The Seaholm boys basketball team pulled off a double-whammy Friday night in the Seaholm gym.
By defeating Rochester Adams 45-36 in a low scoring defensive struggle, the Maples accomplished two important things: A league title and revenge over the only team that beat them.
“We knew we were going to win,” said senior Richaud Pack, who led the Maples with 23 points and 10 rebounds. “Really, it’s no big deal.”
Junior Shawn Conway added 10 points of his own, along with some momentum-changing blocks that discouraged Adams’ scorers from driving anywhere near the paint.
Due to Conway’s presence under the basket defensively, Adams often settled for jump-shots.
Adams was also denied a chance to snap Seaholm’s 18-game winning streak in the friendly confines of the Seaholm gym – a loud, imposing environment for visiting players to deal with.
“Playing at home gives us a lot of confidence,” said Bowman. “It’s a great home court advantage here.”
Bowman was pleased to get revenge on the visiting Highlanders.
“Adams was our only loss this year, so it was definitely nice to beat them,” Bowman said.
After winning the OAA Blue Division last year, there were many questions as to how Seaholm would respond to an upgrade in competition, a question that was answered in the wake of this OAA White Division title.
At times, the Maples seemed to be helping the Highlanders out, missing their first eight free throws to start the game.
Despite the early free throw shooting woes, the Maples were able to establish a 9-3 run early, only to see the momentum swing directions as the Highlanders took a halftime lead.
But the second half belonged to the Maples (19-1), who ended the night cutting down the nets to celebrate their league title.
Seaholm will begin district play at Birmingham Groves, Wednesday at 5:30 in the front end of a district double header against the winner of tonight’s matchup between Brother Rice and Berkley.
“Winning the league was great,” said Bowman. “But that’s over now and districts will be the start of a new season.”
Pack said Seaholm is the team to beat.
“We’ll run districts, nobody will be able to beat us,” joked Pack. “We’re the favorites, and we’re at our peak right now.”
If the Maples win on Wednesday, they will play for the district title at 7pm at Groves High School.
