Resilient Rebels top Smithsburg

February 03, 2007|by Jack HILL III / Staff Correspondent

SMITHSBURG - The South Hagerstown boys basketball teams didn't give up after they started the season with an 0-6 record.

Instead, the Rebels did something about it, winning 7 of 11 games since their cold start.

South Hagerstown's latest triumph was a 61-48 win over the Smithsburg Leopards on Friday night in an MVAL Antietam boys' basketball game.

"We started out 0-6, but I told our players to not worry about the record and just focus on the conference," South Hagerstown coach Dennis Seman said. "My guys are listening to my philosophy and are doing a nice job. I think that our very tough nonconference schedule prepared us for the conference."

Point guard Steven Burnett scored a game-high 19 points for South Hagerstown (7-10, 7-3). Muzammil Bhutto had four 3-pointers among his 17 points to go along with six rebounds, while Alvin Roberson collected 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Rebels, who outrebounded the Leopards, 34-18.

"I think the big thing was that we kept our composure right when we needed to at the end of the game," Seman said. "This team has now developed into five players playing good team basketball. It has taken half of a year, but now any one of our five starters is capable of stepping up and having a big scoring night."

Josh Conway and Steve Whitt were the top scorers for Smithsburg (5-12, 4-6) with nine points each. Terry Sword pulled down six rebounds, while Josh Edwards and Jeremy Johnson dished off three assists each for the Leopards.

"I thought South really dominated the boards," Smithsburg coach Eric Gerber said. "We allowed them to have 15 offensive rebounds, including 10 in the first half. When you allow them to have that many multiple opportunities, you are in trouble. They forced us to make some turnovers. They played with the lead in the second half pretty well."

South led the entire game and held a 15-10 margin at the end of the first quarter.

The Rebels started the second quarter with a 9-0 run to push their lead to 24-10 with 6:31 to go in the period. Four different players scored in the run, with Chris Jackson capping it with a 3-pointer.

After Smithsburg got a pair of baskets to cut the lead down to 10 points, the Rebels outscored the Leopards 12-7 to build a 36-21 halftime advantage. Bhutto had eight points, including a pair of 3s, during that stretch for the Rebels.

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