Garland Owens with a layup for Magruder. photo by Jacqui South

Published on: Friday, February 03, 2012

By Aaron Kasinitz

ROCKVILLE - The Richard Montgomery Rockets became the latest public school opponent to fall to the marauding Magruder Colonels Friday night, following a tumultuous week for the Rockville high school.

Like each of Magruder’s previous public school opponents, Richard Montgomery failed to compete with the Colonels, who extended their 2-month long winning streak to 16 games with a 77-50 victory.

Magruder’s ball movement and unselfish play was undoubtedly the difference in the game; the Colonels had four players in double figure scoring led by senior forward Garland Owens’ 26 points and junior guard Justin Witmer’s 21.

“When we are passing the ball we shoot pretty well and play pretty well,” said Magruder head coach Dan Harwood, “We had assists on 11 of our first 15 baskets today and when were doing that were going to score a lot.”

Magruder came out of the gate firing on all cylinders and did not look back after Nick Griffin’s three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Colonels a 24-9 lead heading into the second quarter.

Along with Magruder’s consistent team play on offense, their defense on Richard Montgomery star guard Justin Senou helped maintain a double-digit lead throughout the game.

“We probably did not help as much on [Senou], but Nick Griffin just did an outstand job on him,” said Harwood. Senou could muster just 9 points in the contest, 7 of which coming in the fourth quarter with the game well out of hand.

After holding a 46-27 halftime lead the Colonels did not slow down in the third quarter. Owens had two thunderous slams in the quarter, both of which were the results of agressive baseline drives, pushing Magruder’s lead to 23 at the end of the frame.

As Magruder cruised through the fourth quarter to secure the victory, it was evident that their team chemistry and offensive balance combine for a lethal combination.

Along with Griffin, Owens, and Witmer, junior point guard J.J Epps also reached double digits in scoring with 11. Harwood can entrust any of those four players with the ball in crucial situations, “Those four guys play really well together and they pass they ball so well,” said Harwood, “The beauty of this team is that in tight game situations anyone can take that last shot.”

With this victory Magruder improves to 16-1 and has not lost since Dec 6 at DeMatha. The Colonels are certainly the favorite in Montgomery County to make a title run, but their season ends with a rigorous stretch; all of the 5 remaining games on Magruder’s schedule are against teams with winning records.

The road for the Rockets, who drop to 8-10 after losing their fifth straight game, does not get any easy either. Richard Montgomery ends their season playing 3 out of 4 teams with winning records.

Harwood, however, was encouraged by his counterpart’s effort in an unquestionably emotion ridden game for the Rockets - head coach Scott Spear wasn't at the game, as he's currently facing criminal charges.

“Jimmy Little did a great job tonight, and Richard Montgomery played hard and I thought they competed well,” said Harwood, “I think Richard Montgomery has got a lot to be proud of.”