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COLLEGE PARK — Eleanor Roosevelt senior guard Naji Marshall is used to being the playmaker for the Raiders. When the Raiders offense is clicking, Marshall is usually the one doing the majority of the distributing and the majority of the scoring.
So when the Raiders headed to halftime tied at 32 against the Perry Hall Gators and Marshall only had nine points, Raiders head coach Brendan O’Connell expected Marshall to step up in a big way.
But he didn’t. He stepped up and then some as with some help from sophomore guard Jaden Faulkner propelled the Raiders to a 69-59 win against the Gators.
“Those guys have been doing it all year,” said O’Connell who’s Raiders advance to the state final for the first time since 2013 when they Raiders won it all. “Naji has been consistently one of the best players around all year and Jaden (Faulkner) has been really solid getting to the basket. So, it was no surprise tonight.”
What was a surprise to those in attendance was how strong Perry Hall came out in the first half. The Gators who were considered underdogs against the Raiders came out swinging picking up the lead twice in the first quarter. They would do exactly the same in the second storming back from a four point deficit, taking a lead late in the second off a 3-pointer from junior forward Darrell Green who had a team-high 17 points for the Gators.
So, when halftime hit and Marshall only had nine points and his team was staring possible elimination in the face Marshall and Faulkner did what they do best — score.
The Raiders would come out of the gate to start the second half smoking hot as they went on a 10-2 run in the first four minutes with Marshall leading the way for the Raiders, and using defensive strength and forced turnovers to give themselves the ability to run the court and dominate the pace of the game like they so commonly do.
“We talked about turning up the defense a little bit,” said O’Connell. “Perry Hall is obviously a really good offensive team and they shot the ball really well in the 1st half. Ulitmately, I think that’s what did it for us. We got some big stops.”
On the other hand, it was tough for the Gators to come up with a plan to limit the potent Raiders offense but Perry Hall head coach George Panageotou felt like the Gators did limit the Raiders somewhat but understood that limiting a player like Marshall would be an uphill battle.
“We knew all about Naji and how (good) of a player he is,” said Panageotou, who was the Baltimore County Coach of the Year, one of the many accolades doted on his team. “We tried to limit his production, but the kid is good. He’s got the size and the talent.”
Marshall wasn’t done yet after the 10-2 run as he scored four more points to help the lead grow to 15 and make it seem like the Raiders were on their way to an easy win. Contemplating, things even more for Perry Hall were that they were just a bit unlucky at times.
The Gators would come back slightly after the lead reached 15 and had a full head of momentum going to end the third quarter. Green would attempt a fast break lay-up for Perry Hall and would have the bucket fall but the official watching the play called a charge on Green all but stifling the momentum that the Gators had going.
At the time, Panageotou was incensed about the call but after the game he was more reflective about the call and what it meant for the Gators and their comeback hopes.
“It’s the hardest call in every level of basketball, what makes it so hard (to take) is that the basket went in too,” said the Gators head coach. “Obviously from our angle we thought he slid in to him. We’ll watch it on film and it doesn’t really matter. That pretty much squashed the momentum though.”
Marshall still though would be needed with the Raiders not only being able to seize the win until late in the game as the Gators kept coming back again and again to put up a fight. Down nine, the Gators began to foul but Faulkner and Raiders forward Trent Bishop missed six straight free-throws which allowed the Gators to cut the lead down to five.
And, that’s where Marshall came in to save the day. Marshall went to the foul line eight straight times over the course of a minute and subsequently extended the lead from five to ten putting the game squarely into the Raiders’ grasp.
For Marshall, with him staring down his last professional games his desire to win a state championship is what pushed him forward in the end to help his team to victory.
“I just feel like we worked really hard in the offseason,” said Marshall. “We deserve this. We deserve this a lot.”
