve shown we’re capable of competing and executing, but the tough part is putting together a full 32.”

That experience may prove handy when it comes to the region tournament that starts in late February. Other than Leonardtown, which boasts a superior record, the other teams in the region are finely balanced, and the middle four could shake out in any order, leading to a potentially unpredictable race for the lone state quarterfinal berth.

“It’s all leading toward playoffs. We’ve been in battles, and (South River) is one of the few that we’ve lost by double figures, so we’re in it,” Starr said. “In the regionals, if we get into a situation where we’re in a tight game, we’ve been there before. I’d like to not be in those situations, but we’ve shown we can compete with a lot of good teams.”

Before that, though, Broadneck has four more regular-season games: home games against Severn Run on February 11 and North County on February 14, the road finale at Long Reach on February 18, and the home closer against Crofton on February 20.