By Andy States
SMAC Content Manager
And so Friday it begins again.
Over the past three years two Southern Maryland Athletic Conference programs have come tantalizingly close to bringing home a state basketball championship — first Lackey’s boys in 2006 and Thomas Stone’s boys squad a year ago. This Friday, the quest begins anew with the year’s state tournament kicking off with first round games. Lackey and Stone would again appear to lead the SMAC contingent on the boys side, while North Point is at the front on the girls side, along with perennial contenders Westlake and Great Mills.
Coming off a SMAC-championship campaign, Lackey’s boys now get back to the business of getting back to the Comcast Center. A year ago a 3A title was within sight for the Chargers, but the team was knocked off in heartbreaking fashion by Largo — which went on to win the state championship with relative ease — in the 3A South final.
But the road will not be easy in a 3A South region that is as strong top to bottom as it has been in recent years. The region’s No. 2-seeded Chargers could receive a stiff test in their first action in the quarterfinals on Monday against the winner of the first-round winner of Potomac-Westlake — Potomac dealt top-seeded Friendly a 79-76 defeat on Feb. 17. And a possible matchup against Chopticon would await in the semifinals — Lackey won the regular-season matchup by just a point, 57-56.
The top seeds do not have an easy path, either. Friendly gets the winner of defending state-champ Largo and Northern in the quarters. Beyond that the winner of Huntingtown and Crossland, which played Friendly to a six-point game in the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 12, would be waiting in the semis.
In the 4A East, defending region champ Stone slipped to the No. 4 seed and resides in the same half of the bracket with the top-seeded Old Mills Patriots. Leonardtown, which upset Stone in the regular season’s final week, drew the No. 9 seed and will open at eighth-seeded Chesapeake. Leonardtown defeated Chesapeake 70-50 last week. Another win would set the Raiders up with a shot at Old Mill next Monday.
North Point, the No. 3 seed in the 2A South, opens with conference-rival and No. 14 seed Patuxent. The Eagles defeated the Panthers twice this season, the first a 100-82 game on Jan. 7, the second an 88-71 affair on Jan. 23. The road to the regional final would be a long one for the winner, as the Fairmont Heights-Douglass winner would await in the quarters, with second-seeded Gwynn Park likely in the way in the semifinal round.
On the girls side, SMAC-champion North Point earned the 2A South’s No. 2 seed. If all held to form the Eagles would play third-seeded Calvert — a SMAC rival that had the Eagles on the ropes twice during the regular season before North Point came back to earn victory. Howard County powers River Hill and Mount Hebron, the respective No. 1 and No. 4 seeds, reside on the other side of the bracket, meaning they could only meet North Point in the regional final.
Perennial SMAC contenders Great Mills and Westlake are together in the bottom half of the 3A South draw with the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively. The potential semfinal winner would likely have to travel to face top-seeded Largo, which won 2007 3A title and was this year’s Prince George’s 3A/2A/1A champ, in the region’s final.
Leonardtown’s girls earned the No. 3 seed in the 4A East, and face Thomas Stone, the randomly-drawn sixth seed, in the quarterfinals. The winner would advance to a potential semifinal showdown with second-seeded Old Mill. Top-seeded Arundel, last year’s 4A runner-up and again a state favorite, will likely be waiting in the regional final for whichever team makes it through.
Friday
Boys
4A East
Leonardtown at Chesapeake, 7
3A South
Largo at Northern, 7
La Plata at Great Mills, 7
Potomac at Westlake, 7
2A South
Calvert at Mount Hebron, 6
McDonough at River Hill, 7
Patuxent at North Point, 7
Girls
3A South
Friendly at La Plata, 7
Huntingtown at Lackey, 7
2A South
Douglass at Calvert, 6
Saturday
3A South
Chopticon at Potomac, noon
2A South
Patuxent at Gwynn Park, 2
Central at McDonough, 6
4A boys brackets
3A boys brackets
2A boys brackets
4A girls brackets
3A girls brackets
2A girls brackets
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