GREAT MILLS, Md. — It was standing room only at the Hornets Nest Friday evening for the sold-out, white-out game of the week.
The Great Mills boys basketball team, ranked 30th in the state of Maryland, hosted a top-25 team on Friday evening in the visiting South River Seahawks of Edgewater for the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association 3A state quarterfinals after snagging the 3A Regional Championship over Largo.
The fierce five starting for the Hornets were guard Chris Willingham, guard Josh Brooks, forward Christian Hoyt, forward Jakai Butler and center Cam Brooks.
The visitors and head coach Darren Hall brought out guard Xander Dowell, guard Jamie Finn, forward Jonah Hall, forward Jaden McDuffie and center Nick Yotter.
In the 72-63 tough loss, the Hornets were led by Butler, who played 26 minutes and nine seconds. He finished with 17 points, two assists and one block.
Cameron Brooks, who captured the Most Valuable Player award, followed suit with 14 points, three assists and five blocks.
Willingham rounded out the top three with 12 points and three assists for the hosts.
For the Seahawks, Finn was uncontainable at times and nearly perfect from the line.
South River (19-7 overall) gained a five-point lead at the half, with a score of 31-26.
Butler tied the game at 53-all with 4:40 left in regulation, but McDuffie, who has committed to Northwestern University for football, got hot for the Seahawks and never looked back. The visitors pulled away to stretch their lead out to 66-59 with 1:16 left.
Turnovers and poor defensive decisions kept the Hornets at bay. Injuries and precautionary medical measures were also a factor in the loss.
“Great Mills is a well-coached team and we know these guys; we’ve been watching them all year,” Hall said. “The kids here are going to play hard, we know that. We knew we had our hands full coming down here. They have kids that can shoot the ball; they attack the rim and their coaching staff does a great job with them. We scrimmaged them so we knew what they were capable of.”
Hall said he has seen his team come together with tough grit and the fact that they fight for each other.
Second-year head coach for Great Mills Donald Thomas said the first goal of the season was to capture the 3A Regional Championship title, and that was fulfilled just two nights prior with a 66-55 victory over the Largo Lions. Josh Brooks walked away with the Player of the Game mention.
“One of the biggest things for us was we wanted to win the first ever Regional Championship and we were able to do that,” Thomas said. “We played a very respected Largo team.”
Thomas said after Friday night’s game he told his team to keep their heads up.
“There is so much more for the players on this team,” Thomas stated. “Whether it is the seniors that are leaving or the players that are returning; they are going to do some really big things in their lives.”
Local fans can support Cam Brooks, who has committed to St. Mary’s College of Maryland in Historic St. Mary’s City.
Ricky Williams III has chosen the military for his next step.
Thomas is proud of his team’s effort but also stated that miscommunication was a factor.
“I thought we could have made some better decisions with the basketball,” Thomas added, “and free throws. We missed a decent amount of free throws tonight.”
“Two of our biggest games; well one was when one of our seniors went out against Lackey and we were able to pull that out. We battled for him.”
The Hornets defeated the Chargers 70-67 on the road on Feb. 18. The Hornets finished the season as conference champions, but it was the Chargers that stood in their way of capturing the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference Championship. Thomas and his team also captured the best record in all of St. Mary’s County.
“We’ve been blessed to sell out of a lot of games this year and not just here but on the road as well,” Thomas added.
Willingham, who shot his last shot on the hardwood at Great Mills, will be transferring to Hazel Green High School near his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama.
He’s excited for the transfer yet thrilled for the precedence Great Mills is setting once again.
“I know next year they’ll bring it home for us,” he said. “I feel like they’ll win SMAC. We have a young team here so we’ll build up. They could even win states as well. Since I’ve been down here, I’ve learned from coach [Thomas] to stay disciplined and you can’t judge [a team] by size. They’ve taught me not to overreact to things; stay in the game and work hard. They push us to the max. He assists us emotionally; always says he’s just a phone call away. They’ve made all the difference.”
Khamari Shannon, who finished with seven points for the Hornets and shot 50 percent from the line, stated that last year’s record of 13 wins and six losses was something they definitely wanted to improve upon.
“We did come in with a chip on our shoulders,” Shannon said. “We had to prove our point. Teams would come down and think it was sweet — no. We came out and showed everybody what Great Mills is; even in other conferences. We still have next year.”
As for this season, he stated the 17 points and seven three-pointers over Lackey will be a constant reminder. Shannon will be back in green and gold to finish out his senior year.
South River 72
Great Mills 63
South River 12 19 21 20
Great Mills 18 8 14 23
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