Montrose Christian basketball beats Oak Hill Academy, then barely escapes

Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.), No. 5 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 sponsored by the Army National Guard and 17-0, answered any doubters Wednesday with an impressive 70-62 double-overtime win over Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) (18-3, No. 18).

At least they answered them at the time.

Saturday night the Mustangs were either resting on their laurels or looking ahead, and needed a buzzer-beater by Justin Anderson to avoid becoming an upset victim, narrowly escaping with a 44-42 victory over Northern Virginia powerhouse T.C. Williams (12-5).

The last-second victory was only fitting considering there were several lead changes in the final two minutes. It was T.C. Williams' Tyrell Sitton who nailed a jump shot with 22 seconds left to knot the score at 42 and set up Anderson's heroics.

Anderson, who finished with eight points, put himself in perfect rebounding position as teammate Yuki Togashi drove to the basket. He then redirected the missed shot at the rim and watched as the ball rolled around and in as the horn sounded.

"It was fooling with me a little bit when I saw it was rolling around the rim," Anderson told The Washington Post. "I was like: 'Get in there, baby. Get in there.' It fell and we got the game."

Tyrone Johnson scored a game-high 13 for the Mustangs, while Sitton led T.C. Williams with 11 points.

CONCORD STAYS PERFECT
The effective Concord (Wilmington, Del.) matchup zone defense left the Delcastle offense confused and dazed as the Raiders walked off the court with a 49-41 win in a Flight A boys basketball game Friday night.

Delcastle (11-4, 9-2) managed just 11 field goals and Concord's swarming defense held leading scorer Terrance Bobb-Jones in check the entire game, limiting the high-scoring senior to just 13 points.

"We are extremely pleased with the effort our players are giving on the defensive end of the court," Concord coach Ralph Flowers said. "Each player has taken pride in playing defense on every possession and we hope to keep that frame of mind going into this year's playoff season."

Concord (14-0, 8-0) held a 23-19 halftime lead and midway through the third quarter went on a 9-0 run that included two 3-pointers and a foul shot by guard Aaron Burton to pull away and seal the victory.

Justin Swift led the Raiders with 12 points and Burton finished with 11. Briean Boddy scored 12 for Delcastle, which saw its seven-game winning streak snapped.

Although the Raiders are all but guaranteed a spot in this year's state tournament, Flowers said they will not rest on their laurels the rest of the regular season. "With five tough conference games left we are still looking at improving in many areas of the game -- proper spacing, secondary break, and transition defense being just a few," he said.

HOLY CROSS HANDS ST. JOHN'S LADIES FIRST LOSS
Sophomore Lindsay Allen's 17-foot jump shot as time expired fell painfully short and sparked a Holy Cross celebration as the Tartans escaped with a thrilling 59-58 victory over national power St. John's, handing the Lady Cadets (21-1, 12-1 WCAC) their first loss of the season.

Academy of the Holy Cross (Kensington, Md.) (17-4, 9-2 WCAC) was led by Pandora Wilson's 16 points, while junior center Lanay Montgomery chipped in with 14 and Akilah Bethel added 10.

Allen led all scorers with 27 points, including five 3-pointers. St. John's was unusually poor from the free-throw line, hitting just two of nine in the fourth quarter.

St. John's, which defeated Holy Cross 69-63 in the teams' first meeting this season, is one game behind conference leader Good Counsel, while Holy Cross maintained its position in third place in the competitive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

PATTERSON EARNS RESPECT DURING GRUELING STRETCH
Patterson (Baltimore) (16-1) entered last week knowing that if it could survive three games over three days, the Clippers would be in good position to finish atop the Baltimore City Division I Conference.

The Clippers started the week off strong with an expected 82-56 win over Poly High School (1-6) on Tuesday night. Sophomore point guard Aquille Carr had a game-high 18 points in the win.

And then it was on to face Dunbar (13-2, 4-2), the most storied basketball program in the Baltimore area, on Wednesday night. Carr continued to put his own mark on the city's basketball history with an impressive 36-point performance to lead the Clippers to an 80-67 win.

Patterson then scored its hat trick with an easy 86-49 win over Carver Vo-Tech (6-8) on Thursday. Carr poured in 28 points and Rickey Meekins added 15 in the victory.

Carr, who averaged 25.5 points as a freshman, is considered by many to be one of the top players in the country in the class of 2013. Patterson (16-1, 7-0 Baltimore City Division I) has lost just once this season, to New York's Cardozo in the Big Apple Invitational.

THE BUZZ
James Madison-bound Crystal Ross scored her 1,000th point in Smyrna's (Del.) win over Cape Henlopen Wednesday night. … Former Ursuline Academy star Elena Delle Donne has returned to the University of Delaware lineup after missing several games with what has now been diagnosed as effects from Lyme disease. She was the leading scorer in the country before becoming ill late in December.

Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and on the broadcast team for the 1290AM The Ticket High School Football and Basketball Games of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.