AACS Boys Let It Slip Against Glenelg Country

For 30 minutes and 30 seconds, Annapolis Area Christian School outplayed Glenelg Country School. Unfortunately for the Eagles, varsity basketball games last 32 minutes. 

The visiting Dragons saved their best for the game's final minute and a half, recovering from a six-point deficit to defeat AACS, 66-62, in a match-up of two of the MIAA "B" conference's best.

"For all intensive purposes, we won the game for 30 minutes and 30 seconds," said AACS coach Doug Scheidt.

The Eagles, who were hurt by a poor start in their January loss to the Dragons, jumped out to an early lead with a pair of three pointers from junior guard Connor Lipinski on Wednesday afternoon.

But the strong start quickly faded in the second quarter, as Glenelg, behind highly-touted junior Isaiah Miles, would cut the lead to one before the half.  Miles led the all scorers with 25 points.

Cesar Jove-Vives tallied seven third-quarter points for the Dragons, but eight third-quarter points from AACS senior Tyler Lewis saw the Eagles take the momentum and a four-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The two teams would trade baskets to begin the final quarter.  With less than three minutes to play, senior Phillip Perry finished a steal of his own with an emphatic dunk to give the Eagles a six-point lead.

Then Glenelg turned to its full-court press. 

AACS, who had done a solid job of handling the opponents pressure all afternoon, suddenly couldn't find a way around the Dragon press.

"I don't why [the press caused trouble], we're really good at breaking presses," Scheidt said.  "We just weren't wise with the ball."

A pair of turnovers by the Eagles allowed the Dragons to grab a one-point lead.  After a pair of free-throws from Jove-Vives, the Eagles called timeout trailing by three, looking for a chance to tie.

"It was like two minutes left, we were up six and we had it," Lewis said.  "We let it slip away."

Two clean looks by Perry and Austin Nwosu missed for AACS, as Glenelg managed to complete the comeback and steal a big 66-62 win on the road.

"I thought it of a real test [of] how much we really believe in one another and a test of our family and a test of our character," Glenelg coach Kevin Quinlan said.  "I thought the guys did well, especially in the last few minutes."

The Eagles will look to rebound on Friday, as Friends School comes to the Severn campus.  AACS defeated Friends by 24 points last time the two schools met.  Friday's game is scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m.