Baltimore County Championship Notebook

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Tuesday evening the two top teams in Baltimore County battled for bragging rights with the county crown up for grabs. Parkville played host to New Town in search of their second win against the Titans in five-day span. New Town had other plans and delivered a slew of early punches to establish control. They wouldn't look back and handed the Knights their first loss of the season and with the win, improved their overall record to 19-3. Let's take a look at some notes from the competitive contest.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Stanton battles through to shine</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1768961' first='Justus' last='Stanton'] suffered an ankle injury in the initial matchup against Parkville the Friday before, but wouldn't keep anything from him taking the floor with his teammates. The 5'11 floor general commanded his team with outstanding patience, feel and leadership that was beyond his years. He began with controlling the pace in the first half and setting the table for others, but as the fourth quarter approached Stanton started to make his presence known in the scoring column. He led way for New Town with 14 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Every time Parkville seemed to gain momentum, it was Stanton knocking down a big shot or delivering a crucial assist. His performance spoke to how much he has improved and gets you excited for what is to come as his career progresses.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Calls damper what would have been an even better game</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I'll start with the fact that I never like calling out the referees for how a game is called because I would be the last person who'd want to put on a striped shirt and bear those responsibilities. BUT...the flow to this game was crushed by inconsistent calls for both teams. To add, the county's two best players in [player_tooltip player_id='1413496' first='Caron' last='Smith'] and Cam Sparrow battled foul trouble from the start due to questionable calls. Smith would end up fouling out with more than half of the fourth quarter remaining and Sparrow's game was extremely limited while he toed the line with four fouls for much of the second half. Smith still led the Knights with 15 points while Sparrow countered with 10 of his own. Both players still put forth solid outings, but it was certainly disappointing to see how closely and inconsistently the whistle was blown against them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Brown shows versatility</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 New Town F Jaden Brown is an available senior who has a chance to put his name on the radar of more colleges if he continues to register performances like he did early in this game. The 6'7 forward was the catalyst for his team's quick start as he crashed the glass relentlessly on the offensive end and stepped out beyond the arc in pick-and-pop actions to convert on two early three's. He'd end the game with 12 points and a plethora of monster plays on the glass or in the painted area as a shot-blocking presence.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Other Parkville contributors</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2024 point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1579098' first='Josiah' last='Legree'] recorded 10 points in the loss, but caught my attention most with his diligence on the glass. 2023 [player_tooltip player_id='1573230' first='Favor' last='Okigweh'] has his work cut out for him trying to fend off opposing New Town forward off the glass, but after Brown knocked down his early three's, Okigweh had to respect any catches that he had on the perimeter. Legree skied for board and collected at least a handful on night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Price provides the energy</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 New Town forward Jamal Price was the player who tipped the scale for the Titans. As Brown established himself both in the scoring column and on the glass, Price picked up whatever was left. He caused havoc crashing offensive rebounds and often times generated them into quick buckets for himself. He has good size, a strong frame and natural instincts to embrace the physicality of playing inside the paint. Price helped make several key plays that further confirmed New Town's control throughout this game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->