City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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OLNEY — The last four times Kevin Givens walked into Tom Gola Arena to coach a game he exited the building empty handed. Four seasons in a row, Givens’ Academy New Church teams reached the Friends Schools League Championships only to be denied the league crown. 

He returned to the place of heartbreak Friday with something in his gut telling him this time was different. He left shivering cold, his gray hoodie soaked after a locker room celebration of a dominant 64-50 victory over Friends’ Central that delivered ANC its first league title since 2009.

“I felt anxious. I felt like I gotta get it done today,” said Givens, who is in his 30th season on the sidelines at ANC. “I said, ‘This is my time.’ It’s been a long time coming. The kids worked hard all season long. They worked hard in the preseason, they worked hard in the postseason. They deserve it just as well. They played good basketball, they worked their tails off and again our defense prevailed.”

The Academy New Church boys basketball team poses together following its 64-50 win over Friends' Central in Friday's Friends Schools League championship game at Tom Gola Arena. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Givens’ squad lost seven consecutive championship game appearances total in the 15 years since a run of three straight FSL titles from 2007-09. Rev. Barry Halterman, the school’s chaplain and team statistician who has been the program’s “analytics and quality control department” for the last 20 years, is one of the few who has been through all the heartbreak with Givens through the last decade and a half.

ANC senior guard Ogonna Obayi is the only Lions player who was around for the last two title game losses. But the Lions returned three others — seniors Nolan Waldon and Bahsil Laster and sophomore Dior Carter — who entered the past offseason with a bitter taste in their mouths following last season’s 64-61 championship game loss to George School.

They all played a big part in the win.

Carter’s second-quarter triple sparked an 8-0 run that turned a four-point ANC lead into a 29-17 advantage at half. Laster, who led the team with 14 points, took over in the third-quarter as the Lions scored 16 of the final 18 points of the period after enduring a run by FCS seniors Muhsin Muhammad (20 points) and Fazl Oshodi (12 points). 

Obayi, a deep reserve on the last two FSL runner-up squads, scored all six of his points in the fourth. He opened the final frame with a triple that put the Lions ahead by 25 and put an end to any Phoenix comeback attempt before it could start.

“It gave us an energy that we didn’t have last year coming off that loss, especially because it was a close game,” Laster said of the title game loss to George School. “We came in hungry, had four returning players — one came off the bench and gave us a great effort — and we just knew what it took to win the chip.”

The Lions lost star guard Deywilk Tavarez (Delaware State) and another starter Jarell Keel (Neumann) to graduation this past offseason, but added some new pieces in sophomore guard Tobe Nwobu, from Camden Catholic (N.J.), and sophomore forwards Ryan Warren (6-6) and Cameron Smith (6-7), who both transferred from La Salle College High School.

Warren and Smith gave ANC an inside presence neither Givens nor Halterman can recall from past teams. The added pieces also gave the program a rare depth that was different from some of the teams’ that fell short in years past. Nwobu and Smith, who came off the bench, added 10 points apiece in Friday’s win.

“I feel like we used our depth a little bit more than we did last year, played to our strengths a little bit better,” Laster said. “That was really it.”

The Lions’ defense was their calling card throughout the season. Givens said the team experimented with full-court man-to-man and zone before figuring out half-court hot read man-to-man suited them best. They showed their effectiveness Friday holding a dangerous FCS attack to 17 first-half points.

This ANC team is Givens’ first group since 2008 to go undeafeated in the FSL regular season and go on to win the league crown. His son and assistant Shannon Givens was on that team.

After a strong offseason and preseason, Givens could sense something special about this group after early-season losses to McDonogh (Md.) and Peddie School (N.J.). He was proven correct on Friday night.

“Everytime we lost a game we would bounce back, and if we lost another game two or three games later, we would bounce back,” Givens said. “I saw some resiliency there. I saw in these guys that they really wanted it.”

“We just play hard, we have great leaders on the team,” Laster said. “We just keep it pushing.”

Academy New Church 64, Friends’ Central 50

By Quarter

FCS:  8 | 9 | 13 | 20 || 50
ANC:  12 | 17 | 23 | 12 || 64

Scoring

FCS: Muhsin Muhammad 20, Fazl Oshodi 12, Reid Belcher 10, 3 4, Patrese Feamster 4.

ANC: Bahsil Later 14, Dior Carter 11, Cameron Smith 10, Tobe Nwobu 10, Nolan Waldon 7, Ryan Warren 6, Ogonna Obayi 6.