HAGERSTOWN – The North Hagerstown boys basketball team was sluggish and listless on Wednesday in the first half against Urbana.
But at halftime, the Hubs reinvigorated with their version of Red Bull.
The remedy is otherwise known as Joey Dorsey.
Dorsey, with a red No. 2 emblazoned on his jersey, played like he was cut loose in a China shop in the second half to spearhead the Hubs as they rallied from a six-point deficit to turn the tables for a 77-66 victory over Urbana.
Dorsey scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half – including North’s first 11 in the third quarter – to provide North with the jolt it was sorely missing early on.
“I started out slow in the first half. My energy was down and I wasn’t being me,” Dorsey said. “I was taking a lot of dumb shots. They weren’t dumb shots, but normally I’m getting to the basket, being a strong player. I wasn’t doing that in the first half. They were on me in the locker room at halftime, so I had to turn the switch.”
With that, North got its engine running diesel style as Dorsey became forceful in his actions to erase the 34-28 deficit.
Dorsey took North’s first possession and drove right down the middle for an aggressive layup to lop off the first two points.
He added three more similar moves and threw in a 3-pointer for good measure to score all of North’s points in the first two minutes, 40 seconds of the second half. The 11-4 run gave North a 39-38 lead.
“I think in basketball, everything is a rhythm. Once I get going, it’s hard to stop me,” he said “I get one to fall and it’s going to be really hard to stop me the rest of the game.
“I’m a bigger guard so when I go to the basket, I’m going to bump somebody and get them off me or I’m going to pump fake and go into them. I’m going to be stronger. Contact’s not going to affect me. I know it’s going to send me to the line and I’ll knock them down.”
The display ignited the rest of the Hubs. It was just what North Coach Nate Naylor was looking for. In fact, it was the whole objective of the halftime break.
“We had a nice little talk with him at halftime,” Naylor said. “We were at a point where we were challenging him to bring energy. Not necessarily scoring, but bringing energy. When he scores and has that energy, we are a different team. We play with more energy and effort … all of us.
“In the first half, (Dorsey) looked a little sluggish, so we were all sluggish. We are challenging him to be great. Our standard for him is not to be just good enough. We want him to be great. In the first half, he was just settling. In the second half, he showed who he is.”
Urbana handcuffed North in the first half.
The Bears’ active defense and three-point shooting took North out of the game.
The Hubs were settling for three-point shots – a 0-for-13 shooting effort in the first 16 minutes – while missing free throws and losing the rebounding battle.
Urbana broke a 7-7 tie and outscored North 10-2 in the final 4:45 of the quarter to take a 17-9 lead. The Bears built a 29-17 after Emmanuel Barnes driving score at the 3:51 mark. North closed the half with a 11-5 run, keyed by Brayden Cespedes’s seven points, to close to with 34-28 by halftime.
North left the floor angry at itself.
“In the first half, we were kind of playing one-on-one and they were pinching the paint,” Naylor said. “The lanes weren’t there for (Dorsey). In the second half, we got him moving more a little bit with offside action to get him to the rim. That kind of freed up the paint so he wasn’t seeing as many bodies on the inside.
“Some of that is on us. We have to get him into a position and get him moving. Get the ball in his hands off a screen. Get him to a position where the defense has to rotate.”
After Dorsey’s initial run to start the second half, the rest of the Hubs fed off the energy.
Cespedes scored a pair of layups, Jaron Nicholson hit three shots and Tristan Redick popped in a 3 from the corner on the buzzer as North scored 29 points in the period to take a 57-49 lead into the fourth quarter.
Urbana closed to within 60-57 to open the quarter, but North mounted a 13-5 – started by two more Dorsey driving scores – in a 4:05 span to take a 73-62 lead to all but close out the victory.
Cespedes scored 22 points and added six rebounds and six assists despite being sidelined for 4 ½ minutes with leg cramps. Nicholson added 13 and Redick logged eight points, including a pair of 3s.
Dorsey added a team-high 10 rebounds and four assists.
Philip Guiliani led Urbana with 20 points, while Barnes added 14. The Bears hit seven 3-pointers to stay in the game.
Wednesday’s chain of events convinced the Hubs that they have to hone their approach.
“Honestly, everything should start when we start getting dressed in the locker room,” Dorsey said. “We have to have our energy up. Our energy was a little down. We weren’t us. We warmed up lackadaisical and when we came out, they punched us right in the mouth to start the game.
“We got through the adversity. It was ugly. But even in an ugly game, if we win, that’s all that matters for the day.”
