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Sports

Magruder Doubles Up Wootton, 82-40; Colonels Move to Regional Finals

Colonels' Garland Owens scores 24 points as Patriots season ends on a down note.

During the first half of Thursday's playoff game at Magruder, the Wootton Patriots were bending but refused to break. Down just 13 midway through the game, Wootton seemed determined to make the top-seeded Colonels earn their way to the regional finals. But an ‘alley-oop’ dunk from J.J. Epps to Garland Owens on the very first play of the second half set the tone for what would turn into the Patriots' most lopsided loss of the season.

From that play forward, Magruder was in complete control. Backed by a 24-point performance from Owens, including two additional alley-oop dunks in the second half, the Magruder Colonels blasted the visiting Wootton Patriots, 82-40, to advance to the Maryland 4A West regional finals Saturday afternoon against Churchill.  The Colonels beat the Bulldogs in the regular season finale last week, 65-39.

While the 82 points were just two shy of Magruder's season-high (84 points against Paint Branch on Feb. 14), it was his team's defensive play that impressed long-time Magruder coach Dan Harwood.

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"Everyone knows we're a pretty good team offensively. But I think the second half of the year, our defense has really stepped it up and just keeps getting better and better and better," Harwood said after the game. "I was really proud of our effort tonight and our communication on defense."

Meanwhile, the 40 points for Wootton (15-10) matches its worst offensive performance since an 11-point loss to Churchill in early January. And Wootton Coach Chris Bohlen knows that when playing a team as talented as Magruder (23-1), converting scoring opportunities into points is critical, something the Patriots failed to do consistently all evening.

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"If you're going to beat Magruder, you can't afford to miss shots. I can't even count the number of layups we missed tonight," Bohlen said. "And when you make mistakes against a team like this, they're going to capitalize. But we knew that coming in. We knew we'd have to have a pretty darn near-perfect performance to beat these guys tonight and we just couldn't do it."

Leading 30-17 at the break, Owens helped the Colonels add to their lead quickly in the third quarter. After his first dunk that left the home crowd frenzied, Owens scored four straight points before Justin Witmer gave Magruder a 21-point lead just two minutes into the half off a jumper that put the Colonels up 38-17.

The Colonels poured it on from there, taking advantage of physical mismatches on both sides of the floor to dominate Wootton in every facet of the game -- on the boards, on fast breaks, in transition, and from the free-throw line.

Wootton didn't seem to have many answers for Magruder's speed and athleticism and by the opening seconds of the final quarter, the Colonels had built a 26-point lead before outscoring Wootton 24-6 in the last eight minutes of play.

Unlike the first time these two teams played in mid-January, when Nick Griffin scored 40 points and had 10 3-pointers, this time it was Owens who did the most damage, as Griffin was held to a season-low 5 points. But Bohlen said that is what makes Magruder so dangerous and the fact that they do have so many scoring threats makes them, in his mind, the best team in Montgomery County and possibly the state.

"They complement each other very well. They're very balanced. It's tough when they have so many weapons," Bohlen said. "The way they attack the rim and turn broken plays into scoring plays in transition. Sometimes you feel like you're going to battle with a half-loaded gun."

Harwood said after the game that Wootton's focus on Griffin opened up scoring opportunities for Owens. And the 6-foot-4 senior forward took advantage.

"Garland was just fantastic out there. Obviously he did some tremendous things offensively, but he had a very complete game tonight," Harwood said. "He had some blocked shots, some great kick-out passes, some big rebounds. His energy level has been great all year but he was clearly the best player on the floor tonight." 

Epps added 14 points for Magruder while Witmer tacked on 11. In addition, Epps was primarily responsible for feeding Owens' multiple dunks. Afterward, Owens spoke about the two teammates' connection.

"We've been playing together for a long time," Owens said. "He knows my spots and I know his. There's just a chemistry. We just flow."

Senior Kyle Weissenberger led all Patriots with 15 points while the team's leading scorer, Willis Ibeh, added 9. After the game, Bohlen reflected on the team's season and while the year ended on a bitter note, the sixth-year Wootton coach is proud of the team's season.

"I told the kids after the game how proud I was of them and what an honor it was to coach them. A lot of our players were seniors and I worked with them for four years. I've seen so much growth in these guys on and off the court. They're a part of my family," Bohlen said. "We had a great run and it gives us a lot of momentum for the younger guys to head into spring and start to get to work for next season."

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