If Anne Arundel County were to be guaranteed one team in the high school boys basketball state tournament, Glen Burnie might be the third-most popular prediction.
After the strong seasons from Broadneck and Annapolis, the Gophers have peaked at the right time and are now the lone remaining team from the county in the state semifinals, which start Thursday.
“I thought there would be a few more, and I?m sad that there aren?t,” Glen Burnie coach Michael D. Rudd said. “We?re going to represent our county. I think our county has caught up ? where it used to be a championship just to get here. But the kids aren?t content.”
The Gophers haven?t been content since a three-game losing streak at midseason, which Rudd looks back on as one of a few “bumps along the road” to a 20-5 campaign heading into Thursday?s Class 4A semifinal game against Sherwood (21-4) at 9 p.m. at Comcast Center.
“They had a different look on their faces,” Rudd said of his team in the second half of the season. “And they were just not going to lose.”
The Gophers have done so just once, going 9-1 since Jan. 25. And in the 4A East Region playoffs, Glen Burnie toppled the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds ? Broadneck and Thomas Stone.
“We just caught lightning in a bottle at the right time last week,” Rudd said. He pointed to a strong student-body following in a pair of road wins. And he promises “a sea of redand white” at states, as the fan support at Glen Burnie is at an all-time high.
That?s the overall goal, too. As Ned Sparks, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association executive director, said Tuesday, holding the tournament at the Maryland Terrapins? home presents “an opportunity for youngsters to experience something they wouldn?t normally experience.”
While Glen Burnie reached the state tournament in 2003 and 2004, it has only made one state finals appearance ? 1961 ? and has never won a championship.
“We?re going to have to play well and have a little luck,” Rudd said. “Every possession is huge, and that?s what I?ve been preaching to them.”
Gopher notes
» Glen Burnie averages 71.9 points per game and 39.6 rebounds per game.
» Three Gopher seniors average double-digits in scoring ? forward Garrett Blackstone (15.5 ppg), guard Kareem Downs (15.2) and forward Deseane Antione (12.7).
