Some new hardware is on display at Ss. Peter and Paul High School.
The Sabres’ boys basketball team brought home the MIAA C Conference championship with a 68-58 victory over Beth Tfiloh on Feb. 24 at CEI Arena on the campus of the University of Maryland Baltimore County. It was a rematch of the championship game from a year ago, won by Beth Tfiloh, 65-58.
The Sabres took a 27-24 lead into the half, which the Warriors cut to a single point when Michael Cohen opened the second-half scoring with a layup. Ss. Peter and Paul went on a 7-0 run after that, ending on a long three-point shot by Brayden Smith. Another triple from Smith a short time later extended the lead to 42-31.
The lead was as big as 16 points in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but Beth Tfiloh crept to within nine with a quick burst. Buckets from K’den Spears and Garett Hemmingway helped put any comeback thoughts to rest, and the Sabres went on to their first title since 2016.
Beth Tfiloh defeated the Sabres twice during the regular season. Spears, one of seven seniors on the roster, said the difference this time was the communication on the court.
“The championshiop game was probably the most we ever talked,” he said.
Coach Gary Gould, part of the last championship team as an assistant, said the Sabres installed a 1-2-2 defense that may have confused the Warriors. They did not run that in the regular-season meetings. Spears agreed it was a difference.
“It was our defense that changed the whole game. That 1-2-2 that we ran, they couldn’t really beat that,” he said.
Gould said he had a good feeling heading into this season that it could be special. He said the turning point was a Feb. 6 win over Key School, which ignited an eight-game winning streak.
“The kids figured it out themselves,” he said. “Once they got to that second layer of toughness, we went on. Everybody found that this was easy to do, playing hard.”
The Sabres were motivated by the loss to Beth Tfiloh in last year’s title game, along with the pair this season. The loss on Jan. 31, which Hemmingway missed with an injury, was their last loss.
“After that point, we made a conscious effort to play hard against the team that we were playing,” he said.
Hemmingway led the Sabres with 19 points, and Smith added 15. Robbie Cunningham had 11. Ss. Peter and Paul finished the season with a 13-7 overall record.
Spears said the team appreciated the support it received from the students and community this season.
“Way more people came to the games than last year. I would say the support was a really good factor,” he said.
The championship, he continued, is “really huge. To leave a mark on this school is really huge.”
Photos courtesy of Ss. Peter and Paul High School.
