It was almost alarming how quickly four minutes of up-tempo play from St. Anne’s-Belfield was able to erase the margin that Fork Union held the previous 12 minutes. The Blue Devils came out strong and put the hosting Saints in a hole early, and it wasn’t until the middle of the second that STAB — with an effort led by Javin Montgomery-DeLaurier, Jaden Nixon and Jalen Harrison — was able to find its rhythm offensively. However, once the Saints found their groove, they never lost it and with a surge late in the third quarter that spilled into the fourth, St. Anne’s maintained its perfect Prep League record with a 81-68 win over FUMA.
“We dug ourselves in a bit of a hole but our guys compete hard,” said Saints coach Brian Kent. “Once they started playing hard, getting some deflections, rebounding the ball and those kind of things that get us out running with some tempo — it turned into our game. That’s the kind of team we are. We like to play in transition.”
The Blue Devils were on point out of the gate as they took 9-0 lead to start the game. STAB cut it to a 4-point game soon after, but with Detwon Shelton, Adisa Gitten-Smith and Josh Nevers playing well early, FUMA was able to string a 13-3 run to make it 24-10 in the first few minutes of the second quarter.
“I think our guys really came out ready to play,” said FUMA coach James Pelham. “I liked that we weren’t backing away or playing afraid. We were attacking the basket and things were going our way.”
While it wasn’t quite do-or-die yet, something lit a spark under Montgomery-Delaurier as he took over at the end of the second half, and once he did, his teammates followed suit. He, Harrrison and Nixon accounted for all 23 points the Saints scored in the second quarter where they were able to outscore the Blue Devils by 12 and take a 33-30 lead going into the break.
“We came out and got punched in the mouth in the first quarter,” said Montgomery-DeLaurier. “It was a lackluster performance so we had to come out and get tough and that started on defense. I think we did that and when we play well on defense we play well as a team.”
In the third quarter, both offenses exploded as the pace really picked up. For STAB, Montgomery-DeLaurier got hot from outside and that paired with Nixon and Kareem Johnson attacking the basket and getting to the line kept the Saints rolling. On the other side, Shelton and Smith were able to carry the load and actually put FUMA up 42-41, but it was the last lead the Blue Devils would hold as STAB finished the third quarter with a 16-7 run to take an 8-point advantage into the final frame.
“In the third quarter we came out and played like we did at the end of the second,” Montgomery-DeLaurier said. “That was great because we’ve had some troubles coming out in the second half in some other games. So it was good to see the continued energy.”
The Saints quickly went up by 14 to start the fourth, and the closest the Blue Devils were able to get was eight points away, midway through. Forced to foul, FUMA put the Saints on the line where they finished out the game and outscored the Blue Devils 13-8 down the stretch.
“We cooled off and weren’t able to rebound as well as we did in the first quarter and that made a big difference,” Pelham said. “I think we put so much effort getting back to within eight that we didn’t have enough left in the tank. When you miss three or four wide open layups in a row, that’s usually a sign.”
Montgomery-DeLaurier finished with a game high 33 points to go with 10 rebounds and five blocks. Harrison had 19 points. Nixon finished with 11. Johnson had eight rebounds and four steals.
For Fork Union, Shelton led the offense with his 26-point effort. Gittens-Smith threw in 17 points. Nevers finished with 11 points.
The Blue Devils (3-7, 1-4) travel to play at Collegiate on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. while STAB (9-5, 4-0) will travel to St. Christopher’s on Friday at 6 p.m., weather permitting of course.
