Basketball State Championship Results and Boys Lacrosse Preseason Power Rankings

BOYS BASKETBALL🏀

On Saturday evening, J.H. Blake (3) faced off against Whitman (4) in the 4A boys basketball state championship at UMBC! Click this link or scroll down to read a full recap from the game! MCPS Boys Basketball is not done yet! Magruder (4) is set to face South River (6) in the 3A Boys state championship this Tuesday! Tickets are available on GoFan and the game is available to stream live on NFHS.

On Thursday evening, the 23-1 James H. Blake Bengals faced off against the 22-3 Walt Whitman Vikings in the 4A boys basketball Maryland high school state championship. In the semifinal round, Whitman knocked off top-seeded Charles H. Flowers 69-62, while their opponents also pulled off a second-round upset, defeating Meade 66-64.

The two teams faced off in the Montgomery County championship game in late February, their only other meeting this season. Blake, without University of Maryland commit Baba Oladotun, took down the Vikings 67-55. After debuting in the semifinal game, Oladotun recognized the presence he has in the media, but explained that he tries to ignore it.

“People talked a lot all season with me not playing and they make their own stories,” Oladotun said. “I’ve been with these guys for three years now and the chemistry has become bigger than basketball. It means more than basketball.” Coming into the match, Blake head coach Brandon Howell had an opportunity to win a state title in his first year leading the team.

His team got off to a solid start, staying within two scores of Whitman in the first quarter. The Vikings had six different athletes find the net in the first eight minutes. On the other side, Oladotun dropped seven in the quarter off the bench, followed by five from senior Christian Kennard.

The second quarter opened in the Vikings’ favor, with Rowan Conroy scoring four points inside of 30 seconds to put his team back ahead, but in the final four and a half minutes, junior guard Max Williams was the only one to score for the Columbia blue, getting just one point on a free throw. Meanwhile, the Bengals were led by Tahj Martin, who dropped seven points in the quarter’s final four minutes. Eli Konkler’s points before the end of the quarter put the Bengals ahead 28-22 going into the break.

At halftime, Oladotun and Martin both had seven points, leading the blue and black, while Conroy’s seven points made him the leader for the Vikings.

Blake’s lead continued to grow throughout the third quarter. After Whitman made one free throw in the first minute, the Bengals went on a ten-point run, led by four from Kennard, putting his team up by 15 with just over 11 minutes to play. Whitman head coach Chris Lun was forced to use two full timeouts inside of 75 seconds, trying to slow the Blake offense. To round out the third, Max Williams scored four while Will Shapiro scored five, and by the end of the third, Blake held a 12-point lead.

The fourth quarter proved to be just as good for the Bengals. They had five separate athletes contribute to the scoreboard in a quarter that saw 16 points. Meanwhile, Whitman only managed 12, securing Blake’s first state championship in school history with a 60-44 final score.

14 Blake athletes saw time on the court in the title game, with four having double-digit point totals. They were led by Tahj Martin who scored 14 with six total rebounds. The state runner-up had 13 players record at least 30 seconds, led by junior Max Williams’s double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Despite the loss, Coach Lun was extremely proud of how his team’s season went.

“We’re obviously disappointed with the result,” Coach Lun said in a post-game interview. “This is the third year we’ve gotten here, and obviously can’t get over that hump. Doesn’t take away from everything else we’ve done.” Max Williams, who will be returning to next year’s roster, also knows the role he will take on looking to get back to the title game. “I have full confidence in the group we have next year… we have to take the offseason seriously and I have to step up as a leader and we will make it back,” Williams said.

Coach Howell, after winning the 4A title, was on cloud nine. “It still feels surreal, but it’s also a blessing,” he said. “From June in the hot sun running stairs and hills outside, we did things we’ve never done before to make sure we were in shape to play.” Senior Armani Fowlkes, who played almost 30 minutes in the championship contest, also recognized the significance of this marking the first title in school history. “It’s definitely a blessing… the three years before this we fell short in the same game. In our last year together, we had to come together and make a change. That’s what we did.”

GIRLS BASKETBALL 🏀

Both Whitman (1) and Richard Montgomery (2) won their semifinal game, meaning we have MoCo v. MoCo in the 4A Girls Basketball state championship! The Vikings and Rockets are schedule to tip off on Wednesday evening at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Stay tuned to CSZ for a full game recap and to NFHS to watch the game live!

BOYS LACROSSE 🥍

Scroll down or click this link for the CSZ preseason power rankings for Montgomery County boys lacrosse!

Last spring season, five MCPS teams earned a spot in the state brackets, but just one made it past the quarterfinals, and none made it to the title game. MoCo boys lacrosse fans have to go back to the 2022 season where Churchill won the 4A championship under Jeff Fritz. This coming spring, the big theme throughout the county is how many seniors several schools are losing from last year’s rosters. Losing double-digit athletes is not uncommon, with some teams having over 15 spots taken up by athletes no longer with the team. After looking into schedules, departed seniors, and rising stars, here are the MCPS teams most likely to bring home a boys lacrosse title this spring:

1. Clarksburg (2025: 7-7)

Last year’s team finished just .500 overall. They went into the 4A West I regional bracket as the four-seed, and took down Governor Thomas Johnson High before falling 22-3 to the future 4A state champion Urbana Hawks. While the 2025 results were not those of a state championship caliber team, what separates Clarksburg this spring is they are only losing eight seniors, which does include Owen Pelaez, who now plays for Hood College. Despite this, the Coyotes are set to have tons of talent returning to the roster, highlighted by Le Moyne College commit and team captain Chase Mogot. Additionally, the team will return first-team all division defenseman Andrew Frazer and LSM Anderson Orsega, second-team all division SSDM Taven Turner, and more.

2. Rockville (2025: 10-6)

Similar to Clarksburg, the Rams are set to lose fewer seniors compared to the majority of Montgomery County, but a few mean a lot to the program. After making the 3A state bracket as the five seed, Rockville fell to the Towson Generals, who went on to be the state runner-up, 16-3. Last season’s team was led by Monmouth midfielder Mark Henry, who was a finalist for the Kelly Award, as well as Shaun McMahon who scored over 100 total points for the Rams in his career. This spring, Rockville’s roster will feature five athletes who made last year’s first all-division team, with others that made the second team. With all of this talent returning, the Rams have a great opportunity to make it back into the state playoff bracket, with a potential deep run coming

3. Damascus (2025: 11-3)

The Hornets are losing 14 athletes from last year’s regional runner-up team. Damascus entered the 2A West II division with the top seed. After a semifinals win over Wilde Lake, the green and gold’s season ended in a 12-5 loss to Glenelg. Despite the sheer quantity of seniors that departed, the Swarmin’ Hornets will keep Collin Gallagher on their roster. The senior captain had 56 individual goals plus 30 assists in his junior season, earning him a spot in the first all-county squad. Junior Mason Copeland will also come into this season after earning a nod to the MCLCA all-division second team.

4. Northwest (2025: 9-5)

The Jaguars not only finished four games above .500 overall, but also with a winning record in the 4A east. Additionally, they will only lose seven athletes from the team that upset Seneca Valley 13-8 in the regional semifinals before losing to Glenelg in the regional final. A key returnee for this year’s squad will be attackman Nate White, who had 24 goals and 14 assists last season, earning him a first-team all division spot.

5. Blake (2025: 8-6)

The Bengals held the two seed in the 3A South II region, and after taking down Reservoir in the regional semifinals, their season was ended by Sherwood in a 17-10 region championship game. This year’s team will be without eight of last year’s athletes, several of whom are playing in college at schools including the University of Mary Washington, Notre Dame of Maryland University, and Howard CC. In the coming season, Blake looks to have one of the best defenses in the county developing. Second team all-county defenseman Joe Jordan will return, while junior Yohaness Ayele reached 151 saves in just his first year manning the goal. If Jordan and Ayele continue to develop along with others on the team, the Bengals will have an incredible season, especially defensively.

6. Sherwood (2025: 14-2)

The Warriors’ state quarterfinal loss to Marriotts Ridge was heartbreaking for the program, especially because of who the team was set to lose. Of the 11 departed seniors, attackman Andrew Bergesen and midfielder Andrew Cavanaugh are both devastating losses. Both received all-county honors as well as all-Met honors from the Washington Post, with Bergesen playing at Randolph-Macon College and Cavanaugh at Towson University. Despite these major losses, senior defenders Eddie Barnes and Tommy Hanrahan both made first-team all-MCPS and will return this spring, as well as junior Chase Althouse who received all-county honors. The departed seniors will undoubtedly be a big loss for head coach Matt Schneider, but only time will tell just how big the loss is.

7. Blair (2025: 8-8)

Losing Yoan Pinsonneault to McGill University, along with 11 other seniors, will certainly hurt the Blazers. Last season, Montgomery Blair ran through the 4A South I division, defeating Northwestern High from Prince George’s County and Northwood High with a combined score of 35-3. However, after entering the 4A state bracket as the seven seed, they were quickly eliminated by MoCo foe Whitman in a 12-6 game. Compared to other teams from the county, losing twelve seniors is not the worst, which, depending on the Blazers’ matchups, could improve their record based off the inexperience of other teams, prompting a better record, higher seed, and homefield advantage throughout the postseason

8. Northwood (2025: 6-8)

The Gladiators did not have an impressive regular season overall, but they did finish with a 3-2 record within the division. Additionally, after entering the 4A South I regional bracket as the four seed, they went on to upset top-ranked Laurel in the first round 13-12 before falling to Montgomery Blair. Similar to other teams on this list with weaker overall records, Northwood lost just eight seniors from last year’s roster, and after the playoff upset last spring, could be in a position to make noise this season.

It is noteworthy that Whitman (2025: 14-2) and Bethesda-Chevy Chase (2025: 10-5) are not on this list. The Vikings made it the farthest out of any MCPS last season, reaching the 4A state semifinal where they fell to the future 4A state champion Urbana Hawks. Meanwhile, the Barons also had a very strong season, but fell in a 14-9 loss to Whitman in the regional championship. The reason that the two did not make the list is because B-CC graduated 16 seniors from last year’s squad and Whitman graduated 17. These totals lead to significant uncertainty about what these programs will look like this season, and for that reason, the two were both omitted.

SOFTBALL 🥎

Maryland high school spring sports are set to kick off their regular season this Friday, and the opening day softball slate is nothing to sneeze at! Take a look at the image below for the full schedule of games for this Friday. Stay tuned for next week for our first standings update

POSTS FROM THE COMMUNITY

SPRING SPORTS ⚾🥍

Stay tuned to CSZ for preseason power rankings for spring sports including Baseball and Girls Lacrosse next week!

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