By Matthew Yoder
The Governor’s Challenge advertises as the largest holiday high school basketball tournament in the country and is played at numerous gyms from Princess Anne to Salisbury, Md. For the second year in a row, Arcadia gained entrance after another team dropped out. On Saturday, Arcadia traveled to Salisbury with only eight players, competed against a larger school with a deeper roster and essentially a homecourt advantage, yet impressed with a 76-69 win against Parkside High School.
The Firebirds’ individual efforts were impressive, but they got there by playing as a composed team. Kamron Downing played particularly balanced, finishing with 23 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five steals. Downing set an overall inspired tone by playing with great hustle on defense and intelligent court presence on the offensive side. He took only high-percentage shots, aggressively drew fouls, and assisted his teammates on open looks.
Firebirds head coach Rodney Armstrong praised the efforts of Downing, individually, but also sees his team increasingly asserting its brand of basketball with great skill.
“Kam was the key to today’s game, outstanding play on his behalf, and we’re just getting into playing our type of basketball, communicating on defense, team rebounding, and limiting fast break layups,” Armstrong said.
For the second consecutive game, Arcadia dug an early deficit. Downing opened the game swinging a pass to William Scarborough for a clean look at 3. Scarborough connected, but from there the Firebirds went cold.
The Rams, on the other hand, pushed the issue on the offensive end. The quarter was, at times, a one-man show, with Jarrin Mitchell setting the pace for the Rams. Whether driving baseline with his speed, or stepping back for open looks behind the arc, Mitchell made his shots count, finishing the quarter with 12 points. Qua’Mier Snell handled the ball well for the Rams, as they built a 19-8 lead. Though Snell and Mitchell had strong starts, they were decidedly silent for the remainder of the game.
Arcadia grabbed hold of the momentum quickly in the second quarter. Scarborough baited his defender into a 3, pump faked, and drove down the lane, feeding Downing for a layup. On the next possession Scarborough further garnered the respect of Parkside’s defenders with a deep 3. Parkside called a timeout, but Arcadia kept up the pressure.
Lethon “Manny” Williams assisted Downing on a 3, followed by another Scarborough drive, this time spotting Williams. A theme was rapidly emerging. Arcadia’s abbreviated lineup was distributing the basketball on every possession with great unselfishness.
The intensity on the defensive end of the ball ramped up as well, and Downing led the charge. The Rams’ mistakes were mounting, and the Firebirds drew closer to the lead after Downing telegraphed a pass, stepping into the passing lane for a steal, running the court to find Williams in the corner for a 3, giving Arcadia the lead, 21-20. Scarborough followed with another 3, and the Firebirds opened the quarter on a 16-2 run.
Parkside slowed the run with layups from Marcus Yarns and Rashir Evans. A third straight score, this time from Javon Purnell, helped the Rams take back the lead. Armstrong called a timeout for the Firebirds. On the following inbound pass, Terez Worthy stole the ball for the Rams, scored, got fouled, and completed the 3-point play.
The Firebirds regained their poise and ended the quarter strong with hard drives from Downing, good defense from Jaden Hope, and a bucket from Williams. Arcadia had all but erased Parkside’s large advantage with a strong quarter, pulling to within 3, 33-30.
Arcadia continued to build on its gains out of halftime. Downing and Scarborough continued to distribute the ball effectively, allowing for Hope and Keith Grinnage to enter the stats sheet. Scarborough then gave his team the lead after intercepting Parkside’s pass and drawing a foul in transition. He converted the free throws and Arcadia was up 42-41.
For a time in the third, the lead would change hands on a couple occasions. Yarns was strong in the quarter for Parkside, but as his team started to go cold, the Firebirds upped their intensity. The skill and accuracy with which Arcadia passed the ball was impressive to follow. First Downing to Williams, then Williams swung to Scarborough, finally Downing deflected a pass, ran down the loose ball and drove for a foul. Downing made both foul shots, and by the end of the third Arcadia had fully rebounded and now carried a 5-point advantage into the final quarter.
Early in the fourth, Downing started to score in bunches, with a hard drive for a layup and a 3-pointer. By the time he stole another pass and converted on the break, the Firebirds pushed the lead to 12. Parkside called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Parkside reined itself back in, with a 3 from KJ Berthune and a baseline layup from Jakai Spence. As the game tightened so followed the officiating. Both sides questioned calls, but as Parkside climbed to within 6, they were called for a charge, leading to a technical foul from the Rams’ coaching staff passionately disputing the call. Scarborough converted the technical free throws, and in doing so defined the close to the game. Arcadia was tremendous at the line, while Parkside sputtered in a similar regard.
Parkside spent much of the final two minutes desperately fouling Arcadia’s players to draw closer, but the Firebirds would not relinquish the lead at the charity stripe. Scarborough, Downing, and Williams all kept their composure in keeping Parkside at bay.
Arcadia assistant coach Kyle Williams was impressed by the way his players handled themselves at the line in closing out the game.
“I’m proud of them,” said Williams.
Scarborough ended the game high scorer for the Firebirds, finishing with 24 points, five assists and two steals. Williams added 19 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Though he played much of the game in foul trouble, Grinnage also added 6 points, all in crucial second half action.
The Rams ended with three players netting double figures in points. Spence led with 14, followed by Mitchell and Yarns with 12 apiece.
With the win, the Firebirds advanced in their bracket for a Monday evening matchup with Theodore Roosevelt High School from Washington, D.C. The venue scaled up to Salisbury’s Civic Center. It marked the first time Arcadia had played in the arena. The Firebirds encountered a team in the Roughriders equally speedy, and much more persistent on defense, than any team they’ve faced to this point. Though Arcadia’s run ended with a 93-48 loss, the players and coaches alike appeared especially excited for the experience to compete on such a large stage.
Pregame, Armstrong said his team would have a sporting chance if they kept within striking distance.
“If we’re neck and neck at the end of the first quarter, we’ve got a chance, rebounding is the number one thing, but I just want to see them compete,” Armstrong said. The Firebirds have complicated their chances lately with slow starts, but Monday they went toe-to-toe with the Roughriders early.
Arcadia managed to get good looks at the outset of the game, but failed to convert. The Roughriders, too, appeared to enter the game with jitters, but settled with strong play from guards, Jasir Tremble and Ryan Blakey.
Williams and Hope played aggressively on the offensive end for the Firebirds, and Downing continued to hustle with great intensity.
Phillip Flegger stepped into a wide open look for 3 for Theodore Roosevelt, and big man Arande Johnson entered as a solid low post rebounder for the Roughriders, as they jumped to a 13-8 lead to finish the quarter.
Theodore Roosevelt began to widely stretch the lead in the second quarter by contesting nearly every Arcadia inbound play and push upcourt. Tremble and Blakey provided much havoc on the defensive end, and assisted one another transitioning to offense. Marcel Gabriel emerged as an unstoppable force in the paint for the Roughriders, at one point converting on three offensive rebound put backs.
Even after registering his second foul early in the quarter, Williams remained aggressive and did all he could to keep the Firebirds around, netting 11 points in the first half. The game was becoming a runaway, however, with the Roughriders forging ahead to a 51-24 lead at the break.
Arcadia made a strong charge early in the third quarter. Downing started the scoring with a steal and layup, then Hope began to score in bunches. He drew a foul, converting both free throws, then was beautifully assisted by Downing, and finally made a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock. When Hope stole the Roughriders’ pass for an uncontested layup, Arcadia had opened the quarter on a 13-3 run. Arcadia would not draw any closer.
Theodore Roosevelt’s depth and size began to create real problems for Arcadia. Arthur Roache was powerful in the post for the Roughriders, and the Firebirds struggled to box out Johnson. Johnson scored the final 10 points of the quarter, and his team stretched the lead to 34, an unapproachable number.
