Greenbelt (Eleanor Roosevelt) vs Patriots (Wootton)

Recap

By Eric Brilliant

Two of the top 4A public schools faced off on Saturday with Greenbelt getting the win over the Patriots, 52-47.

Greenbelt won the tip, but the Patriots struck first with a three from Sophomore guard Khairi Hyde. Hyde is a bigger guard with a good feel for the game, making the right pass and looking for his shot when his team needed him. Hyde had ten points in the first half, including 3-of-3 from the free throw line.

On the other end Greenbelt looked to star forward, Gio Sanford (‘25, F). Sanford is an athletic wing with a smooth jump shot. Sanford looked for his shot early, scoring a layup in traffic and a pull up mid range jumper to get things going for Greenbelt. Daevon Walker (‘24, G) helped Sanford carry some of the load offensively for Greenbelt, finishing a couple of nice moves around the basket. 

The Patriots did a good job of sending multiple looks at Sanford, forcing him into 3 first half turnovers. The Patriots carried them through the first half, holding Greenbelt to 20 points. But the Patriots also struggled offensively; however, a last second layup from Isaiah Kuiper (‘24, G) gave them a one point lead into halftime. 

A layup from Taj Smith (‘24, F) sparked a 6-0 run out of half from the Patriots, but Gio Sanford answered for Greenbelt, continuing his impressive first half. Greenbelt continued their defensive prowess led by Michael Osuji (‘25, F). Osuji did a good job of matching the Patriots physicality down low and was terrific on the defensive glass, grabbing seven defensive rebounds.

Sanford had a couple of big layups to tie and take the lead with just under five minutes to play. Mason Douglas (‘25, G) followed with a big three, extending Greenbelts lead to four. Douglas came up big all night for Greenbelt, taking on most of the ball handling duties late in the game and scoring nine second half points. Sanford again had a pair of clutch buckets to ice the game for Greenbelt.

Greenbelt looks to stay in the win column with a game later today against McNamara while the Patriots will face Annapolis Area Christian later today.