River Hill boys basketball has 5 players score in double figures in 89-37 win over Mt. Hebron

Coming off its first loss of the season to Milford Mill on Monday, River Hill boys basketball coach Matt Graves challenged his team. He wanted his Hawks to step up on defense and help each other out.

The response was lockdown defense and an abundance of scoring in River Hill’s dominant 89-37 win over Mt. Hebron.

“They responded very well,” Graves said. “Accountability is a big thing that we discuss. … We also talk about ‘We over me,’ and being a team, making the extra pass. The best teams that win championships are connected.”

River Hill (11-1, 7-0 Howard County) used a full-court press from the very beginning until the waning minutes of the game. The result was 15 steals that led to many fast break points. The Hawks’ athleticism was on full display during fast breaks, with guards Aiden Igwebe and OJ Ndu recording multiple dunks and crafty layups.

Ndu poured in 23 points, while Igwebe contributed 18. Forwards Anthony Przyzycki and Soma Unegbu scored 10 points apiece, part of a starting five unit with four players averaging double-digit points.

“Last game was a little rough, losing against Milford Mill,” Igwebe said. “I knew we had to come in here today and score over 80. We usually score over 80 in all our games, so I knew we had to do that today.”

The Vikings (7-3, 4-2) were led by guard Julian Kelly, who had 11 points, and guard Nick Etienne, who had six points. Mt. Hebron averaged 64.6 points per game entering Wednesday night, but the swarming Hawks defense held them to a season-low 37 points.

River Hill controlled the game from the opening tip, building a 12-point lead after the first quarter and extending it to 44-28 at halftime. River Hill’s defense fully clamped down after that, holding Mt. Hebron to nine points over the game’s final 16 minutes.

Przyzycki had a big second half for River Hill. In addition to his offensive output, he recorded eight rebounds, three steals and a block. He had multiple offensive rebounds in the third quarter, which led to six second-chance points.

“We were just really on them. We started really feeling it as a team,” Przyzycki said. “We were all going to help. We were always talking. Once that starts happening, once everyone starts playing together, that’s how we get going.”

“We’ve been stressing tenacity, playing as hard as we can every possession,” Graves said. “Every possession is the last possession. That’s what we do. Our offense is being created from our defensive pressure, either our traps, our on-ball pressure, our rotations, our hedges, whatever it might be. We’re going to go as far as our defense goes.”