Boys Basketball 4A South Final: Henry Wise 71, Eleanor Roosevelt 58

By James A. McCray III
Prince George's County, Content Manager

As the lights went off inside of the Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School basketball gymnasium, family and friends of the boys' basketball team remained inside of the gym.

As each member of the team straggled out of the locker room onto the floor one-by-one, each was greeted with smiles, hugs, and high-fives.

Rightfully so as the Henry Wise Pumas won its first-ever basketball regional title after a 71-58 victory over the Eleanor Roosevelt Raiders in Saturday's 4A South title game.

And even minutes after the game, Wise head coach O.J. Johnson joyfully clutched the 4A South title plaque close to his side.

"It's not about me, it's about those kids," Johnson said. "At the beginning of the year we had a couple of goals. One was to play in the county championship game, one was to play in the region championship game and make it to the state championship.

"The kids were a little upset that they didn't play in the county championship and I told them to use that as motivation."

Wise in fact defeated Laurel in the region semifinals to get to the region title game --Laurel played in the county championship game-- and the Pumas continued to use that motivation going into Saturday.

Wise inside force Delonta Boyd may have played the most motivated in the contest against Roosevelt as he managed a double-double in the contest with a game-high 21 points and 15 rebounds in the victory, including 17 first-half points.

"My teammates got me the ball," Boyd said with a smile. "I always preach to them to get me the ball and we'll have a better chance of winning. They got me the ball and I capitalized."

Roosevelt and Wise played a wonderfully-paced contest as action was up and down the floor and the two teams were evenly matched heading into the final period of play with the scored tied at 45.

From the onset of the final quarter, the Pumas and Raiders exchanged the lead six times in the quarter's first seven possessions and a total of eight times throughout.

Roosevelt's James Smith --team high 16 points-- gave Roosevelt its final lead of the game at 55-53 with a little over 3 minutes remaining.

However, back-to-back, three-point plays from Wise's Andre Mackell and Melvin Barfield gave Wise the lead for good at 59-55 with 2:12 left in the game.

"That was a big one, that did it," Roosevelt head coach Brendan O'Connell said of the three-point plays. "... We just couldn't get the defensive stop when we needed to. Once or twice during the fourth quarter we got them to miss the shot, but then they got a put-back, too."

Roosevelt managed to cut the lead down to 59-57 with 1:30 left, but to no avail.

Wise closed the game on an 8-0 run, including an exclamation-point dunk from David Golladay (11 points) to put the cap on the program's first-ever title.

"After that [dunk] I knew it was in our hands," Golladay said. "The crowd was with us, my teammates on the bench were with us, it just felt real good."

Another key component of the win was Wise point guard Phil Wood as the senior finished with 18 points 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the victory playing well in all facets of the game.

"It feels real good," Wood admitted. "We [have] to keep it up. Three [games] down, two to go. It feels good, though."

Johnson stated a similar mindset of his point guard, adding: "I told them that we have two more steps to go to reach their final goal. I told them to enjoy the night. ... It is the first regional championship for the boys' basketball team here at the school, so it is exciting. But, we have to get ready for Thomas Stone."

E-mail: James A. McCray III

Henry A. Wise 71, Eleanor Roosevelt 58
Roosevelt   --   20   15   10   13; Smith 16, Kromah 15, McNeal 11, Ashe 8, Bostic 4, Miller 2, Okoroh 2

Henry Wise --  15    23    7    26; Boyd 21, Wood 18, Golladay 11, Mackell 11, Barfield 9, Till 1