Engineers on track for No. 4
Three-time defending state champs keep rolling
Poly coach Sam Brand could’ve played it easy, but instead he loaded his early schedule with a brutal gauntlet of some of the nation’s toughest programs.
In Saturday’s Class 3A state quarterfinals, it quickly became apparent just how handsomely that strategy is paying off for the third-ranked team.
Facing an outmanned and outgunned Frederick team, host Poly started quickly and never stopped, getting a game-high 27 points from All-Metro forward Justin Lewis and enough highlight-reel plays to fill a prime-time special in an 80-43 win.
“Experience helps a lot,” Brand said. “That’s been our mindset to play the top teams because we believe at this time of year, when you’ve pushed yourself all year, you’re battle-tested. You’re ready for being up, for being down. It’s just part of the mindset of the program to schedule the best teams we can and be the best we can be in March.”
The Engineers (24-2), the tournament’s No. 2 seed, now advance to Thursday’s semifinals at the University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center, where they will face the winner of Saturday’s game between Northeast and Wilde Lake. The winner will earn a spot in Saturday’s state final.
Poly (24-2), ranked No. 22 in the nation by ESPN, is in search of its fourth straight state title after suffering its lone losses this season to St. John’s (D.C.) and No. 17 St. Frances.
“We can’t get complacent,” Lewis said. “We’re just going to keep attacking every day because we don’t want to risk history. We want to keep that history going … that winning tradition.”
That was apparent from the outset Saturday as the Engineers came out in a full-court press and never relented, time and again turning their 22 forced turnovers into easy points at the other end, including a handful of awe-inspiring ally-oops. Led by Lewis and secondteam All-Metro guard Brandon Murray (16 points), Poly shot 58% in the first half, building its lead to 38-11 when Lewis’ slam capped a 15-0 run.
Frederick (15-10), which had advanced by claiming its first region title in 13 years, never scored back-to-back baskets until the final minute of the first half.
Lewis said the hot start was critical, though for reasons that may not have seemed apparent in the moment.
“It was very important [because] it was our seniors’ last game, and we wanted to get our other seniors in the game who don’t play as much,” Lewis said. “We wanted them to have fun in their last home game.”
Now the challenge becomes finishing the job at Xfinity Center, where the Engineers have celebrated a state title each of the past three seasons.
On a day when Brand was able to remove his senior starters with 7 minutes, 37 seconds to play, he’s now hoping for a little more time together.
“We’re just cherishing every day together — we hope we have seven left,” Brand said. “We’re going to go really hard in practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, prep for whoever we have Thursday, and hopefully we can make it to Saturday… This is our life.
“This is our family, so when we come together in a game to represent Poly and all of those things down at Xfinity Center, we’re not going to bring a half effort.”