Boys' Basketball: Oakland Mills Dominates in Second Half Against Atholton to Salvage Perfect Season

The Oakland Mills Scorpions are just one win away from a perfect regular season.

They moved to 21-0 on Tuesday after defeating the Atholton Raiders – a victory in a game that initially looked like it could end with Oakland Mills suffering its first loss.

The Scorpions could not find their way in the first half. But that changed in the second half, which they dominated en route to a 71-51 win.

Oakland Mills found itself down 22-20 at the half. But then the Scorpions mounted an 11-point run early in the third quarter, and they never looked back from there.

Defense was key in the turnaround. Oakland Mills was able to force turnovers, which in turn gave them a lot of easy looks.

 “We weren’t finding the seams at the high post. Once we finally did, and [once we] stopped turning the ball over, it was an easy game,” said Oakland Mills coach Jon Browne, speaking of his team's first half. “That is all we really needed: to settle down and move the ball around.”

The game changed in the second half, he said.

“Most of it was we got some good shots off, but we got some steals ... the boys just made some great defensive plays,” Browne said. “We get some steals, we got some layups. [And] I thought we made free throws when we had to.”

The game was not without controversy. There were many delays during which both coaches – either separately or together – had words with the officials.

 “It was a strange game,” Browne said afterward. “When’s there’s 50 fouls called in a high school basketball game, it takes away from both teams, and it’s not fair for any of those kids on the floor.

“I didn’t think it was a biased called game; it was just ridiculous,” he said. “They lost control and tried to gain it back by overdoing it.”

Nevertheless, the win leaves Oakland Mills at 21-0 and just one game away from running the table in the regular season.

The last few games have been tough, though, with scares against both Glenelg High and Centennial last week. Unable to generate any offense in the first half on Tuesday against Atholton, it looked like this would be another close one for the Scorpions.

“The target just gets bigger,” Browne said, referring to a potential perfect season. “The kids feel it, and everyone feels it. It’s a lot of pressure. I think they’re handling it well.”

Greg Whittington – who had a game-high 26 points – summed up the team's approach, in a way, when asked about a moment in Tuesday's game in which he blocked three consecutive shots on one possession:

“It’s just what I do.”

The Scorpions have to do what they do one more time – until the playoffs, at least.

Their regular season wraps up on Thursday against the Mt. Hebron Vikings.

Oakland Mills has already wrapped the county title. But they are still playing for immortality.