Wednesday night at home, Stone Bridge clinched first place in the Potomac District regular season race, defeating Freedom-South Riding 66-45 in both teams’ regular season finale. The win gave Kent Kiing’s Bulldogs a bye through the district tournament first round, which begins Friday.
The Bulldogs led almost the whole way, scoring 20 points in the first quarter. Star junior guard Kevin Reyes, Jr. was efficient offensively, scoring 27 points in the win and 18 in the second half. Still, Kling was anything but happy early in the game and at halftime.
That’s because Stone Bridge wasn’t playing playoff basketball.
“I was pulling guys out if they didn’t play defense,” said Kling. “You can’t just go and just score…you can’t jog back [on defense] after you score.”
While Stone Bridge (11-1, 19-4) led virtually the whole game, for the first three quarters it was mostly by just by one or two possessions against a dangerous Freedom team. Eventually the Bulldogs stretched the lead to double digits toward the end of the third quarter, and then outscored the visitors 23-13 in the final frame.
“My goal is we’re going to get out and go…go as fast as we can,” said Kling. “If they make us slow down then we need to play defense and execute, which I think we kind of did tonight once we got slowed down.”
The defense wasn’t great in the first quarter, after which the Bulldogs led 20-16. The offensive execution wasn’t great in the second quarter, after which Kling’s team only led 29-26. But overall, the Bulldogs rebounded to play well.
They held Freedom senior guard Charlie Boone to five points on 3-12 shooting, never allowing him to get into a flow. Their offensive execution was generally better than it was against Potomac Falls earlier in the week–the Bulldogs’ only regular season district loss. Most everybody scored Wednesday night, and four players (Sam Rubino, Kaden Golston, Braylan Stocks, and Carter Burnes) registered three assists or more.
“I knew Boone was going to come in and stroke it,” said Kling. “I put guys to his left like Mark [Lawrence], he’s an all-state lacrosse player, and #11 [Stocks]. They did a good job on him. We just kind of rotate, and look for that to continue [in the playoffs].”
Reyes’ scoring ability–he’s one of the best offensive guards in the area and hit four three-pointers in the second half alone–and Kling’s depth makes a deep playoff run possible for the Bulldogs. Kling’s team certainly has athleticism, as evidenced by the sophomore forward Golston, who is a major college football prospect. Golston showcased his defensive versatility Wednesday and added 15 points, often on sharp cuts to the basket.
Freedom (4-8, 11-12), which was led by senior Gabe Daniels’ 11 points, will have an opportunity to get another crack at Stone Bridge. They open up the Potomac District Tournament against Riverside, with the winner of that game advancing to play Stone Bridge in the semis.
Kling likes his balanced team’s chances, but is wary of the deep and dangerous Potomac District.
“Anybody can beat anybody on any given day here, ” said Kling. “When you look at the district you could have a Briar Woods beat somebody, a Riverside beat anybody…it is kind of wide open.”
“The way that we adjust or don’t adjust, it’s all going to matter in the end.”
–Chris Jollay
Stone Bridge Girls advanced to Districts the same night…crickets about their game? Now both teams are #1 in the region- I hope your coverage will have a little more parity.
What does “advanced to Districts” mean? Literate much?