Stone Bridge defeated Briar Woods 65-42 in an early matchup of contenders for the Potomac District. The Bulldogs’ Head Coach Kent Kling credited the win to his team’s defensive intensity.
“We turned it up,” Coach Kling said with a smile. “Since Troy Marquez came from football, we’re able to play three guards up front, move Sam Rubino over to the two, and JJ Stanford down to the three. And we’ve got some length with Jordan Moore and Gabriel Coulthurst, and Omar Abushaban is a staple in the back.”
The Bulldogs (2-0, 8-4) were led by their freshman guard Stanford, who led the attack with 19 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. Stanford also complimented the team’s defense, which helped make the offense flow.
“It was a good night for all of us,” Stanford said. “We got more chances to score because of our defense and rebounds, and we executed.”
The Bulldogs also got a big contribution from the senior forward Abushaban, who posted a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. The Falcons (1-1, 7-6) were led by junior guard Patrick Fraim with 13 points.
Stanford got the action started with a step-back jumper, but Briar Woods would respond with a 7-3 run. But Stanford also responded for the Bulldogs, sinking two free throws and knocking down a corner three-pointer on consecutive possessions. The teams continued to trade baskets and Briar Woods led 15-13 at the end of the first quarter.
Coach Kling said the Falcons grabbed the early lead due to the Bulldogs not pushing the front court enough.
“We gotta move the ball forward,” Coach Kling said. “We have to try not to dribble in the backcourt, get it forward and run our primary and secondary.”
Stone Bridge started the second quarter on a 10-0 run, which included four fastbreak points from Stanford. The Falcons took a timeout to slow things down as the Bulldogs led 23-15.
“Every night I just attack and today it was going for me,” Stanford said. “I was scoring on the shots that I work on. Hours and hours are spent in the gym. Workouts are the hard part, games are the easy part.”
After the timeout, Briar Woods was able to shorten the Bulldogs lead to 29-24 heading into half. However, Stone Bridge overwhelmed the Falcons with its defense in the third quarter, taking a 50-36 lead entering the fourth.
The Bulldogs then secured their victory by holding Briar Woods scoreless through the first five minutes of the final quarter.
Coach Kling was excited about his team’s effort, but also acknowledged there’s room to minimize turnovers and execute better on offense.
“Sometimes we can turn it on,” Coach Kling said. “We have to get the ball up quicker and execute in halfcourt. The more we can get some of the younger players in and the earlier we can get them in, the more comfortable they’ll be.”
–TJ Davis