South

2025/2026 MCPS Division Champions

game is 6:00 at Blair

Gaithersburg 60 Northwood 41

The entire Richard Montgomery team played amazing, in their win vs. Rockville. Check out some pictures below from the game: www.instagram.com/p/DUx9pWKjrLZ/

Score was the other way around

Entering February, Montgomery County teams have had no action for over a week, with most team’s last games dating back to January 21. With three weeks to go in the regular season, the county will enter February with twelve teams holding a winning record, including an undefeated Whitman squad and two others with just one loss, Magruder and Poolesville. In the season’s final three weeks before the postseason kicks off, here are the top storylines to watch for in Montgomery County Varsity Boys Basketball: 1. Four of Whitman’s (11-0) final games will come against teams with +.500 records, as the Vikings are set to play Sherwood and Richard Montgomery at home while they will travel to Walter Johnson and Damascus. Thus far, Whitman has only played three throughout the entire season, two of which were in the team’s first two games of the year. They took down now 8-4 Blair by 15, followed by an eight point win over 9-3 Kennedy, but competition has since slowed down. Most recent games included 27-point wins over both 0-13 Gaithersburg and 1-11 Clarksburg. Junior Max Williams and senior Bobby Zedak are both averaging 16.5 PPG for the Vikings, and will need to keep performing at a high level if the Vikings want to remain undefeated as they look to avenge two consecutive state championship losses. 2. The game of the season for Montgomery County teams is yet to take place, and it won’t come until the final day of the regular season. Magruder (12-1) is set to travel to Poolesville (11-1) in the last game of the season on February 20. Prior to that, both teams have high-stakes match ups, as the Colonels are also set to rematch the 8-4 Paint Branch Panthers at home on Friday. The Panthers handed Magruder their lone loss, coming in a 62-48 road defeat. So far, Magruder has six wins over +.500 teams. Poolesville (11-1) is riding a 10 game win streak but they have not played a +.500 team in over three weeks. Their most recent game against a team with a winning record was against the 8-4 Seneca Valley Raiders, where they won by 20 points. The Falcons are set to face Northwest (7-7) and Clarksburg (1-11) before a rematch on the road against the Raiders, which is set to tip off on Friday at 7:15. 3. Five teams, Seneca Valley, Damascus, Walter Johnson, Paint Branch, and Blair all currently sit at 8-4. Out of these five, Paint Branch has the hardest schedule, with five games scheduled against winning teams, including 9-3 Kennedy, 11-3 Blake, and 12-1 Magruder while Blake has the easiest with just three, those being 9-3 Richard Montgomery, 9-3 Kennedy, and 7-5 Sherwood. Damascus comes in second, followed by Seneca Valley and Walter Johnson. 4. The Gaithersburg Trojans, who are yet to capture their first win this season have several chances before the end of the season to avoid a totally winless campaign. After tomorrow’s game against 12-1 Magruder, they’re set to travel to Paint Branch to take on the 3-8 Panther on Wednesday. Following that game, they’ll host the 3-10 Springbrook Blue Devils on Friday, and then the 2-11 Northwood squad to wrap up their season on February 20. Both of Northwood’s wins came against 1-11 teams, as they took down Rockville at home by five points in Mid-December, and Einstein on the road by seven on January 14. 5. Four teams in the East are separated by just one game in league play, with Blake and Magruder at 4-1 while Sherwood and Paint Branch sit at 3-2. Each team will face two of the others by the end of this week with the final of the three before the season’s end. Apart from divisional games, Blake will have a three-game stretch where they play 0-13 Gaithersburg, 6-6 Bethesda-Chevy Chase, and 4-8 Wootton. Sherwood will play 3-10 Springbrook in their first game back from the week off, but they will finish their season against 11-0 Whitman, 8-4 Blair, and 8-4 Walter Johnson. Finally, Paint Branch will host 8-4 Damascus and will travel to face 9-4 Kennedy in two of their final three games of the regular season. A big shakeup could be coming in the East division before playoffs begin!

Senior Guard CHASE MITCHELL opened the scoring tonight at Northwood with a trey to go up 3-0 within the first minute. From then on, it was all downhill plays for the rest of the night for Patriots. Mitchell would hit 3 more treys as to help Wootton go up 21-10 at the end of the first quarter. In the second stanza, Mitchell would continue his onslaught, as he motored down the lane for a series of baskets. Wootton was also pulling down defensive rebounds as the Gladiators found it difficult to score against the Wootton 2-3 defense. At the half, the Patriots led 37-23. In the second half, Mitchell was hitting shots everywhere. He also got his teammates involved with the scoring by dishing out 7 assists with 4 steals. Mitchell would go on to lead all scorers with 30 points. One of the best highlights of the game was Mitchell's pass down to Darnell Egoto for a slam dunk with 3:58 to go in the game. Egoto finished with 9 points, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 4 rebounds. Wootton compiled 35 defensive rebounds on the night, 8 from Mitchell, 8 from Cameron Pietak and 6 from Samir Ako-Adjea. The "PatRIOT award" for the night, goes to Chase Winokur as he jostled for the basketball offensively and defensively. He finished with 8 points, 4 assists, one steal and 4 rebounds. Jeremiah Sterling led Northwood with 9 points. Wootton hopes to continue build on their 4-game win streak as they host Walter Johnson January 30. Northwood plays home against Rockville. Tip-off times for both games is 7:15 pm

Photo courtesy of Richard Montgomery boys' basketball Instagram. Northwood boys’ basketball was just mere inches away from securing its second win of the season — its only victory thus far was a five-point win over Rockville. Since then, including Friday night’s last-second defeat at the hands of Richard Montgomery, 64-63, the Gladiators have lost five straight contests. Richard Montgomery entered the game with a 7-1 record, and had pulled off a few close-margin victories prior to Friday’s game. But the Rockets’ clash with the Gladiators proved to be more of the same, even early. Six minutes into the game, the two sides were nearly identical — both had scored 12 points and committed three fouls. But after that point, Northwood embarked on a 14-0 run that extended all the way into the second quarter. In fact, the Rockets’ first points in the second frame weren’t scored until nearly three minutes in. During the scoring drought, Richard Montgomery had plenty of chances, but couldn’t capitalize on some simple finishes and drives to the cup. Conversely, Northwood’s offense didn’t exactly come easily. The Gladiators had a tough time penetrating the paint area, often settling for outside jumpers or getting fouled on shots inside the line. Slowly working to forge themselves back into the game, the Rockets employed a full-court press that had largely positive results. Northwood threw the ball away from their own side of the court multiple times, leading to odd-man breaks and free throw opportunities for Richard Montgomery. By halftime, the Rockets had whittled their deficit all the way down to just one point, trailing 30-29. Those trips to the free throw line proved instrumental in the comeback. Richard Montgomery opened the third quarter with a 3-point make, its first lead since late in the first quarter. But the frame was a back-and-forth affair overall, with multiple lead swings that ultimately led to the Rockets leading at the end of the period. In fact, it wasn’t until the end of the third quarter that Richard Montgomery hit its offensive stride — over a span of three minutes, it hit three shots from beyond the arc to propel them to a 54-50 lead with just over five minutes left to play. An immediate response from Northwood — a corner three — put the Gladiators down just one. After multiple missed shots and two missed free throws, Northwood seized a one-point lead with three minutes left after a sidestep three. A turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass led to a quick layup, boosting that lead to three points. But the visiting Rockets wouldn’t go away. A forced turnover became a Richard Montgomery and-one opportunity, and this was followed up by a Tavares Vaughan-Cooper scoop layup to reclaim the lead. Vaughan-Cooper headmanned the offense for the Rockets for the remainder of the game, taking dribble-handoffs to the hoop and getting to the free throw line. The contest’s final result ultimately came down to the last possession — Northwood had hit a massive three to go up one with 24 seconds left, only for Vaughan-Cooper to sink two free throws on the other end. Down one, Northwood had 1.7 seconds left to get a shot off and win the game. But the ensuing deep three was off the mark, handing Richard Montgomery its eighth win of the year.

In this rivalry matchup, the Einstein boys basketball team loses to Blair, 43-66, falling down to 1-6 on the season.

Game photos (free for download) can be seen here: shaffer-hotshots.smugmug.com/2025-2026-Winter-Sports/2026…

Photo courtesy of Tyler - dig4tl (Instagram). Two teams in Montgomery County were looking to find their footing in the conference Friday night. Rockville headed in with a 0-2 record, losing by a combined 42 points over its first two contests. But Wootton matched that 0-2 record, losing its first two games by 19 combined points. It took the entire 32 minutes Friday night before a winner was decided, but the Rams ultimately took down the Patriots in the thrilling waning seconds of the match, 60-59. Chase Winokur was Wootton’s spark to begin things. He nailed two triples from beyond the arc in the opening four minutes — that provided the Patriots their first two buckets from the field. Meanwhile, Rockville used its fast break opportunities in transition to account for much of its early scoring. Rips and steals on defense led to lopsided, tough-to-defend breaks down the other end of the court. The Rams’ speed and physicality allowed them to assert themselves in the driving lane, as well as beat multiple Patriots’ defenders off the dribble. Yet, the score remained a 1-point game with three minutes to play until the half. Chase Winokur’s prolific shooting on the wing continued to be paramount against the Rams’ halfcourt zone defense and press. He consistently had time to release the ball with ease before a rotation defender had time to adjust and contest the shot. But after halftime, Rockville began to separate itself from the seemingly outmatched Wootton. With the score 32-25, one of Rockville’s guards darted into the lane before euro-stepping and sending a leaping dish out to the corner. The ensuing 3-pointer, though contested, found the laces of the basket and opened up a 10-point lead. But that larger lead would only hold for so long. A 3-point barrage erupted from Wootton, with both Chase and Brady Winokur lacing threes, and a nice dish from Brady Winokur on the wing leading to a wide open corner three. Things began to heat up even more just three minutes into the final frame. With the score 50-45 in favor of Rockville, Chase Mitchell pulled up for a shot beyond the arc to lessen the Rams’ lead to just two. But Mitchell didn’t stop there. In the same fashion as he had before — hesitating after a dribble before taking a half-step back for a three — he drilled a shot to make it a 54-53 game. But Rockville wouldn’t give in to the sudden onslaught from Wootton. After the Patriots took a 1-point lead with two minutes left, the Rams marched right back down the court. A step-back 3-pointer hit its mark, and Rockville took the lead. Despite a game-tying layup in transition with a minute to go, Rockville got the last laugh. After trading free throw shots, Rockville trailed 59-58 with seven seconds to play. Going the full length of the court, the first layup missed. But the clean-up duty was there — a stellar boxout and putback sealed the game for the Rams with a second to play, and gave them their first win of the 2025-26 campaign.

The Rockets hosted the Wildcats for their home opener on Friday night! Both teams were amazing!! Check out more pictures here: www.instagram.com/p/DSQTP8bjhPq/?img_index=1

The Boys’s Varsity Basketball game followed with a gym full of energy as the game started off with back and forth buckets. But as the game went on, the Wildcat’s offense took over. In the end, the varsity team suffered a tough loss (34-85), resulting to them falling to 0-2 to start the season. Photos Creds: @png.joff on Instagram

🏀🏀 CAPITAL HOOPS SUMMER LEAGUE 1 @ AACS |
🆚 RM vs AACS Summer league players from the Richard Montgomery Rockets face off against the AACS Eagles. Keep shining and grinding while learning from your coaches. SPEACIAL THANKS to AACS and CAPITAL HOOPS for allowing us to film. ✅Final Score: EAGLES - 47 ROCKETS - 71 👀 MFV U📺🔗⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw4sTOTCZPE

Springbrook boys varsity have become regional champions with a final score of 65 to 56

www.youtube.com/watch?v=orKrFfbWkcw

The resulting score 72 to 36

What do you think has gone well during the season so far? I think them enjoying playing as a team and really giving it their all and allowing brothers to play together.-Coach Tesfamikael

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J-5yt2jyHA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjOt9Czi_vc