By Frank Platko
After earning the number two seed in the MPSSAA 4A North Regional Tournament, Coach Gilchrist and the Warriors fell to Springbrook at home, 76-64.

In a hard fought battle, Sherwood trailed 36-21 at halftime and were unable to cut the deficit below single digits in the second half. Senior guard John Ervin led the team in scoring, hitting key shots in the 4th quarter to keep the Warriors in the game.

The defensive gameplan was to key in on Springbrook guard Matthew Balanc, who leads the Blue Devils in scoring. In the last meeting between the two teams, Balanc scored 35 points. This strategy was effective, limiting him to 17 points. However, fellow guard Andres Escobar took advantage of his increased opportunities, scoring 30 points and burying a flurry of threes in the second half.

Springbrook went on to lose to Paint Branch in the next round, whom the Warriors were unable to defeat in their two meetings earlier in the regular season, in the next in round.

On the season, junior Davis Long led the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game. Fellow junior, Donovan Lacey led the team in rebounding and blocked shots, with 5.6 and 0.9, respectively. Both will be expected to step into leadership roles next season.

Senior guard Josh Seils, who is committed to Towson to play baseball, led in steals and assists.

“I’ve enjoyed these past four years more than anything. I’m sad it came to an end, but these are my brothers for life and they helped me grow as a player and a person, especially the coaching staff,” said Seils.

Along with Ervin and Seils, who will graduate, fellow seniors Kevin Russell, Brendan Collins, Alex Le, and Elijah Mills. With the exception of Le, who began playing sophomore year, all have been in the basketball program for four years.

The Warriors fought adversary throughout the season. Amid injuries and illness to key players, Coach GIlchrist was able to guide his team to a winning record and a first-round bye.

While the 12-11 record is a slight decline from last season, when they finished 14-9, the Warriors showed development in many areas. They will look to continue their growth into next season.