Poly holds on for City D-I crown
Engineers win second championship in past three years; NAF wins in D-II
In the first quarter of Saturday’s Baltimore City Division I boys basketball championship, Poly used its edge in size against Dunbar to build a lead.
When the No. 4 Engineers opened the second quarter with a couple of quick 3-pointers, it was apparent they had a little too much of everything for the No. 5 Poets to keep up.
Leading from the start and holding off a late Dunbar charge, Poly got 15 points from sophomore Justin Lewis on its way to a 54-37 win in front of an estimated 2,500 fans at Morgan State’s Hill Field House.
It’s the second Baltimore City championship in three years for the Engineers, who won the program’s first when they beat Dunbar, 64-43, in 2016. Poly heads into the region playoffs with a 17-6 record, while the Poets, who got a game-high 19 points from senior Da’Shawn Phillip, fell to 20-3.
Playing a tough out-of-league schedule to prime for the postseason, this was the kind of effort the Engineers were looking for.
“It feels good,” Poly senior captain Demetrius Mims said. “We took a couple losses early, but the coaches preached by the end of the season that we’d be playing our best basketball, so that’s what we’re doing right now – playing together as a team.”
Leading by as many as 15 points early in the third quarter, the Engineers saw their lead dwindle to 41-36 before taking control of the game — a big follow basket from Kim Brown followed by a 3-pointer from Cleveland Horton were critical to holding off the Poets.
The display of team depth is what Poly coach Sam Brand was most pleased to see, noting the big basket from Brown, Horton’s big 3 and a big jumper from senior Seth Jones.
“We know that we have guys who are high-level players at the next level, but we believe every guy out there has something to contribute to every game,” Brand said. “I think the big difference in the game was that everybody did contribute.”
Dunbar coach Cyrus Jones Sr. said early mistakes dug his team a hole that proved too deep.
“I think in the fourth quarter, we cut the lead to five with the basketball and just couldn’t put the ball in the hole for the big shot when we needed it,” he said.
On Feb. 9, Poly claimed a 65-61 win at Dunbar, clinching a berth in Saturday’s title game while handing the Poets their first loss after an 18-0 start.
Lewis led the Engineers that game, scoring 25 of his career-high 36 points in the second half. P — Mims 4, Ali 12, Jones 5, Horton 12, Lewis 15, Brown 4, Wallace 2. Totals: 20 10-17 54 D — Phillip 19, West Jr. 8, McCormick 8, Lewis 2. Totals: 16 3-8 37. Half: P, 31-16 NAF wins Division II title: The National Academy Foundation boys basketball team found answers at both ends during a pivotal fourth-quarter stretch against Digital Harbor, going on an 11-0 run to get the needed separation for a 64-60 win in the Baltimore City Division II championship Saturday at Morgan State.
It’s the second straight championship for the Eagles, who will take a 13-5 record into the region playoffs.
Junior center Christopher Barnett scored 19 points and senior point guard Montaz Wright added 16, including the first five in the key spurt.
“Coach Wayne [Washington] told us to wake up,” Wright said. “Once the defense tightened up, we got on the good run and got the championship. It feels wonderful.”