Highland Springs stays undefeated with win over Douglas Freeman

You show your true character not when the ball bounces your way, but when it doesn’t.

When Douglas Freeman squared off against visiting Highland Springs Monday evening in the Larry Parpart Pavilion, the Mavericks did so without Abram Schrinel and Alex Blanchard, their top two scorers who were nursing ankle injuries.

Rather than bemoan the fact that players averaging a combined 35 points per game were watching from the bench, Coach Chapin George’s guys ran a 2-3 zone with intentionality and a methodical, pass-often-and-crisply-and-wait-patiently-for-the-open-chip-shot offense in an effort to slow the Springers’ usually torrid pace of play.

Their strategy worked swimmingly at times, kept them in the game, and even gave them pause to hope against hope that they could pull off what on paper would be an honest-to-goodness upset.

The Springers, too, responded to adversity, albeit in a different form.

Faced with a rhythm not of their liking, they did some serious soul searching, recalibrated, gained their bearings, and claimed a 55-46 victory in the rescheduled championship game of the Freeman Invitational Tournament that fell victim to the inclement weather in early December.

“We have a spirit within this program, within these guys, that’s unbelievable,” said Highland Springs coach Reggie Tennyson. “They don’t believe they’re supposed to lose. They’re going to play hard until the last whistle.”

Freeman (11-2) scored the first four points of the game while forcing 0-for-5 shooting, then rode 6-6 sophomore center Bennett Friday’s eight points to take a 12-9 lead after eight minutes.

The Springers (12-0) responded quickly on the strength of their trademark 2-2-1 press that has multiple variations.

Joseph Williams ignited a defense-created 13-0 run by hitting a floater from the paint at 7:15 of the second quarter, then a 3-pointer at 6:16. 

Jahmari Jones followed with another 3-pointer, Davion Allen hit a transition layup off an E.J. Thompson assist, Thompson scored on a putback, Allen hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line, and two minutes before the break, Highland Springs held a 22-12 lead.

Friday (16 points) countered with two buckets from the paint. 

Thompson’s buzzer-beater 3-ball from the right wing sent the Springers into halftime up 25-16.

“We knew their game plan would be to slow it down and make us play their game,” said Thompson, a 6-1 senior who finished with 24 points. “We like to play a faster pace. It all starts on the defensive end. 

“We have a standard of intensity we want to play with each and every night. We wanted to speed up the pace by pressuring and just moving and bringing a lot of energy and trying to rattle them.”

The Mavericks returned from the break on fire and converted their energy into a 10-0 run.

Drew Nunnally scored from close range off a Friday assist 10 seconds in. Friday followed with a short jumper. On consecutive possessions, Grayden Thouron and Bobby Fishburne (10 points) stole passes near midcourt and converted them into layups. Jordan Matthews scored on a putback, and at 4:30 of the third, the Mavs led 26-25.

 “We expected them to fight,” Tennyson said of the Mavericks. “I told the kids at halftime, ‘They’re not going to quit just because you’re winning.’ We anticipated them coming out being more aggressive.”

Intensifying their defensive effort, the Springers closed with a 10-2 run and took a 35-28 lead into the fourth.

“We don’t want any opponent to control the tempo,” said Allen, a 6-3 senior forward. “We emphasize ball pressure to make them turn the ball over. We want to make it hard for their guards to even look for their bigs.

“Applying ball pressure, causing turnovers, making the extra pass, getting everybody involved…that picks the energy up as a team so it’s not just one-on-one.”

Allen’s floater and Thompson’s steal and layup gave the Springers a 43-32 lead with five minutes remaining. 

Though they were gaining momentum, they couldn’t shake the Mavericks, who responded with unanswered buckets by Thouron, Nunnally, and Friday to cut their deficit to 43-38 with four minutes left.

At 3:45, Joseph Williams (11 points) swished two free throws, then Allen hit a baseline jumper, and Jones penetrated Freeman’s defense to put the Springers up 49-38 at 2:35.

“We had to stay poised and be ready for anything they could throw at us,” said Williams, a 6-2 senior. “We had to execute our offense through their 2-3 zone.”

As the Springers’ point guard, was Williams looking to score or distribute the ball?

“A little bit of both,” he said. “Looking to score, you always open up something for your teammates, your brothers. They just have to be ready.”

While Fishburne hit two buckets and Andy Mustico one for Freeman in the closing 1:15, the Springers countered with 6-of-6 free throws (four by Williams, two by Thompson) to secure the victory.

The Springers shot 20-for-49 from the field and 11-for-12 from the free throw line, forced 13 turnovers, committed 10, and outrebounded Freeman 30-24. The Mavericks shot 23-for-48 from the field.

“We win as a team,” said 6-6 junior center Jaden Scott. “We have to play with intensity every game. We know nobody is going to lay down for us.”