Seagears Leads B-CC Over Seneca Valley

Jerome Seagears did several impressive things on his home court last night in leading Bethesda-Chevy Chase to a 59-47 victory over No. 18 Seneca Valley. You could raise an eyebrow at the junior point guard's soft midrange jump shot, or his deft dribbling out of the Eagles' hounding pressure, or his quick hands that poked several Seneca Valley passes away and started B-CC fast breaks.

All those efforts, though, paled in comparison to the impact Seagears had on the game with his precise passing. Seagears helped the Barons score 16 of the game's first 18 points by threading several beautiful back-door passes that found teammates perfectly in stride for easy layups.

Each of the five B-CC layups that came off Seagears' deliveries began from various points on the perimeter. They all ended the same way -- with Seagears penetrating from the top of the lane, drawing a pair of defenders and finding the open man.

Seagears, who transferred from Northwood last summer, acknowledged his court awareness hasn't just developed in the three months since basketball practice started. Seagears grew up with many of the Barons and played in youth leagues with them before joining them in high school.

"I knew them all before I got here," Seagears said of his teammates. "It's easy when everyone is in the right spot, and everybody has the right timing. I know where they all are."

The Eagles (19-3) would rally, trailing by just four at halftime and pulling even at 39 at the end of the third quarter, when they began playing back a bit on Seagears. That's when he hurt them with a pull-up three-pointer to start the fourth quarter. When Seneca Valley went back up 43-42, B-CC scored the next nine points, capped by a soft pull-up from the foul line by Seagears.

"When they started playing deep on the penetration," said Seagears, who scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the second half, "that's when I knew it was time to use my jumper."

B-CC (16-5), which has gone to three of the past four Maryland 3A semifinals, won its seventh straight and ended Seneca Valley's 13-game win streak.

"We were just flat-out flat," said Eagles Coach Tom Sheahin, whose team missed several layups and shot 4 of 21 from behind the arc. "If those threes go in, maybe they come out of their zone, and that opens things up for us. But we didn't hit them."

B-CC 59, No. 18 S. Valley 47 Up Next: Seneca Valley has clinched the top seed in the Maryland 3A West Region; B-CC will have a coin flip with Tuscarora for the region's fourth seed. Big Loss: With the game tied at 35 with two minutes left in the third quarter, Seneca point guard Bruce Massey fouled out, which dramatically impacted the Eagles' offense.