February 3, 2008
By Tim Chialastri
Capitol Hoops President
Discuss Your Opinion On Message Board

                 Laurel 76     #15 Bowie 57

		1	2	3	4	T
	LAU (10-5)	18	5	16	37	76
#15	BOW(13-2)	7	11	16	23	57

 

 

Laurel sweeps bowie , hands bulldogs second loss 

Laurel , MD - Home of the Laurel Spartans

Kilian Azah & Romel Blackson Laurel Post-Game Interview

As if there weren't already enough drama in the Prince George's County 4A basketball league thus far , Laurel (10-5) added it to it last night handing conference leader Bowie their second loss of the season 75-57. The only team to beat Bowie thus far has been the Spartans , who earned their 10th win of the season.    
     
Laurel jumped out to an 11-0 lead early , before senior guard Alejandro Rodriguez of Bowie H.S. challenged officials concerning the game ball. Turns out that the ball being used was an official women's basketball that went unnoticed for the first nine minutes of the game.     
                     
After a short break the problem was corrected and the game continued , this time it would be to Bowie's favor as the Bulldogs began a comeback push. Senior forward Mike Ewii who scored a game high 21 points knocked down two free throws cutting the lead to 23-18 by halftime.

Bowie continued the added intensity sparked by Rodriguez , who scored five straight points , in fact Bowie went up 33-32 midway through the 3rd quarter. "That has been our problem all year" noted Laurel High's Romel Blackson who spoke about letting Bowie back into the game. From that point on the Spartans would dominate.

Senior point guard Corey Wood found teammate Kilian Azah (15pts) who served up a facial slam dunk , energizing the team and entire building as Laurel capped a 7-0 run regaining the lead 39-34. "Once someone does something spectacular the crowd gets behind it" added Azah post-game and that is exactly what happened as the momentum shifted the Spartans way.

Romel Blackson scored on a lay-in , giving Laurel a 48-36 lead with  5:52 remaining in the game. Things got intense as senior Alejandro Rodriguez was ejected with two technical fouls and forced to watch his team get blistered in the 4th quarter. Laurel would go on to score a whopping 37 points in the games final quarter edging #15 Bowie who has now lost twice to the Spartans. "We know what we can do , and we are one of the better teams in the 4A" spoke Blackson who's Spartans will take on Eleanor Roosevelt this Friday.