This time two years ago, Adam Strong-Jacobson was finishing up his sophomore season with Bethesda-Chevy Chase High’s junior varsity basketball team, despite having size that often leads to natural dominance on the court.
But Strong-Jacobson’s ascent into one of Montgomery County’s premier big men was fully evident during Friday’s Montgomery County championship game against Derwood’s Magruder High at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville. The 6-foot-6 center finished with a 24-point double-double against a defense desperate to stop him, leading the B-CC Barons to a 75-65 overtime victory and their first county championship.
“I was just trying to take it up strong, focused on just doing what I’ve practiced so many times,” Strong-Jacobson said after the game.
Through the entirety of Friday’s championship game, Strong-Jacobson was a fiend for offensive rebounds, using his size to create numerous second- and third-chance opportunities. Of his 24 points, 16 came from close range. The rest of his scoring output came from the free-throw line, where Strong-Jacobson made all eight of his attempts.
In addition to his dominance near the hoop and consistency at the line, Strong-Jacobson swatted a pair of shots in the victory. After high school, he is committed to play collegiately at Division III Haverford College.
“He’s been in the gym, he’s been working hard with our assistant coach, coach [Anthony] Dickens, working on his post game and it shows,” Barons coach Sean Tracy said. “He’s a load, I’m just happy to see all that hard work coming to fruition.”
Bethesda-Chevy Chase’s path to a county championship was one that seemed impossible less than a month ago. A loss against Paint Branch on Jan. 29 dropped the Barons to 10-4 in Montgomery County play.
A six-game winning streak to conclude the regular season pushed Bethesda-Chevy to a 16-4 record and one of four teams stuck in a tie for second place, and a spot in the county championship.
A coin toss to decide which of Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Paint Branch, John F. Kennedy and Walt Whitman would occupy the second spot in the title game was held via a public Zoom Wednesday. Each team had a quarter with the backside containing the individual’s school color and first letter. The winner was decided after one school’s coin landed on the opposite side of the other three.
After multiple flips, the coin with a back bathed in yellow and marked with a “B” was the one to differentiate itself.
“The heart’s racing, you’re just like ‘Man is it gonna be us? I hope it’s us,’ ” said Tracy, who stepped out of a meeting at his job for a construction company to watch the Zoom session. “Obviously you want to play in the game, but it’s out of your control.”
The dramatics of the Baron’s path to the county title game were equaled by the matchup itself. With 25 seconds left, Bethesda-Chevy Chase trailed 57-55 and had possession. Guard Nate Bromberger drove past a defender and drew a shooting foul with 20.8 seconds left in the game.
The senior converted both free throws to tie the game.
“I shot too many to miss those. I was just thinking, make it and let’s go to overtime,” Bromberger said.
After being held scoreless in the fourth quarter, Strong-Jacobson re-emerged in the opening minutes of the overtime, scoring the Barons’ first four points of the period.
Bethesda-Chevy Chase outscored Magruder 18-8 in the extra period, with seven of those points coming from Strong-Jacobson.
“Nate hit those really clutch free throws and it gave the whole team new life. We had the momentum going in and just took it from there,” Strong-Jacobson said.
Junior Geral Suarez led Magruder with 18 points, including 10 in the first 2:30 of the third quarter.
Complementing Strong-Jacobson’s scoring was a trio of guards. Cameron Rothstein-Epp and Lucas Allen combined for eight 3-pointers. Rothstein-Epp finished with 15 points while Allen had nine and Bromberger finished with 11 points.
“They’ve been steadily improving on all the little details that get you to a championship game,” Tracy said. “Then they executed in the game.”