Clarksburg clamps down, upsets No. 16 Quince Orchard
|
Version 0 of 1. Open shots and referees’ whistles were hard to come by in Monday night’s Maryland 4A West boys’ basketball quarterfinal between Quince Orchard and Clarksburg. After both regular season matchups were decided in the final seconds, the Montgomery County rivals again found themselves locked in a low-scoring bout defined by physical defense. Behind a core of opportunistic seniors, Clarksburg took advantage of the few cracks in top-seeded Quince Orchard’s defense for a 52-50 win on the road in Gaithersburg. “You never know where the ball will bounce in some situations, but today the basketball gods were looking out for us,” Clarksburg senior forward Andrew Kostecka said. “If you play hard, good things happen, and that’s what happened tonight.” In the final seconds of the first half, Kostecka was trapped at half court and threw a wild pass toward the basket. The ball hit the rim and ricocheted to the corner where Ian Krishnan was waiting. The junior drained a three-pointer to give Clarksburg a 23-19 halftime lead. After the No. 16 Cougars (20-3) took their biggest lead of the game at 44-39 with under four minutes to play, Krishnan missed a dunk off the back rim. The ball deflected right into the arms of Kostecka, who completed a three-point play to halt QO’s momentum. “It feels good to be the underdog when everyone counts you out because you can play with nothing to lose,” Kostecka said. “Even when they took a late lead and their fans were bringing a lot of noise, we were still composed.” Kostecka scored a game-high 17 points, and fellow senior Dallas Marshall pitched in 14. With Clarksburg (16-8) clinging to a 48-47 lead in the final minute, Quince Orchard extended its man-to-man defense to shut off the Coyotes’ leading scorers. That’s when senior guard Jeffrey McInnis, who spent most of the night chasing speedy Quince Orchard guard Matthew Kelly on defense, beat his man off of the dribble and finished a layup for his first points of the game. “Sometimes when times get tough, I have to score. A lot of the time my teammates can do the job on offense, but tonight I had to step up in the end,” McInnis said. “It feels great to win, especially against QO.” On the ensuing possession, Kostecka hit the deck, secured a loose ball and called time out to secure the victory. Quince Orchard had won nine straight games to earn the No. 1 seed in the 4A West. Clarksburg advances to play Gaithersburg in Wednesday’s region semifinals. |