BOYS HOOPS: Warriors Outlast Eagles for Sixth Straight Win in Rivalry

Trevell Malloy had a tough game Monday.

All the Warriors did.

A three-man bench and two absent starters will do that to a team.

But Malloy, a senior guard, shook off exhaustion and nailed a pair of free throws with 41.2 seconds remaining—what proved to be the winning points for the Warriors in a 63-61 nail-biter at Aberdeen Tuesday.

It was the Warriors’ sixth straight victory in the rivalry.

“I told them they’ll feel a lot better in the morning after you accomplish a goal. When you beat Aberdeen, for those seniors, it’s six straight times. That was our goal,” Warriors coach Johnny Brooks said.

It wasn’t easy.

Havre de Grace (13-5 overall, 9-1 UCBAC Chesapeake) was without three key contributors from its (12-8 overall, 7-3 UCBAC Chesapeake). Junior Darin Washington , and junior Kevin Holloway and senior Nate Jones—the Warriors’ leading scorer—sat out due to disciplinary reasons.

“We had to make sure we could pace ourselves so we could stay in the game,” Warriors senior Monty Werts said. “It was real tough, because most of us had to play the whole entire game.”

Junior Jevon Hill-Gee and senior Dayshawn Bolling stepped into the starting lineup alongside seniors Travonn Bond, Werts and Malloy. Senior Lamar Leonard was the lone reserve to see playing time.

“They all played well. They played big minutes,” Brooks said. “Jevon and Dayshawn stepped up into the starter's role.”

Havre de Grace led by three after the opening quarter, but opened the second on a 10-0 run and went into the half ahead 40-26.

Bond led all scorers with 16 in the first half, including three 3-pointers.

Aberdeen started the second half on a 7-4 run, but the Warriors remained ahead by double figures until Tevon Saddler scored two of his game-high 21 in the opening minute of the fourth.

Jevon Hill-Gee converted a 3-point play one minute into the fourth, but Aberdeen responded with a 16-4 run to pull within a point as the fourth quarter clock ticked under three minutes.

Monty Werts hit a pair of free throws to put the Warriors up, 61-58, before Jay Williams tied the game with a three-pointer at the 1:20 mark.

Malloy then nailed his free throws with 41.2 seconds remaining, and after both teams traded failed offensive possessions, Aberdeen called a timeout in possession with 3.8 seconds left.

Just as they had in the final seconds at Havre de Grace last month, the Warriors  had the opportunity to win it at the buzzer, but Williams' 3-pointer hit the iron, and the Warriors escaped with a narrow, exhausting win.

Brooks pointed to the hot start in the second quarter as the key to sparking the win, saying he didn’t want to get into a “run-and-shoot” kind of game with Aberdeen.

Typically defensive-minded, the Warriors got out to a quick lead and maintained intensity in hopes of erasing any home-court advantage for the Eagles.

“We had to start off good,” Werts said. “We had to set the pace and set the tone. We had to let them know, we may be small, but we can run with ya’ll.”