Severn School LJ Owens (#11 Burgundy) and Mount St Joseph Darryl Morsell (#11 White) put on a show
Severn came into tonight's contest looking to knock off MIAA power Mount St Joseph to avoid an 0-2 start to the season. It would be a daunting task as Mount St Joes is led by future Maryland Terrapin Darryl Morsell and center Jalen Smith, who is ranked 27th in the 2018 class by ESPN. Severn however brought their leading scorer LJ Owens to play the part of David trying to take down Goliath. Owens did all he could, scoring from all over and eventually finishing with 25 points which included five 3-pointers, however, it wouldn't be enough as Severn fell to Mount St Joe's 72-63.
MSJ jumped on Severn quickly and efficiently early with a 22-10 first quarter lead thanks to the explosive scoring from Morsell (8) and sophomore guard James Bishop (8). Morsell also did a good job of using his strength and size to neutralize Severn's leading scorer LJ Owens, holding him to 3 points in the quarter. Severn responded in the second quarter with accurate shooting from deep. Point guard AJ Burch (12 points) knocked down three 3-pointers in the period to lead Severn back into the game, although, they still trailed MSJ 41-30 at the half. The second half became a battle between LJ Owens and Darryl Morsell. Owens exploded to score 17 of his game high 25 points in the half to keep Severn close throughout, yet still, Morsell wouldn't let MSJ be denied the victory as he scored 9 of his team leading 21 points to ensure the win.
Center Jakob Lilly posted 10 points for Severn while Bishop finished with 18 points and Jaden Robinson added 11 points for MSJ respectively.
Future Terp Darryl Morsell impacted the game greatly on BOTH ends
LJ Owens put on shooting show in the second half, scoring 17 points to keep Severn in the ball game