Days after the Gwynn Park boys and girls basketball teams each brought home a Prince George’s County championship, boys’ coach Rob Garner paused to reflect on a conversation he had with girls’ coach Mike Strother three years ago. The Yellow Jackets’ current seniors were just freshmen at the Brandywine school, and already the coaches understood their potential.
“The true story of it is, we spoke this together,” Garner said. “Gwynn Park High School’s 2024 class is probably one of the best four-year classes that has come through that school in its history. … We said by the time we got to 2024, we were going to do this together.”
Garner and Strother were proven right, as each team raised up a county title trophy at Wise High in Upper Marlboro on Friday. The girls knocked off C.H. Flowers, 52-51, avenging a 18-point loss to the 19-win Jaguars in December. Then the boys handled Bowie on the same court, 55-42.
George Washington signee Ty Bevins scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half to lead the boys to victory, after seniors Nala Abraham and Keira Mason each scored in double figures in the girls’ tight win.
Both veteran-heavy teams now enter the Maryland 2A playoffs. The girls will host Potomac in the region quarterfinals Wednesday, while the boys earned a first-round bye in and begin Thursday in the region semifinals.
Both teams are dreaming bigger than county titles. But Garner, who was greeted in the locker room to an ambush of players dousing him with water, knows not to take moments such as Friday’s for granted.
“We’re going to work hard for this, but we absolutely are not going to skip the process of enjoying it, too,” Garner said. “Sometimes, man, you can be so focused on stuff that you’re missing the joy of it all along the way. … We’re just enjoying the ride.”
— Noah Ferguson
St. Charles rules the SMAC
Minutes after the St. Charles boys clinched their second straight Southern Maryland Athletic Conference championship, a 7-year old walked into the Spartans’ locker room at North Point High. Kate, the daughter of Coach Brett Campbell, held a plaque and delivered a message.
“The champ is here!” she said, prompting an explosive celebration. Campbell’s players dumped gallon-jugs of water over each other to celebrate their 80-52 win over Chopticon on Feb. 20 in Waldorf.
Two years ago, Campbell recalled seeing Kate in tears after the Spartans lost to Westlake in the championship game.
“Daddy’s team always wins,” he recalled her saying. The moment crushed the coach. He vowed that if St. Charles got back to the title game, it wouldn’t lose.
The Spartans rolled through their regular season schedule, winning 11 straight games. The last of those wins, a 93-36 drubbing of Patuxent, clinched St. Charles’s spot in the championship game. Campbell’s squad promptly lost two straight.
“I think [clinching] kind of creeped into their play just a little bit,” Campbell said. “And, it was enough to kind of knock us off our course there temporarily.”
The Spartans regrouped with a film session — as their coach said, “the eye in the sky doesn’t lie” — and recognized their lackadaisical play.
It looked like they might falter against Chopticon, as they fell behind by seven points in the first quarter. Near the end of the quarter, Campbell gathered his squad.
“We’ve taken their best punch,” he recalled telling them. “It’s now time for us to strike back.”
Their punch connected with fury, leading to a 38-point final margin and an energetic and adorable celebration.
— Varun Shankar
Players of the week
Anna Tercyak, Bethesda-Chevy Chase: The senior guard scored 17 points as the Barons staged a furious comeback to beat Clarksburg for the Montgomery County girls’ basketball title.
Justin Edwards, West Potomac: The sophomore had 29 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Wolverines over defending state champion Hayfield, 68-55, in the region final.
Kendall Dudley, Sidwell Friends: The McDonald’s all-American stepped up in the Independent School League championship game, leading the Quakers with 20 points as they earned a 56-49 win over Bullis.
Ty Bevins, Gwynn Park: The senior led his team in scoring with 15 points in Friday’s Prince George’s County title victory over Bowie. The Yellow Jackets finished the regular season with just one loss and earned a first-round bye in the Class 2A playoffs.
Games to watch
Northwest girls at Seneca Valley in first round of Maryland 4A playoffs, Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Va. boys’ and girls’ state semifinals, Friday at locations TBD, 5:30 and 7 p.m.
D.C. State Athletic Association girls’ and boys’ AA championships, Sunday at George Washington University, 5 and 7 p.m.
Brentsville District stuns as region champs
Seven players and the greatest scorer in program history.
That’s what the Brentsville District’s girls had to replace from last winter, the most successful season in program history, which it capped with a Class 3 state championship game appearance.
Coach Keyla Delaney wasn’t too concerned with the absences. Last year, her first year with the program, the Tigers set a disciplined foundation. She wasn’t concerned when the Tigers lost to rival Meridian by 31 in December when they made “young” mistakes, with turnovers and inconsistent defensive principles; was even less worried when they took the Mustangs to overtime in January. On Friday, the Tigers captured the region championship with a 42-34 win over Meridian. They’ll play Lake Taylor in the state quarterfinals Tuesday.
“Going into this year, I knew that I had to push these girls, I had to be hard on them, I had to push them to their limits just because I knew that we had potential,” Delaney said. “They just had to tap into it.”
It wasn’t as simple as a lack of concern, though. The Tigers (18-7) entered this winter young. Very young. The team had just one senior, Payton Brown and Brooke Lynn Miller were two of just a few varsity returners, and the pair had combined for just 10 points per game last season.
Brown, a better shooter this year, came back after two-hour practices to work another 90 minutes; Miller, who came into the year an even better athlete, added leadership and pushed other teammates to work similarly; both are averaging double-figures this year. Natalie Marvin, their 5-foot-1 point guard, has made smart decisions. Riley Coombs, 5-7, has guarded their opponents’ biggest player all season and often won those matchups.
There’s still room to grow. Only twice, Delaney said, have they put together four good quarters. But they’ll bring almost everyone back next year. That should assuage any remaining concerns.
“When you have a young team, you don’t always play up to your potential,” Delaney said. “But if we can put four quarters together, we’re going to be okay. … We can make it pretty far in this tournament.”
— Spencer Nusbaum
Sidwell’s Williams savors one final MAC title
In the final minute of Saturday’s Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, Sidwell Friends forward Caleb Williams was given a classic basketball send-off. Coach Eric Singletary pulled the senior with about 30 seconds remaining in what would be a 61-49 win, giving the home crowd a chance to serenade him as he made his way to the bench for a series of hugs.
As he worked his way through a parade of happy teammates, Williams saw junior guard Caleb Gillus and suddenly grew animated.
“That’s another one,” he yelled to his friend. “That’s three!”
Afterward, Williams said the gravity of winning three straight conference titles was still sinking in.
He has been a key player for the Quakers for what feels like forever. He got minutes as a freshman, scored a championship-winning buzzer-beater as a sophomore and helped his team defend two titles as a junior. Before this senior season, he extended his stay in the district’s basketball scene by signing with Georgetown.
On Saturday, Williams made the most of his final conference game in a Sidwell uniform, scoring 30 points as the Quakers led Maret for the majority of the afternoon.
“Feels amazing to do this again as a senior; my guys are sending me out on a good note,” Williams said. “I love this team.”
The Quakers still have basketball remaining, as the D.C. State tournament kicks off this week. But even when this season is done, Williams does not think he will ever stray far from the Sidwell community.
“It’s great to know I can come back to practices and they can come down the street to see me at Georgetown,” Williams said. “We have a family thing here at Sidwell, so I know any chance I have to come back it’s going to feel like home.”
— Michael Errigo
