By James A. McCray IIIPrince George's County, Content ManagerWas it the 30 turnovers the
Frederick Douglass Eagles caused in Friday night's boys basketball 2A South semifinal contest that earned it an
87-69 victory over the
Wicomico Indians? Maybe.
Was it the fact that the Eagles held the Indians without a field goal in the third quarter that helped break the game open? Quite possibly.
Was it a big-time dunk from Douglass freshman
Kavon Glover mid-way through the third period that helped shift the momentum of the entire contest? Definitely.
As a Wicomico player saved the ball from going out of bounds, Glover found the ball in his hands, took off down the sideline, and jumped over a defender causing a blocking foul that resulted in a three-point play.
Those three points from Glover helped spark a Douglass 13-2 scoring run over the middle section of the third quarter and opened up the way for Douglass to cruise to a berth in the 2A state championship game.
"I was thinking about making a lay-up," Glover said, "but I have been working hard in practice and my coach showed me how to come over the rim more. ... When he passed it in I was thinking pass it to the open man, but I just had adrenalin going."
Douglass senior
Justin Mays made note of the noticeable reaction adding: "The whole bench got up; the crowd was going crazy, I couldn't get back on defense the next play."
However, even though Mays may not have played defense on the next play, the defense was the sticking point to Douglass' victory and with the win, first-year Douglass head coach
Tyrone Massenberg is one win away from a state championship.
"That was our game plan tonight," Massenberg said of causing turnovers. "[We wanted] to keep the pressure on, and force the tempo, and to our favor we felt as though we had a deeper bench. ... What ended up happening is that we wore them down. I can't say enough about the way we played, especially on the defensive end."
Leading the way for Douglass was sophomore
Timmone Whatley --in his first year with the Eagles-- as he led the team on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball scoring a team-high 20 points and earning a team-high 6 steals.
"They are there for me and they are like my big brothers," Whatley said of his teammates. "I just try to build with my teammates and fight, and that's what got us to where we are right now. It's been great so far and hopefully we can continue to keep doing this."
Wicomico senior guard
Davon Gale --in his fourth consecutive appearance in the state tournament-- scored a game-high 32 points, albeit in a losing effort.
"I am going to focus on the positives," Gale said.
Wicomico head coach
Butch Waller had only one word to say after the game, "turnovers," he stated.
" ... Tonight was bad. That was the most turnovers that we have had all season," the coach added. "We knew rebounding would be an issue, but I did not expect that many turnovers. A lot of them were unforced errors, but give their defense some credit, they obviously have some players."
Douglass entered the postseason with a win-loss record under .500 with an 8-11 overall record, but now currently sit one win away from a state championship.
And as Mays
(14 points) believes, it has been a wonderful ride to this point.
"A dream run," Mays described it as, "a Cinderella story. Nobody believed we could do this but ourselves. Every day in practice we told ourselves we can still do this if we play together as a team."
"I just like the way the kids are playing right now," Massenberg said.
"They are playing like they wish they didn't have one game left, and
they wish they could play three or four more. But, tomorrow is their
finale, and they are going to out there and I am sure they are going to
play their hearts out."
Douglass will face City (Baltimore) in the state championship game Saturday at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center in a game scheduled for 6 p.m.
E-mail:
James A. McCray III
Frederick Douglass 87, Wicomico 69Wicomico -- 12 22 12 21; Gale 32, Ewell 12, Dennis 8, Bratten 8, Simms 6, Ivey-Lomax 2, Morris 1
Douglass -- 15 20 31 21; Whatley 20, Mays 14, Washington 12, Glover 10, Fennell 9, Murray 6, Brandon 4, Mckoy 4, Bonhom 2, Johnson 2, Fields 2, Brooks 2