Share your views...

0 Respones to "ERROR: Macro MetaTitle is missing!: Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 Share E-mail Print Hayden surge sinks Pax Senior ignites Raiders boys for second half rally by AJ MASON, Staff writer Next >> More News Reston bank helps tackle cyber fraud School news in brief Public Safety Notes Fairfax County in brief People & Places: ‘Kristi’s Christmas’ treats children to shopping spree advertisement With only nine points in the scoring column at intermission, senior guard DJ Hayden looked to give the Leonardtown Raiders boys basketball team a major second half surge versus host Patuxent on Wednesday night.That was an understatement for the 6-foot-3 Hayden, who exploded for 22 of his game-high 31 points to help lead the Raiders to a 62-51 nonconference victory.Hayden scored 13 of the team’s 21 points in the fourth to ignite a furious Leonardtown rally.“When a player is hot on the team they tend to go through them, and I was just hitting the shots. I was doing everything tonight,” Hayden said. “We needed someone to slow it down, and speed up the tempo, and I had to do it tonight. I’m a captain on the team, and they look for that. Tonight was one of the best nights I had.”Leonardtown (2-4 overall) bounced back from a 78-46 home loss the night before to Glen Burnie of Anne Arundel County, and outscored Patuxent 42-15 in the second half.“We just have to learn how to win,” Leonardtown head coach Dave Holland said. “The talent is there and tonight was big. With every win something is going to give us confidence. In the second half I told the boys that everything is on them. It was their game and we came out and took it in the second half.”Holland said his team’s shooting was better on Wednesday as the Raiders made seven three-pointers, six of them by the sharpshooting Hayden.“DJ is a great athlete, and when we he’s on watch out,” Holland said. “He likes to shoot it and has a beautiful shot. If he drives more that will open up his jump shot. In the second half we played the inside-out game and created more space for him.”After Patuxent sophomore guard Joey Parsons (team-high 20 points), who had 13 second half points, knocked down a three to put the Panthers (1-6) up 44-41 to start the fourth, Leonardtown went on a 15-2 run with 1 minute 35 seconds left.Parsons and junior guard Trey Lee, who came off the bench to score 14 points, helped keep Leronardtown at bay. “In practice I shoot a lot,” Parsons said. “The coaches said I need to start shooting more, the crowd got me hyped and I gained some confidence when I let it go.”In the third forward Adam Smith (10 points) and Hayden combined for five threes, and 6-foot-6 center Matteo Galli had three huge blocks to give the Raiders defense a boost as the Raiders tied the game up at 41 after three.“When you get a big block that turns into offense for your team,” Galli said. “We scored huge buckets, and that led to a fourth quarter rally.”Patuxent took leads of 17-9 after the first and 26-20 at halftime, but could not finish shots in the second half.“We moved the ball and played good defense in the first half, but we had a problem finishing shots in the second half,” Patuxent head coach Lou Bruno said. “If the team makes a run, we have to be able to respond.”Leonardtown will now host the Southern Maryland Holiday tournament and will take on Calvert at 7 p.m. in the first round game on Tuesday.Patuxent will not play again until Jan. 4 when it hosts Thomas Stone.ajmason@somdnews.com on day true story"