Still Perfect: Oakland Mills Rolls to 23-0 With Win Over Broadneck in Annual District V Championship Game

In order to be the best, you have to beat the best.

That old saying gets thrown around more than is typically appropriate. But in Oakland Mills’ case, it's close to the truth.

The Scorpions’ season is far from over – they are scheduled to start the Division 2A state playoffs on Monday after a first-round bye, facing the winner of the game between Patuxent High School and Central High School.

First, however, they had Wednesday night’s District V championship game – an annual event that pits the Howard County regular season champion against the Anne Arundel County regular season champion.

Oakland Mills faced the 20-2 Broadneck Bruins in what was supposed to be the biggest test for the Scorpions thus far. But in typical Oakland Mills fashion, Greg Whittington led the team to its sixth 30-point win of the season, a 58-24 wire-to-wire win over the Bruins.

“That’s what we have been able to do: shut people down,” said Oakland Mills head coach Jon Browne.

In fact, the Scorpions held the Bruins scoreless for the first eight minutes and 56 seconds, a defensive streak that extended into the second quarter.

“That’s Oakland Mills basketball,” Browne said. “When you shut a team out in the championship game for the first eight minutes of the game, you’re playing fantastic defense.”

Oakland Mills also got off to a slow start on offense, though, missing its first five shots in the game before Whittington ignited the dangerous Scorpions’ offense.

The 6-foot-9 senior forward scored nine of his game-high 23 points in the first quarter, and Oakland Mills opened up an early 20-point lead, 20-0.

“I just came out and made things happen,” said Whittington, who also grabbed 17 rebounds in the game. “I do what I have to do.”

The Scorpions were cruising early, and Whittington seemed to be thriving under the spotlight of the big game.

The Bruins finally got on the board with 7:04 remaining in the second quarter. Then junior forward Kerry Bethea quickly answered back, once again extending the Scorpions’ lead to 20 points. Bethea finished the game with nine points and five rebounds.

Broadneck’s Darnell Solomon responded by hitting a 3-pointer, cutting the Scorpions’ lead to 17 points.

The Bruins finally appeared to be on-track offensively. But Oakland Mills senior guard James Peters hit a pair of free throws that sparked a 10-3 Scorpions run to close out the half. Peters finished the game with eight points.

The Scorpions went into halftime with a 24-point lead, 32-8.

“The look on [the Bruins'] faces said it all,” Browne said. “They looked like they were defeated.”

Looks can be deceiving.

Broadneck head coach John Williams must have given an inspiring speech at halftime, because the Bruins came out of their locker room with a new-found passion.

The third quarter proved to be the Bruins’ best offensively, as they traded baskets back and forth with the Scorpions. In the end, though, Broadneck could not keep up with Oakland Mills, which outscored the Bruins 16-12 in the quarter.

The Scorpions led by 28 points after three quarters, 48-20.

And Oakland Mills was far from done.

The Scorpions started the fourth on a 9-0 run, increasing their lead to 37 points, 57-20.

Even though Oakland Mills pulled its starters with 5:32 remaining in the game, the Bruins could only manage four points in the fourth quarter. The Scorpions easily won the District V title, 58-24.

With the loss, the Bruins fell to 20-3 on the year, while the Scorpions improved to a perfect 23-0.

“Twenty-two games, 23 games, it doesn’t mean a damn thing,” Browne said. “The streak is the streak, but who cares at the end of the day? “At the end of the day, this game means nothing.”

Oakland Mills has its sights set higher.

Said Whittington: “It’s just one game on the road to the state championship.” 

Oakland Mills (58):

Whittington 23, Bethea 9, Peters 8, Joe Kiely 6, Marcellus Ajiboye 4, Davon Allen 3, Nick Zayatz 3, Malcolm Davis 1, Anthony Dorsey 1

Broadneck Top Scorers (24):

Taquan Colbert 8, Solomon 5, Bobby Bates 5