The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Bishop Walsh 46, Southern Garrett 31

BISHOP WALSH (23-0)
Conroy 2 0-0 6, Whetzel 0 0-2 0, Giles 1 2-2 5, Mazzeo 0 0-2 0, Reed 1 0-0 2, Rhodes 6 0-2 14, Bruck 8 1-2 17, Amezcva 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 3-10 46.

SOUTHERN GARRETT (13-9)
Fazenbaker 2 0-0 5, Colaw 1 0-2 2, Wilt 2 1-2 5, Fike 1 0-0 2, Toothman 2 0-0 4, Friend 2 0-0 5, White 3 2-3 8. Totals 13 3-7 31.

Bishop Walsh 10 19 12 5 -- 46
S. Garrett 10 8 7 2 -- 31

3-pointers: Bishop Walsh 5 (Conroy 2, Giles, Rhodes 2). Southern Garrett 2 (Fazenbaker, Friend).

Spartans JV boys one
win shy of perfect season
One game left in quest for perfect season

By Kevin Spradlin
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
OAKLAND, Feb. 22 -- It hasn't been easy, but the Bishop Walsh Spartans boys' JV basketball team is just one win away from completing a perfect 24-0 season.

On Tuesday in Oakland, the visiting Spartans rolled to a 46-27 victory over Southern Garrett to improve their record to 23-0. Expectations were high heading into this season. Essentially the same group of athletes posted a 19-2 record last year and, as an eighth grade team, went 30-1.

Bishop Walsh is scheduled to play at Keyser on Thursday to close out the regular season.

Early Tuesday night, it appeared the Rams might give the Spartans their best challenge since Feb. 11. Then, host Mountain Ridge missed a layup at the buzzer and BW won, 42-41.

Kevin Colaw hit a layup with 3:36 left in the first quarter to pull the Rams even, 4-4. BW went ahead 10-7 but Matt Friend hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to tie the score 10-10.

The decidedly pro-Rams crowd transitioned from vague aware a game was in progress to watching with a particular interest.

And for the first half of the second quarter, the Rams didn't disappoint. Lucas Bruck hit a layup about 80 seconds into the period but Nevin White answered with a field goal 15 seconds later.

Bruck - at 6-feet, 7 inches - grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback and a 14-12 lead. Standout point guard Liam Rhodes hit a 3-pointer 20 seconds after that. Suddenly, it was a five-point lead for the Spartans.

Rhodes upped it to six points when he hit another 3-pointer with 3:59 left in the second quarter. BW led 20-16 and closed out the period on a 9-2 run. Joel Whetzel hit two 3-pointers during that stretch.

The Spartans led by 11 at halftime and though the Rams scored the first three points of the third period, BW ran away with the game over the next 80 seconds.

Bruck had another offensive rebound and putback, then Rhodes dished off to Bruck for another bucket. Brandon Reed and Rhodes each scored field goals and the Spartans led, 37-21.