In the blink of an eye, a Richard Montgomery steal led to an easy basket as Nasiir Robinson found Jonathan Custodio streaking down the floor in the second quarter. It would be one of many astonishingly fast baskets scored by the Rockets in the 75-52 victory over Bethesda-Chevy Chase. Richard Montgomery remains atop of the 4A South division with a 9-3 record, defeating the second-place Barons, who were clearly second-best at Richard Montgomery High School Friday night.

That was not the case one year ago when B-CC defeated RM in the 4A West Regional semifinal 55-50. The Rockets will likely face the Barons in the playoffs once again at the end of the season, and a replica of tonight’s dominating form would be a perfect scenario.

The six-point game two minutes into the second half would be as close as B-CC could manage to make it. Senior Julian Stover would jumpstart the Rocket offense in the second half with a hustle play that pushed the game back to nine points.

Stover raced down the floor after a steal, but B-CC outnumbered the lone guard, and Stover could not convert the fast break layup. However, the senior poked the ball out of B-CC’s grasp and put it back up while being fouled. Stover would complete the three-point play and make it 34-25 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter. Stover’s play shows another side to RM’s style of play. They aren’t just fast on offense; the Rockets are relentless on defense.

“That just shows how things can change so fast, and how [Coach] Breslaw tells us to stay persistent and keep the motor going,” Stover said, who finished with nine points. “We’re a scrappy team, we know that most teams in the county can’t go as deep as us. We play at least 10 to 15 guys a game, so we know that if they’re tired in the first half, they don’t have the energy for the second half, and we just run away with it.”

The Rockets’ man defense swarmed B-CC and the full-court pressure applied for the full game wore down the Barons, giving the Rockets frequent opportunities for quick scores. When B-CC tried to apply a full-court pressure, RM passed through the defense and created open layup chances.

Sophomore Daryn Alexander led the Rockets in scoring with 17 points, and his senior brother Daniel Alexander finished with nine points. Senior Julian Watson had eight points, six of which from three-pointers. “We did a great job bringing the pressure on them, and keeping it on them all game,” Daniel Alexander said.

While only a sophomore, Daryn Alexander has seen increased minutes off the bench. “He’s going to do what we ask and he’s going to do it great, and he just earns more and more playing time,” Breslaw said of Daryn.

B-CC played without 6’10” senior center Tyjhai Byers, who had a lower leg injury. Even so, the crisp outside shooting from the Rockets and their fast break opportunities left little time for B-CC to set up on defense, thereby negating B-CC’s height advantage.

“We just have to be prepared to play anybody, and we feel like if we are to end up going where we want to go, we might see guys besides him that are his size,” Breslaw said.

Richard Montgomery aim to continue their five-game winning streak at Einstein on January 26th. RM will have nearly a two-week layoff before playing Einstein, but this doesn’t worry Daryn Alexander one bit. “Keep playing fast, keep coming to practice, and stay healthy,” is Daryn Alexander’s recipe for success.