From a reporting perspective, it's always nice to see two high school players, recruited by the same school, compete. It's even more desirable when the teams battle, pushing a game into bonus time.
Such was the case during Tuesday's 62-60,, home Gwynn Park double overtime victory over Prince George's County, MD, Class 2A rival, Largo.
Head coach Rob 'Gardner' Garner saw three of his guys make double figure scoring, as junior guard Ty Bevins provided 20 points, class and backccourt mate Machi Chester logged 17 points, 15 in the second half, while sophomore forward Shane Pendergrass chipped in 16 for Gwynn Park. The Yellow Jackets stand 7-8 overall, 6-5 in PG 1a/2a/3a work.
Rodney Ward, Largo's bench leader, received 26 points from sophomore wing Cam Ward, his son. Chris Ware, a freshman point guard added 12 points for Largo's Lions, now 8-5/8-2.
Game Happenings
Flow
After a choppy beginning, both team's seemed to get going in the second quarter, with Largo entering intermission up 28-19. By the fourth quarter's beginning, GP reduced that deficit to 37-33. One minute and 33 seconds of game time later, Chester's three ball pushed homsestanding GP ahead 39-37.
The teams, fans and pep band - the entire gym basically - was wound up, anticipating a seesaw affair. They weren't disappointed; each extra stanza was decided within its last five seconds.
"We came down, missed a lot of free throws, late decisions that we should have made, better...we could have been taken over the game. It's just mistakes we can clean up" opined Largo's Ware, when asked about the thin line between winning and losing, last night.
Garner, GP's head guy expressed afterward "I thought we pulled together and grinded for that win". In his view the unit is rounding into form, since "We are finally starting to get healthy".
Brothers Battled
Bevins and Ward, not so arguably the highest regarded public school players in Maryland, have that in common. And much more of a connection.
"Brother's off the court" is how Bevins described their relationship. "Talk to him all the time, grew up together". Of course he and teammates gave Ward no quarter, of which Bevins noted the plan was "to get physical (with Ward), and maybe get in his head".
Ward finished with a game high 26 points, 11 in the first half, despite the attention. Bevins managed 20 points. The pair directly matched up at times, but clearly each coach attempted to protect his player from fouling, which both Bevins and Ward can engender.
In the House
College coaches seen in the gum:
Clinton Crouch - G'Town assistant
Branden Straughn - GW assistant
Chris Caputo - GW head coach
Dwayne Simpkins - George Mason assistant
Len Fairley - Norfolk State assistant
Recruiting Locker
Cam Ward - 6'6" plus, Class of 2025 guard/forward, Largo - Think slasher that can make plays with the ball in his hand, when pondering Ward. Will hit unguarded perimeter shots, though he must improve in that department. When he gets tighter in traffic with his handle, develops a bit more wiggle, things will be very interesting for him in college.
Georgetown has and is still on Ward. Many others have offered scholarships, like Arkansas, which similar to GU been the most consistent in contact recently.
Christian Ware - 5'8", Class of 2026 guard, Largo - A uber quick, aggressive driving point guard, Ware as his coach, Werd noted "Chris is improving", despite being a freshman point guard tasked with much. Ware is "learning on the fly" and doing a good job of it.
Interest will skyrocket as he continues to settle in and master what's expected of a floor general managing a high level team.
Andre King - 6'2", 285 pound Class of 2023 guard, Largo - King has no basketball interest, yet in football is getting looks from Morgan State, Bowie State and Old Dominion.
A tough competitor, King is used to putting it on the line. Battles and clearly embraces competition. Currently a shooting guard/small forward. Will hit open shots and attack the tin.
Ty Bevins - 6'5" plus, Class of 2024 guard, Gwynn Park - Georgetown offeree also indicated Temple and East Tennessee have been steadily in contact recently. Many others are showing various levels of interest.
He's a guard capable of playing any perimeter position, as Bevins drives, shoots, leads, passes at a high level. Getting stronger is key if Bevins will continue dominating in college.
Machi Chester- 5'3", Class of 2024 guard, Gwynn Park - Loves to attack off the bounce, Chester will also sink uncontested long balls. Is a gritty guy that competes.
For college, must become better with the ball in his hands.
Loyola (MD) has offered, other D1's including high majors are showing interest.
DeMarcus Daniel - 6'3", Class of 2024 guard, Gwynn Park - Utility guy plays at times everything but center. Passes, rebounds, defends, scores from mid-range in. Is a winning play guy. Shooting range and ball handling need to be advanced for college.
Division I and II interest is ginning up.
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