The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

No. 2 Southern Garrett 71
Clear Spring 39

CLEAR SPRING (11-13)
Hill 2 4-6 9, Brant 2 0-0 6, Mellott 2 0-0 4, Elwood 2 0-0 4, Sensenbaugh 1 0-0 2, Schilling 4 1-2 9, Aaron 1 0-0 2, Walling 1 1-1 3. Toatls 15 6-9 39.

SOUTHERN GARRETT (15-8)
Gangler 1 5-6 7, McBee 6 3-3 18, Wildman 1 0-0 2, Kisselovich 7 2-2 16, Ritchie 4 0-0 9, Miller 1 0-0 2, Hilliard 6 3-5 15, Perrine 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 13-16 71.

Clear Spring 2 13 14 10 -- 31
S. Garrett 17 24 10 20 -- 79

3-pointers: Clear Spring 3 (Hill, Brant).
Southern Garrett 4 (McBee 3, Ritchie).

Rams rock out Red Zone, knock out Blazers
* Southern Garrett jumps out to 19-2 lead
* Coach Hegeman, Rams welcome 'start of a new season'

By Kevin Spradlin
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
OAKLAND, Feb. 28 -- Stand up, Southern.

Turns out that second-half slump is something other than an aberration after all.

It's history.

On Monday after a rather convincing 71-39 win over Clear Spring in a Maryland Class 1A West Region west sectional game, the Rams proved a stretch in which they lost six of eight games before earning a quality win over visiting former No. 1 Bishop Walsh is behind them.

Southern Garrett dominated from the start. The Rams raced out to a 19-2 lead and the Blazers never had a chance. Southern Garrett advances to in the west section and hosts Fort Hill, which beat crosstown rival Allegany 60-55. The Rams and Sentinels tip off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Oakland.

"They fed off the crowd," Blazers coach Ryan Grabill said of the home team. "They're probably the most sound team we've played. They did things the right way (and) took it to us from the get go. We were shell-shocked. Any time you score only two points in the first quarter, it's tough to recover."

The second quarter wasn't much better for the Blazers. The Rams outscored them 9-2 over the first two minutes and added another 11-5 run midway through the period. Wyatt McBee's 3-pointer with 4:40 to go in the second period gave the Rams a 31-6 lead.

Rams coach Jon Hegeman said the first quarter defense "was perfect."

He said the team defense "got a little shaky" in the third quarter. At halftime, though, the Rams led by 26 points. The Blazers opened the period on a 6-2 run but beginning with 4:24 left in the quarter, Southern Garrett went on an 8-2 run that sealed the Blazers' fate - in case the first half didn't.

Wyat McBee led Southern with 18 points while Joey Kisselovich added 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

D.J. Ritchie contributed nine points along with 11 rebounds and Kurt Gangler added seven points, 10 assists and three steals.

Donald Schilling and Nick Hill each scored nine points for Clear Spring. Schilling added five rebounds and three steals while Adam Mellott grabbed six rebounds to go along with his four points.