North Point High School senior Christian Taylor heads to the line for a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter of Monday’s game against visiting St. Charles. Taylor played a key role off the bench as the Eagles started the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run en route to a 73-62 victory over the visiting Spartans in the season opener for both SMAC boys basketball teams.
St. Charles High School senior Amir Dade prepares to attempt a free throw in Monday’s 73-62 setback at North Point. St. Charles led on only three different occasions in the third quarter, but North Point opened the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run to break open a tight game with the Spartans en route to a comfortable victory in the season opener for both SMAC boys basketball teams.
North Point High School senior Christian Taylor heads to the line for a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter of Monday’s game against visiting St. Charles. Taylor played a key role off the bench as the Eagles started the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run en route to a 73-62 victory over the visiting Spartans in the season opener for both SMAC boys basketball teams.
Staff photo by Ted Black
St. Charles High School senior Amir Dade prepares to attempt a free throw in Monday’s 73-62 setback at North Point. St. Charles led on only three different occasions in the third quarter, but North Point opened the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run to break open a tight game with the Spartans en route to a comfortable victory in the season opener for both SMAC boys basketball teams.
Nearly two years after the last time they were scheduled to take the floor for the 3A state semifinals at the University of Maryland — 21 months to be more precise — the St. Charles High School boys basketball team opened the season on Monday evening at North Point where the host Eagles prevailed 73-62 thanks to a rapid start to the fourth quarter.
North Point (1-0) led by 11 points at halftime, but St. Charles (0-1) dominated the third quarter and two teams headed into the final frame even at 47-all. The Spartans had hurt themselves with turnovers in the first half and in the third quarter they missed all six free throw attempts and finished the game a woeful 9-for-24 from the charity stripe.
North Point senior Christian Taylor was not among the starting five on Monday, but the Eagles’ senior played a key role in the second half. Taylor scored a pair of baskets in the Eagles’ 12-0 run to start the fourth quarter then added another when North Point used an 8-0 run to forge a commanding 67-49 lead with just over three minutes remaining.
“Before the game I told Christian it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” said North Point coach Jimmy Ball. “Christian came in and played well off the bench for us. We had a lot of guys that contributed and we did a great job rebounding. We must have had 40 rebounds tonight. But like I told the guys afterward this is just the first game. You can’t get too high emotionally after a big win.”
During the pandemic-shortened 2019-2020 season, St. Charles lost a grand sum of one game by a total of one point and the Spartans were among only four 3A boys basketball teams heading to Maryland for the state semifinals that never happened. None of the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference public school teams played a single game last winter due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We picked up too many fouls in the first half and then we just got tired in the fourth quarter,” said St. Charles coach Brett Campbell. “We had way too many turnovers. We had a lot of guys playing in their first varsity game. We have to do a better job taking care of the ball. We also have to shoot better at the foul line.”
North Point could not have asked for a better start to the contest as the Eagles took advantage of several St. Charles turnovers and early fouls — North Point was actually in the double bonus before the end of the first quarter — to open a 13-5 lead before ending the quarter with a 19-11 lead.
North Point led by as many as 13 points on three different occasions in the second quarter, but the Spartans trimmed the gap to 33-25 before the Eagles’ Devin Little connected on a three-pointer just before the buzzer to lift the hosts to a 36-25 halftime lead.
Following a sluggish first half, St. Charles emerged from the second half with a sense of urgency and purpose. The Spartans opened the quarter on an 8-0 run and took their first lead of the game at 41-40 with 3:45 left in the frame on a layup from Diggy Holloway. St. Charles and North Point ended the third quarter knotted at 47-all, with the Spartans missing all six of their free throw attempts that quarter.
After watching the visitors dominate the third quarter to draw even, North Point started the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run then later added an 8-0 run — culminating an improbable 20-2 spurt — and the Eagles owned a commanding 69-50 lead with under three minutes remaining. St. Charles ended the game on a 12-4 run that hardly impacted the outcome.
“Like I told these guys this was just one game, just the first game,” Ball said. “You can’t get too high and you can’t get too low. You have to maintain an even keel.”
