Grant, Defense Lead Watkins Mill to Second Win

Watkins Mill boys’ basketball ran away with a much-needed divisional victory on Tuesday night, stirring from a low-scoring start to top the Einstein Titans 49-36 and claim their season’s second win.

The Wolverines came out ice-cold but still mustered a one-point halftime lead over the winless Titans. Then, spurred by a swarming full-court defense, Watkins Mill shook off the wayward shooting and built a double-digit lead that put seven Wolverines on the scorer’s sheet, led by 22 points from junior guard Tyvon Grant.

The matchup on Tuesday night pitted two teams that had combined for one win in 16 games—and at first, their play was paced accordingly. Neither team scored in the first two minutes. With nearly six minutes gone, Watkins Mill led 4-3. The 1st quarter ended with Watkins Mill up 7-5, the Wolverines’ scoring having come on a pair of baskets by senior forward Le’Nard Wilson and a three-pointer by junior Alex Sotomayor. The 2nd quarter brought only 7 more points for Watkins Mill, all of them via Grant, who is averaging a team-high 16 ppg.

The Titans took brief leads in the 2nd quarter, at 9-8 and 13-11. Both times, Grant answered with three-point plays; first on a driving scoop that rolled in off the top of the backboard as he was fouled, then from behind the arc to send Watkins Mill into the locker room leading 14-13.

A rash of botched layups and hesitant jumpers added up to the Wolverines’ 5-for-28 shooting in the 1st half—the rim-clanging remnants of three last-second losses in their first five games, said Coach Jay Tringone.

“I think we’re still feeling the effects of losing those games early. We’re still a little bit tight and we’re still shooting tentatively. There’s a fine line between shooting to hit and shooting not to miss, and you have to shoot to hit,” Tringone said. “When you shoot that poorly, you have to do all the other things: you have to play defense, you have to box out, you have to communicate, and we did. ... I told these guys, 'There’s going to be nights when the ball doesn’t go in the hoop, but we are so talented offensively that we’ll back into 50 points.' And we backed into 49 points tonight."

The 2nd half picked up where the 1st half left off: Grant knocking down a three-pointer. Less a minute later, Jeffrey Adarkwa followed suit with a three-pointer of his own. After the teams traded baskets, Grant shook his defender on a baseline basket-and-foul, then made the free throw to give Watkins Mill a 25-19 lead.

With their shooters zeroing in, Watkins Mill sank into a suffocating full-court press that proved to be too much for the Titans’ ball-handlers.

A steal on the ensuing inbounds pass led to a slashing layup by senior guard Daryl Brown. After another Titan turnover, Adarkwa drilled his second three-pointer in a two-minute span (and the 6’3” senior’s eighth trey in four games). Another steal sent Grant on an easy breakaway. A Le’Nard Wilson layup followed by a Grant free throw built the lead to 35-21 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Einstein put up 15 points in the 4th quarter, but couldn't cut their deficit to single digits thanks to a Watkins Mill defense that forced nearly three dozen turnovers.

“We want to be a pressing team, but you can’t press if the ball doesn’t go in the hoop. So you start to get the ball in the hoop, you start to press and suddenly everything starts to go your way,” Tringone said. “You start to get some steals and suddenly it goes from a one-point lead to a 13-point lead to a 16-point lead just because you have started finishing.”

The win evens Watkins Mill’s divisional record at 2-2—tied in the Montgomery 3A/2A with Poolesville and Rockville, and one game behind division leaders Seneca Valley, Damascus and Northwood.

The Wolverines’ next 10 games are against division opponents, starting at Rockville on Friday night. Watkins Mill lost to the Rams 70-64 on Dec. 28 in their holiday exhibition tournament that started with a 61-51 loss to Wootton.

“We were awful defensively. We have to start understanding how important that side of the ball is,” Tringone said. “What happened over the [holiday] break actually might help us going forward.”

Watkins Mill, 49

Tyvon Grant - 22 points

Le’Nard Wilson - 9

Jeff Adarkwa - 8

Alex Sotomayor - 3

Torez Rhea - 3

Justin Meade - 2

Daryl Brown - 2

Einstein, 36

Peter Belony - 9 points

Josh Ogburn - 8

Abraham Camara - 7

Mark McIntosh - 6

Keith Gaye - 6