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Sports

Boys' Basketball: Oakland Mills Scorpions Cruise Past Marriotts Ridge Mustangs, Win 17th Game of Season

The Mustangs had no answer for Oakland Mills star Greg Whittington, who racked up 27 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and three blocks to lead the Scorpions to a 31 points victory, 76-45.

Perfection.

It is a tricky concept, because, as individuals, none of us will ever be perfect. But as sports have taught us throughout the years, perfection can be accomplished as a collective group.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins ended their season with a 17-0 record and won Super Bowl VII.

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Perfect.

The 1976 Indiana Hoosiers basketball team went 32-0 and won the Division I National Championship.

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Perfect.

And upon entering their game with the Marriotts Ridge Mustangs on Thursday, the Oakland Mills Scorpions put their perfect 16-0 record on the line.

The game was close early, but in the end the Scorpions and their 6-foot-9 center, Greg Whittington, proved to be too much for the Mustangs. Whittington finished with a game-high 27 points to go along with 10 rebounds as the Scorpions rolled over Marriotts Ridge, 76-45.

“Greg has been out of this world lately,” said Oakland Mills head coach Jon Browne. “He has just elevated his game offensively.”

And with Joe Kiely, the team’s regular point guard, starting the game on the bench because of what Browne called a violation of “team policy,” the Scorpions needed Whittington to pick up the slack.

The big center responded, scoring 18 of the team’s 40 first-half points.

Yet even with Whittington’s big performance, the Scorpions found themselves down early in the first quarter, 10-6. The Mustangs were rolling and Oakland Mills needed a spark.

They got it from Marcellus Ajiboye.

The soft-spoken forward let his play do all the talking, scoring five straight points and igniting a 12-0 Scorpions run. Ajiboye finished the game with 11 points and eight rebounds.

“He was tremendous,” Browne said. “He was playing possessed at times.”

Oakland Mills led by six after one quarter, 18-12.

Marriotts Ridge began the second on a 5-0 run, cutting the Scorpions’ lead down to just one point.

Then Whittington and James Peters took control. Whittington scored 11 points in the final five minutes of the quarter, while Peters, who finished the game with 17 points, added six more, as the Scorpions closed out the half on a 22-8 run.

Oakland Mills was totally in control, up by 15 points, 40-25.

But not everyone was happy with the score.

“I was a little disappointed we gave up 25 points at the half,” Browne said.

The Scorpions responded. Oakland Mills began the third quarter on a 10-2 run to increase their lead to 23 points, 50-27.

The Scorpions also got their defense figured out, allowing just eight points in the entire quarter.

“We shut it down,” Browne said.

Oakland Mills led by 24 points, 57-33, entering the fourth quarter.

The Scorpions started the fourth just as hot as they ended the third, going on a 14-6 run to increase their lead to an astonishing 32 points.

“The teams that we have been playing, unfortunately for them, have not been able to stick around,” Browne said. “After a while I think we just wear them down.”

But with 3:49 remaining in the game, the coach decided to call off the dogs, benching his starters.

Yet, with such a comfortable lead it made no difference. The Scorpions rolled to victory, 76-45.

With the win Oakland Mills remains perfect with a 17-0 record, while the Mustangs fell to 5-12.

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