Mustangs beat Patriots, capture 3rd straight title
Young players on roster step up big in regional final against rivals
Meade boys basketball’s third region title in a row had to begin with junior varsity.
Most of the boys grinning with three fingers in the air, passing a plaque won by fending off Old Mill, 56-49, hardly touched the ball the previous two finals. Even those who started Tuesday, like junior Lucaya Baldridge and Jaisean Kenner, filed in behind five seniors, didn’t take on the heaviest burdens like they do now. The Mustangs graduated another four seniors, 90% of their offense.
And yet Meade — which picked four juniors and a freshman to lead them this time — returned to the Class 4A state tournament as naturally as the seasons change. As the fifth seed, it’ll face either Frederick on the road Friday.
“It’s a credit to our JV program, and what Dave [McNeill] and Tommie [Duvall] have done developing these kids, so when they come up as varsity players, we’re not missing a beat,” Meade coach Mike Glick said. “To accomplish what we did with such a young team, to me, is just really rewarding.”
Glick, a student of the late Morgan Wootten, always preaches to his players to “win the right game.” When Old Mill dropped the Mustangs on their own senior night two weeks ago, 61-55, they reminded themselves which mattered — and which didn’t. They lost the last two games. And, of course, they won the next two.
The Mustangs followed the same pattern last year. It journeyed to the state championship game.
“We came to kill,” Baldridge said. “We came 100%. We came to put the work in because they got us last time, and we didn’t want to go out as the team that could have been. We’re going to continue our story — and hopefully that gets us to states.”
Baldridge understood those two previous region titles more than almost anyone in Meade colors Tuesday. His length and skill steered the defense both early, when the Mustangs grappled for footing, and later, when it worked in passionate unison.
He played with his hands up as
tions to find ways to improve its training resources and processes.
McGrath is Harris’s second major hire in this realm.
Eugene Shen, the Commanders’ senior vice president of strategy, joined the team in October to oversee all analytics and software development for football operations.
The Commanders also hired football data analyst Preston Biro in June and recently added assistant strength and conditioning coach Cesar Castillo. They’re likely to continue to bolster their athletic training staff and analytics groups in the coming months.
Commanders sign Ertz:
Five days after beginning to reshape their roster with some veteran cuts, the Commanders began to add outside talent. On Wednesday, the team agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $5 million for veteran tight end Zach Ertz, two people with knowledge of the deal said.
Ertz, 33, is familiar with Washington’s new system and its play-caller. He spent most of the past three seasons in Arizona, where Kliff Kingsbury, now the Commanders’ offensive coordinator, was his head coach in 2021 and 2022.
Ertz began his career in Philadelphia as a secondround pick in 2013, and he earned three Pro Bowl nods during his nine years with the Eagles. He was most recently with the Detroit Lions, but for all of six days; he signed to the team’s practice squad during the postseason, and his contract expired after the Lions’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game.
Although Ertz will add experience to Washington’s tight end corps, he has suffered a string of injuries since 2020 and has played only one full season in the past five years.