Columbia, MD – The #2 seed Dragons caught fire in the second half and were able to crush the #7 seed Montgomery Raptors 86-62 to win their regional tournament quarterfinal contest.
Both teams started out the game in turbo mode with a lot of full court pressure from both sides and a frantic pace to the game. Montgomery jumped out to a 9-3 lead with a lot of points in the paint, but the Dragons charged back with a 6-0 run capped by a
Naquan Williams-Day (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills) three pointer to tie the game. This seemed to highlight the theme of the first half as the Raptors would get a lead and then Howard would come right back.
The Dragons finally got ahead when
Kelvin Sellman (Temple Hills, MD/Crossland) pulled up for a deep three to take the lead at 25-24. Williams-Day hit another three pointer and
Joel Webb (Forestville, MD/Wise) tipped in to put Howard up by five. Sellman and
Michael Gray (Glendale, MD/Bowie) would close out the half with a couple more three pointers and Howard went into the halftime break ahead 37-30.
In the second half, Montgomery star guard Isaiah Jennings put his team on his back and pulled his team back to within two points on his way to a 28 point performance. But the Dragons had their own star as Williams-Day scored 15 of his 25 points in the second half to spur Howard forward including back-to-back three pointers to break the back of the Raptors.
Howard spread the scoring around as seven different Dragons scored eight points or more.
Deven Richmond (Bowie, MD/DeMatha) knocked down 11 points including a couple of monster dunks and
Christian Matthews (Clinton, MD/National Christian) put in a huge effort with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Joel Webb (Forestville, MD/Wise) muscled his way to nine points while
Daeshawn Eaton (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills), Gray, and Sellman all added eight points each for Howard with Sellman dishing out a game high six times and Gray adding nine rebounds. The Dragons won the battle in the paint as they out-rebounded the Raptors 54-35 and 46 points in the paint for Howard.
The Dragons advance to the regional tournament semifinals where they will face the #6 seed Garrett Lakers after their 78-74 upset over #3 seed Cecil in the quarterfinals. Howard defeated Garrett in the regular season 101-63 back on February 8.
