Carver Vo-Tech banks on special five to beat Middletown

On Tuesday night, Carver Vo-Tech boys basketball was more like the Carver five.

It was a special night and a special five: Dorrian Sands, Kalial Colclough, Desmond Handon and Anthony and David Ross.

After a one-game suspension was issued for all players who left the bench during an altercation in Friday’s Class 2A state quarterfinal at Queen Anne’s, the heavily shorthanded Bears, who called up four junior varsity players to serve as their bench, gutted out an impressive 64-56 win over Middletown in the semifinals at Thomas Johnson High in Frederick.

The reward is the program’s first state title game appearance.

After the Bears’ historic win Tuesday, Carver athletic director Dante Jones texted that, following Friday’s incident, the program decided to focus on the task at hand and not do any interviews until after the job is done.

The Bears (20-5) will get their chance when they meet Largo — a 61-46 winner against C. Milton Wright — at the University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center on Friday or Saturday. Game times will be determined by tournament administrators after all the boys and girls semifinal results are complete.

On Tuesday, it was a collective effort and dominant final four minutes that keyed the victory against the Knights from Frederick County. Colclough and David Ross shared teamhigh honors with 15 points each, Sands added 14, Handon had 13 and Anthony Ross chipped in six.

Only twice did the Bears use a substitution — briefly in the first quarter when David Ross was injured, and for the final 1:12 of the game when Anthony Ross fouled out. Charles Modge came in to close out the game and hit the Bears’ last free throw.

Leading 29-21 at the half, Carver extended the lead to 42-27 when Anthony Ross blocked a shot and went the length of the floor to finish a layup with 3:15 left in the third quarter. But the Knights (25-3) closed out the quarter with the last 13 points to cut the lead to two and then built their own 45-42 advantage when Gabe Cottrell converted a three-point play with 7:15 left.

After assistant coach Darius Brown, who filled in for suspended coach Alvin Parker, called timeout, Carver regrouped. The lead would change five times before the Bears anchored down to secure the win.

Carver went into Tuesday’s game facing an uphill climb after Friday’s quarterfinal win at Queen Anne’s, which was halted early in the third quarter because of an altercation. Per MPSSAA rules, any players who left the bench during the scuffle were suspended for the semifinal game.

With Parker and the rest of the team returning Saturday, the Bears are determined to close out an already special season on the highest of notes.

Other boys basketball scores: Edmondson 75, Smithsburg 59:

Seemingly every time Edmondson had an anxious moment in Tuesday’s Class 1A state semifinal against Smithsburg, the Red Storm’s defense provided a calming sense of relief.

Edmondson trailed by 10 in the last minute of the first quarter when Josiah Brown turned a steal into a dunk and Chase Foster blocked a shot and went the length of the floor for two more points. In the second quarter, a steal and layup from Darnell Dantzler Jr. gave the Red Storm their first lead.

And then in the third quarter, when Edmondson’s 10-point halftime lead was quickly cut to a point, Dantzler had another steal before finding Robert Price. Then Brown converted another one of his steals into a dunk.

By the midway point of the fourth quarter, the defending state champions had seized control, pulling way for a 75-59 win over the Leopards from Washington County.

Edmondson (25-2) moves to the state title game at the University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center against Cambridge-South Dorchester on Friday or Saturday.

On Tuesday, Dantzler finished with a game-high 24 points, scoring 11 in the final two minutes of the second quarter to help the Red Storm take a 41-31 halftime lead. Foster finished with 16, Brown had 12 and Kyrie Sherrod added 12.

Price, a sophomore, came off the bench to score eight points and, more importantly, contain Smithsburg’s leading scorer, Ja’Von Tyler.

“We’ve been in this situation before, so we knew what it was going to take,” Dantzler said. “We did our homework, we knew coming in they were solid and we would have to give everything we got.”

The Leopards (22-5) put up 96 points in their state quarterfinal win over Loch Raven and their star guard Tyler got going midway through the first quarter Tuesday with four straight 3-pointers that helped build a 17-7 advantage.

After another 3 from Tyler early in the second quarter, Price was assigned the chore of guarding him. Tyler went on to score four more points. Price and defense go hand in hand.

“That’s my favorite part of the game,” he said. “A lot of people don’t like playing defense, but I look forward to playing defense every night I want to go out and guard their best man.”

After securing a 56-48 win over Baltimore City rival Lake Clifton in last year’s state title game, the young, talented Edmondson roster saw the potential for more success this year. So far, the Red Storm have lived up to that promise, highlighted by their 50-45 win over City for the Baltimore City title.

And now, they are one win away from a successful defense of their state title.

“It’s going to take everything we have,” Dantzler said.

— Glenn Graham Largo 61, C. Milton Wright 46:

This is the end of the line for C. Milton Wright. But what a line it’s been.

The No. 3-seeded Mustangs fell in a battle to No. 2 Largo, a state finalist last season, 61-46 in a Class 2A state semifinal in Waldorf. A game that, by Largo’s measure, had no business being competitive. “It don’t make no sense,” one Lions fan groaned as the teams dispersed into halftime separated by two possessions.

While C. Milton Wright (20-5) struggled mightily in the opening minutes of its previous two playoff games, it opened with far more gusto Tuesday night, trading baskets in the opening minutes –– sparked by a twirl-around 3-pointer from point guard Cayne Woodland. As for the reasoning behind the improved early play, Mustangs coach Mario Scott could only laud the underdog fight in his team on the road, playing one hour and 45 minutes away from home at North Point High School in a game delayed 45 minutes because of traffic.

Simply, the Mustangs played with chutzpah.

Junior Dylan Sander drew two charges from the opposing 6-foot-8 big man, Cam Ward, who holds over 25 Division I scholarship offers. Sander heard compliments on his 11-point performance his whole way to the bus –– including from his positional counterpart. Woodland constantly snaked through Largo blitzes and double teams to generate open looks for himself and others, scoring 11 points and leaving some unaware spectators curious of his next steps.

Defensively, the Mustangs fitfully forced a bigger, more-skilled Lions (24-2) team into uncomfortable positions with enough grit to keep it close.

“The message coming in was we’ve been here before,” said Mustangs coach Mario Scott, who has spent all year reminding his players that their tougher schedule was to prepare them for this stage. “I felt like we were prepared for them. We just know we needed to execute a little bit better to get this win.”

A 3-pointer by Woodland shortly out of halftime tied the score at 29. Another 3 by Jordan Ross put the Mustangs on top, 32-31, shortly after.

Ultimately, it was an 8-0 run that gave Largo a 39-32 lead, forcing Scott to call for a timeout. C. Milton Wright got back within single digits with less than four minutes left, but Largo’s size and skill proved too much.

“There are no moral victories,” Scott said. “We wanted to win a state championship. We didn’t come here just because we wanted to play extra games. It’s gonna sting, for sure. But in the big picture, I couldn’t be prouder. I’ll love these guys forever.”

— Sam Cohn

Girls basketball

Poly coach Kendall Peace-Able’s message to her players never wavered: “We need to have fun.”

In the high-intensity environment of a grand postseason stage like Tuesday’s Class 3A state semifinal, joy can give way to

Poly 49, River Hill 29:

anxiety. However, early in the fourth quarter against No. 5 seed River Hill, the top-seeded Engineers once again found that joy.

It sparked a dominant fourth quarter in which Poly broke the game open, holding the Hawks scoreless for the game’s final six minutes.

The Engineers secured a third straight trip to the 3A state championship with a 49-29 win in Upper Marlboro and will face No. 6 seed Oakdale either Friday or Saturday at the University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center.

“Coach just told us to breathe and have fun,” Poly senior guard Mickelle Lowry said. “I think we went out there and we had fun.”

The Engineers quickly took control in the fourth, leaning on their defense. With persistent pressure from their young guards Chloe Mills and London Elliott, Poly quickly pushed the lead back to double digits.

Elliott’s confidence soared after each basket. She scored six of her gamehigh 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Poly’s depth was crucial as the game wore on. The Engineers rotated nine or 10 players while River Hill coach Teresa Waters used multiple timeouts, looking to keep her starters fresh. Fatigue began to set in for River Hill as the deficit grew larger.

For Poly and PeaceAble, the state championship stage is nothing new, appearing for a seventh time. However, it will be uniquely special for Engineers new and old as they’ll look to cap off the season with the program’s second state title.

“I’m just excited for them,” Peace-Able said. “To have the opportunity is golden. Everybody doesn’t get here.”