Nine games into the season, the Rams were 4-5 and treading water. But after a loss to Glenelg Country School, the eventual MIAA B Conference champs, dipped their record below .500, the Rams pounded Glenelg High of Howard County one day later and have never looked back. Their win against Easton in the Class 2A final was their 11th win during their last 13 games, though it was their semifinal win against Gwynn Park two days earlier that had the fans and coaches around the state buzzing.
Gwynn Park, coached by former Archbishop Spalding coach Mike Glick, had handed previously unbeaten Oakland Mills its first loss of the season during the regional finals and had lost to City during last year's state championship game. But against Digital, they were no match for a Rams team that beat the Yellow Jackets by 30 points.
In Saturday's finals, coach Johnnie Grimes watched his team blow open a close game in the fourth quarter to add a second state championship trophy to the school mantel. Digital Harbor is the former Southern High School, which along with Dunbar, won the city's first two state championships back in 1993, and added two more in 1994 and '96 under head coach Meredith Smith.
Once again Daquan Cook and Kevin Smith led the way for the Rams, who finished the season with a 16-7 record. Smith, a 6-foot-2 senior, scored 15 points while Cook, a 6-foot-2 junior, added 15. NymeManns added 16 and Antonio Manns 14.
When 6-foot-5 senior Devin Hanner broke free for an uncontested dunk late in the first half, Milford Mill led 11-2 and Centennial was in trouble. To the Eagles' credit, coach Chad Hollwedel's team battled back and made it a game at half. But in the end, the Millers' size and quickness prevailed as coach Albert Holley joined Homer Seidel (1988, '92 and '94) in winning multiple state championships.
Hanner finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Millers finished the season with a 25-2 record. Milford's only two losses were to Patterson (79-75 on Jan. 20) and Eleanor Roosevelt (54-51 on Dec. 28), two teams that played during the Class 4A state semifinal last Thursday.
Isaiah McCray, Milford's outstanding senior point guard who will play next year at Colgate, added just six points but played an outstanding floor game as the Millers ended the season with 16-straight wins and a second-straight state title.
Mike Rudd sat courtside Saturday and warned anyone who would listen that North Point High of Charles County was more than a formidable opponent for the Patterson Clippers, the best team in Baltimore pretty much the entire season.
"They are really good," said Rudd, whose Glen Burnie team lost to the Eagles two weeks ago during the regional semifinals at North Point. "They are lightning quick and have a lot of depth. They're unbeaten for a reason."
North Point, a science, technology and industry magnate school in Waldorf, was built just six years ago but features a huge gymnasium, an indoor swimming pool and now an undefeated state championship basketball team as the Eagles handed Patterson just its second loss of the year.
All year, even against Baltimore City's premiere teams, the Clippers were able to dictate tempo and pace and wear down opponents with an unrelenting style of fast break basketball. And all year 5-foot-7 sophomore Aquille Carr was able to dominate games, though against the tall and quick Eagles, he was challenged by a fellow sophomore, 5-foot-8 Marquis Wright, who scored just nine points but prevented Carr from taking over the game.
Carr did lead all scorers with 27 points, though 6-foot-4 sophomore NaimMuhammed (20 points) and 6-foot-2 senior Gerel Simmons (19) combined for 39 points as coach Jimmy Ball's Eagles finished with a perfect 27-0 record. Myrek Lee-Fowlkes added 16 for Patterson and gave the Clippers the lead at 70-68 with two minutes to go.
But North Point responded by scoring eight of the last 10 points to end Patterson's championship run.
Still, Harry Martin's club enjoyed a phenomenal season, one of the best in school history as Carr, Lee-Fowlkes, Ricky Meekins, KarrellGoines, Steven Marshall and Donte Williams led the Clippers a 25-2 season.
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