To new heights
Northeast earns first trip to state finals with win over Long Reach
WALDORF — Four years and a day after the coronavirus pandemic blocked Northeast boys basketball from playing in a Class 3A state semifinal the latest class of Eagles embraced each other on the floor of North Point High, screaming and spraying water bottles into their packed student section.
Senior Cam Albury gripped his father tightly. He still remembers that day in March 2020, when his mother was supposed to pick him up to watch his older brother, Jaylin, play at the University of Maryland.
“I told him I would get there for him,” Albury said.
Northeast performed magic in the final quarter Wednesday night, deploying a 12-0 run to rally past Long Reach, 56-49, and earn a spot in the 3A state final.
The Eagles (21-5) will play in their first championship game in program history against St. Charles on Friday at 7 p.m.
“I just feel like these guys were destined for this since I met them,” coach Roger O’Dea said.
Senior Jadyss Fifer grew close as brothers with Albury as a middle schooler in the bleachers for that past Northeast team. Since then, he added Shamar Johnson as a sibling, then Chase Buttry, Ryan Stacy, and so on.
“I’m doing this for them. All five of us can hoop. No matter what anybody tells us, no matter what adversity we face, we’re built for this.”
Eleven juniors missed that state semifinal game in 2020, and then lost their senior year when the pandemic stretched into 2021. O’Dea received texts Tuesday night marked with broken heart emojis and a message: “Do it for us.”
The lead changed six times in the second quarter. But from just before halftime, when Long Reach lead 27-24, to the end of the third, Northeast lagged behind. The Lightning worked like mirrors to the Eagles — picks in the paint, vicious rebounds and fast breaks for points.
Midway through the third quarter, Long Reach led 36-28. O’Dea glanced to the back of his phone four times, where his father’s memorial card faced him. He asked Patrick O’Dea for a favor: “Help us weather the storm.”
And Northeast flickered to life in the third, undergoing a 7-1 run that had them perched for a rally in the final quarter.
Albury christened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer like a bottle on the side of a ship — good fortune for the eight minute journey ahead. Fifer followed up. When his first layup attempt didn’t land, he bobbed like a pogo-stick, tipped it in on his third try.
“I had a bunch of scratches all over my arms [from Long Reach],” Fifer said. “But I was going to go to College Park. I just started battling, tipping, doing whatever I could.”
Northeast’s energy surged, but Long Reach surged back. Senior Markus Alston rattled off sevenstraight, flipped control back for a 44-40 edge. The Lightning sped towards another run — but crashed right into Johnson.
The McDonald’s All-American nominee knew he squandered the third quarter. His adrenaline gnawed him, and he didn’t body for rebounds or battle for loose balls as deftly as he typically did.
“I was doing too much. Cam told me to relax, so when fourth quarter started, I just kinda took over,” Johnson said.
Long Reach’s RJ Barnes stretched his arms for a dunk. Johnson replied with a 3-point bomb. O’Dea gathered his Eagles in.
“There’s four minutes left to the mission we’re going to get to,” he impressed into them. “Don’t let anyone take what’s ours.”
O’Dea looked in their eyes, he said, and knew. He’d never seen such blazing concentration on Johnson’s face before. So, he kept counting: “two minutes until the championship. One minute, 26 seconds to where we’re going to get.”
They call Buttry “Elmer’s Glue,” the Eagles said, for exactly the kind of craftmanship he pulled off then. A pick and roll with a putback gave Northeast a 47-46 lead, the final lead change of the night.
“Off the court and on the court, he brings me, Ryan, Cam and Shamar together,” Fifer said. “He’s that leader we all need. The four of us tend to get in our heads. Chase is that one, no matter what, who keeps us.”
Albury cruised back down the court. He looked at Fifer.
“The same thing happened [with Patterson] in the last game,” Albury said. “I got confidence in him.”
Albury kicked to Fifer in the corner, toes behind the arc.
“As soon as he let it out,” Albury said, “I knew it was going in.”
Up 50-46, there was still one asset needed to win: free throws. A few rounds back, Northeast shot 37% from the foul line.
In practice, the Northeast staff puts 80 minutes on the clock and orders free throws. The coaches stand directly in front of the shooters, wave their arms, blast distracting music. Albury specifically was tasked with a regimen of 100 free throws per day.
And in the final minute, Albury hit both his free throws. Johnson hit both of his. So did Fifer. And the buzzer sounded at last.
“Lock in. Play smart. Value possession. Hit our free throws. We’ve been here. We’re battletested,” O’Dea said. “This is what we were built for.”