Commitment leads Long Reach boys basketball to new heights
Commitment.
That’s something Long Reach coach Andrew Lazzor has admired about his current group, spearheaded by the program’s eight seniors. Their diligent work ethic never wavered starting in the offense and running through the season. As a result, the program reached new heights.
After losing in the regional final each of the prior two seasons, the Lightning climbed that hurdle with a 73-64 win over River Hill.
After a thrilling state quarterfinal win over Milford Mill, the Lightning faced off against Northeast-AA in the Class 3A state semifinals Wednesday night. A tightly contested back-and-forth game, the Eagles took over late finishing out a 56-49 win. While the season ended earlier than the Lightning hoped, Long Reach orchestrated its deepest postseason run since 2008 and was Howard County’s last boys program remaining.
“You cannot become a great program unless guys are committed all offseason, all the time,” Lazzor said. “You got coaches coming in left and right, working out with the guys. They’re with their personal trainers, they’re in the weight room. That was the turnaround for us. They’re working on getting better as individuals.
“Dean Smith used to say, ‘You get better as an individual during the offseason, you get better as a team during the season.’ For years we’d be drawing plays up, sets and things that would work, but we couldn’t finish or make shots. This group put so much effort into it, led by our seniors.”
Of those eight seniors, several have been on varsity for several seasons. Namely RJ Barnes, Jayden Saunders and Junior Nunez. The trio developed into a force on both ends of the floor, igniting Long Reach’s offense, but also fueling the defense with blocked shots and forced turnovers.
The Lightning were 44-6 over the past two seasons, one of the best records in the state over that time. That represents a stark contrast to earlier in Lazzor’s tenure and before. From 2010 to 2020, Long Reach only had three winning seasons, struggling after their 2008 state championship appearance. Yet, each of the last three seasons the Lightning have finished near the top of the county standings, with multiple All-County players.
“Just being that group that can say we put a banner on the wall,” Barnes said of what he’s most proud of.
While Long Reach (23-3), loses the bulk of its roster, their impact on the program won’t be soon forgotten. Lazzor hopes the younger Lightning learn from the values this group of seniors instilled, as they’ll look to return to this stage in the future.
“This is very challenging because at the end of the season and especially this run, you want to acknowledge the effort of the seniors,” Lazzor said. “But, at the same time let the underclassmen realize that those seniors created this from right after that COVID year. We had several losing seasons before that, including the first 3-or-4 years of my time. This was the group that lost their freshmen year to COVID. Every class that’s come in, they’ve worked their tails off.”
Northeast boys basketball earns first ever trip to state finals after 56-49 win over Long Reach
He also hopes those seniors’ consistent evolution can inspire the younger players to be the best versions of themselves moving forward.
“There’s a lot of kids in this program that didn’t play much last year. Like Junior got a couple minutes a game. Markus Alston, Dillon McKinney, three starters that don’t come off the court much, played very little. We use those guys as examples to show what is necessary. Then they see and say, ‘Oh I can be the next Junior, the next Markus or Dillon.'”
Barnes added: “We just put our all into it. I just hope the younger guys can follow in our footsteps and do the same.”