Five Takeaways: Parkville vs Churchill (4A State Quarterfinal)

Parkville and Churchill faced off yesterday in a Baltimore County/Montgomery County battle to secure their slot in the Final Four and play at the Xfinity Center on Thursday. It was a tightly contested game throughout. It took two overtimes to declare a winner. After much adversity and a ton of fans calling for the game to be "replayed," Parkville will be the team representing in the Final Four after winning by a final score of 74-64 in double overtime. Addressing the finish With 25.6 seconds remaining in the first overtime, 2020 [player_tooltip player_id="832952" first="Jomo" last="Goings"] stepped to the line for two free-throws after Parkville fouled to stop the clock. He sank both, putting Churchill up 56-50. On the ensuing possession, 2023 Parkville wing Jayden Baker was fouled on a three-point attempt. He converted 2-of-3 on the trip to cut the Churchill lead to 54-50. 2022 Churchill guard Andrew Silver was fouled, went to the line and made 1-of-2. Churchill led 57-52. 2020 Parkville guard [player_tooltip player_id="832968" first="John" last="Godinez"] quickly sprints the ball down the floor and nails a three. Churchill leads 57-55 with 3.2 seconds remaining. Parkville fouls Goings immediately when the ball is inbounded and he steps to the line and makes 1-of-2, now making the score 58-55 with 2.7 seconds left. 2020 Parkville forward [player_tooltip player_id="832956" first="Jordan" last="Strickland"] inbounds the ball to Baker at the opposite three-point line. Baker takes two dribbles and quickly finds Godinez to hoist up a prayer seven feet beyond the three-point line. It banks in. Now from this sequence came a ton of questions. Was the clock operated accurately? Did Godinez get the shot off in time? What was the timeout situation? All are absolutely valid. But as a perspective of a coach or player, the goal is to not let the referees or clock operator to decide who wins. Churchill had multiple opportunities to make this game impossible for Parkville to win if they simply make free-throws. Every year there are controversial finishes that warrant reviews. I’m not saying this doesn’t fit into that category. As a competitor, you want to seize any opportunity to give your opponent zero chance of winning. Churchill had that opportunity and left it up to chance. While Godinez’s shot was huge, it was not the deciding factor into who won the game. There was still another overtime to be played. Again, another opportunity for either team to make their run. Parkville took advantage and made play-after-play in that frame, hence the final score being what it was. Folks will focus on what may have went wrong and that’s understandable. But what is undeniable is the classic that this game was. Both teams fought to the bitter end and showed tremendous attitude when adversity hit. Cheers to both sides. https://twitter.com/The6ixthMan_/status/1236455468442230784?s=20 Godinez’s insane performance Godinez was unguardable from start to finish last night. Churchill threw multiple defenders his way to try and guard him in their man-to-man defense, but none showed success. His ability to create space from his defender in the mid-range and get shots from 15-to-17 feet is impressive. He’s lightning quick and extremely shifty. The 5-foot-9 guard scored a game-high 35 points and willed his team to victory. The hail mary three wasn’t Godinez’s only big shot. There were a handful of occasions late in the game where Churchill seemed to take over the momentum, but Godinez would answer with a tough bucket to keep his team’s hopes alive. He scored it from all three levels pretty much any way you can think of. It’s mind-blowing to me how Godinez hasn’t garnered any Division II offers up to this point, but as time goes on a program or two should take a chance. If not, they’ll be kicking themselves when he’s producing at another level. Goings shows his skill set Goings is a long, lean guard at 6-foot-4 who can score in a number of ways. He led Churchill with 24 points and was dominant in the first half where 14 of those 24 came. The way Goings scores translates so well to the next level. Churchill executes their sets as well as any public school in the state. Consisting of creative pindowns, flex cuts and a number of other actions. Goings scored from pretty much all of them and did so without forcing shots. He reacts well to how his defender is guarding him off screens and once he gets the ball, knows how to utilize ball-screens effectively. His blend of length and athleticism will help make him a productive player at the collegiate level. I was told a number of Division II’s are pursuing Goings and even a few low-major Division I’s. Other players who stepped up For the most part, Godinez and Goings stole the spotlight in this game. There were a number of others for both sides who made big-time plays throughout. 2022 guard [player_tooltip player_id="900203" first="Bryce" last="Walker"] fouled out late in the fourth, but was the consistent scoring presence for the Bulldogs in the second half. Parkville’s second half defense was schemed to stop Goings after his dominant first half, but Walker made things difficult for the Knights with his shot-making from the corners. Wilson finished with 12 points, scoring 10 in the final two quarters. Strickland played a big role for Parkville early on as a scorer. As the game went on his impact became more crucial as a rebounder and helping limit Churchill to one-shot possessions. Strickland recorded 12 points for the Knights. Parkville survives and advances The Knights will head to the Xfinity Center on Thursday at 7 pm and square off against a talented Springbrook team. There’s always concern for teams who haven’t played in such a big venue as to whether or not the depth perception will play a part in their success. Luckily for Parkville, they don’t solely rely on hitting three’s to win. Strickland will have his hands full with 2021 Dauode Dembele, a 6-foot-5 forward who turned in 26 points and 16 rebounds in Springbrook’s win over Bladensburg yesterday. Springbrook also is equipped with a few skilled guards that will make the Knights work on both ends. The beauty of it all is anything can happen. Buckle up. This is March.