Cooking up the recipe for fun

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2007

Cooking up the recipe for fun

Springbrook hopes that its chemistry is the key to a special season

By Dan Greenberg | Staff Writer

E-mail this article \ Print this article

Springbrook boys basketball coach Tom Crowell is really enjoying himself this year. And not just because his team has the best overall record among Montgomery County’s Class 4A teams.

Individually, this year’s Blue Devils are probably not the best squad he’s had in his 21 years of coaching high school basketball. In fact, his team last year may have had more individual talent. But this year’s Blue Devils have ‘‘it.”

‘‘I think the whole key to everything is the chemistry of these kids,” Crowell said. ‘‘At times, we get on each other’s nerves, but they’ve been together all the way since junior high. They’re pretty talented kids, not all great by themselves, but everybody understands their roles. I’m just really having fun coaching this group of guys.”

He certainly enjoyed his team’s latest victory, an 86-61 rout of Blake, to give the Blue Devils a season sweep of their Northeast Consortium rivals. Junior guard C.J. Garner scored 22 points and senior center Marcus Cotton added 18. Senior point guard Othello Banaci, who is ‘‘the glue that holds everything together” according to his coach, also pitched in a season-high 21.

The win was immediate redemption for an 11-point loss the night prior against Sherwood. That loss, which ultimately deprived them of the 4A East Division title, served as a reminder that despite the Blue Devils’ gaudy record, they’re not in a class by themselves. But Crowell likes where they are anyway.

‘‘At the beginning of the year, we started five new starters,” Crowell said. ‘‘Magruder had three or four guys back, Sherwood’s got three of five back — I thought we’d be pretty good, but the players have just done a great job. Hopefully, we can keep everyone’s respect.”