West

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcbsdxMEmso 🏀🏀 ROAD TO UMBC MPSSAA BOYS 4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP 🆚 (3) Blake vs (4) Whitman 📍 UMBC, Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena 📝 Kmillz (MFVAllSportsNetwork) This year’s 4A Basketball Championship was dominated by two teams out of Montgomery County. One of these programs, either the Blake Bengals of Silver Spring or the Walt Whitman Vikings of Bethesda, would be crowned the 4A kings. The atmosphere was definitely set for a beautiful matchup.

 1ST HALF - This half was about establishing dominance. I believe a lot of people were anticipating Blake’s Maryland commit, #10 BaBa Oladotun, to be the dominating force of the game, but in fact their Senior guard, #4 Tahj Martin, was making the noise. Walt Whitman did have a 7 point lead as the Bengals fought back to take the lead in the half, 28-22. 2ND HALF - This part of the game was about continuing what worked in the first. Bengals continued to expand upon their lead now finding their motivation to win. Walt Whitman did fight but couldn’t regain the momentum to take their lead back. In the end, the Blake Bengals were crowned as the MPSSAA Boys Class 4A State Champions winning 60-44.

 CONGRATULATIONS to the Bengals on such a monumental achievement. Proud of you guys and keep repping and shining for MoCo. Vikings, there is nothing to be ashamed. You put on your best performance and showed you have ballers. Much love to you.

 Thanks to all at MPSSAA and CSZSCores for making this opportunity possible.

 MFV MVP - Tahj Martin who had 14 points and 6 rebounds.

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.”

Two quarters are finished at UMBC and the Blake Bengals (3) lead the Whitman Vikings (4) 28-22. The first quarter featured a ton of offense from both sides, with Blake's Baba Oladotun coming off the bench and dropping seven, with the quarter ending with the Bengals ahead 16-15. The second quarter was all Blake, as they outscored the Vikings 12-6. Oladotun's seven first quarter points lead his team, while Whitman senior Rowan Conroy also contributed seven in the half, making him the Vikings' leading contributor.

2025/2026 Regional Champions from MoCo

2025/2026 MCPS Division Champions

Game summary coming soon...

Northwest senior, Jaylin Ouattara sank four free-throws in the overtime period to secure the win over the Wootton Patriots. NW improves to 5-3 in the County North Division. Wootton drops to 1-6 in the West. HOW IT HAPPENED Solid shooting in the 1st half gave Northwest the lead, 26-20 A balanced Jaguar offense was led by Kush Malhorta with 7 points and reserve guard, Trey Goodlow (8pts). Goodlow hit two consecutive three pointers in the 2nd period. Wootton came out in the 3rd quarter with an intense man-to-man defense that led to five steals, two by sophomore guard Ted Jeong. Jeong also had his way downhill to the basket forcing three Jaguar fouls. Jeong hit all six foul shots. For the period, Wootton sank 12 fouls shots out of 15 attempts to take the lead, 41-39. In the 4th quarter, Patriot senior guard, Chase Mitchell score 12 points, including a three pointer near the mid-court line. Jaguars were able to penetrate near the basket as forward Krisiv Ohri tossed in six points. At the end of regulation, the score was knotted at 53. Wootton was led in scoring by senior guard, Chase Mitchell with 21 points. Jeong added 12. Ohori led Northwest with 16 points. Guards Malhorta and Ouattara added 13 and 11 points respectively. NEXT GAMES: Wootton plays a makeup game at Quince Orchard on Saturday, Feb. 14. Tip-off is slated for 12 NOON. Northwest returns home to take on Kennedy on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

The Boys Varsity basketball game between the Cougars and Patriots has been rescheduled to Saturday, February 14. Tip-off time is 12 noon at Quince Orchard HS.

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

The Watkins Mill Wolverines brought their "A game" to Wootton HS as they led at the end of the first quarter 19-14. In the second quarter, Chase Mitchell led the way with 2 treys along with one each by Chase Winokur, and Cameron Pietak. At halftime, the Patriots were within one, 31-30, In the second half the battle continued as Lester Walker of Watkins Mills seem to score at will with three treys. The Patriots were up to the task as well as three pointers came from guards, C. Winokur, C. Mitchell, and Ted Jeong. On defense, Wootton began to limit the Wolverine's "crosscuts' in the lane while wingman Darnell Egoto brought down 8 rebounds. The Patriots "4-out" offense began working as Egoto scored four points from the field and two shots from the foul line. By the end of quarter three, Wootton was up 48-44. In the final frame, Wootton got a lift from freshman guard as he hit two shots from beyond the arc. Wootton's lead stretched to 60-54 with over two minutes remaining. Walker gave it his all for Watkins Mill as he scored beyond the arc and inside the lane. Free throws by Mitchell and Roth sealed the victory for Wootton as they now have won three games in a row! Lester Walker finished with 35 points to lead the Wolverines. Wootton finished with five players scoring in double figures. Chase Mitchell ended with 16 points and Chase Winokur added 12. Darnell Egoto scored a "double-double" with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Cameron Pietak finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds. Kevin Roth add 11 points. One Friday, January 23, Wootton travels to Northwood HS. Watkins Mill continues on the road as they play Magruder HS.

Photo courtesy of @shotbyaidan Instagram. The Montgomery County standings race is only getting more competitive, and sitting at 6-5 on the season, Damascus boys’ basketball desperately needed a momentum boost. It got just that against Walter Johnson, and it was away from home to boot. The Wildcats were 6-3 heading into Friday’s tilt, but the Hornets emerged with the win, 58-53. Damascus imposed its will inside early on, scoring the game’s first few baskets on a tough drive to the rim and double-team hook shot. The Hornets were active on defense, too, either stripping the Wildcats or quickly transitioning their misses. Damascus even took a heady charge early on, providing it with some stellar momentum. It was ultimately a 9-0 run to start the game for the Hornets before the Wildcats' Will Kreisle netted a 3-pointer nearly three minutes into the game. That quickly became Walter Johnson’s calling card: shots from beyond the arc. The Wildcats deployed a five-out system, driving and kicking to try and manufacture some open shots. And while many of the shots were open, just two others went in throughout the course of the quarter — that served as the team’s lone points. Damascus continued to keep Walter Johnson at bay throughout the second quarter. It didn’t rush any of its shots or offensive sets, carefully setting screens and picks to open up midrange opportunities and drives. The Wildcats closed the gap to three points at the half, getting some trips to the line late, while Damascus missed some of its opportunities from the charity stripe to close the period. Walter Johnson earned the first points of the second half, getting a second chance bucket off an odd-man fast break. Just a minute later, the game was tied at 30 apiece after a hook shot from Jake Forburger. The next three minutes were almost completely dominated by Damascus. The Wildcats simply became stagnant on offense and had trouble breaking apart the Hornets’ half court zone. In all, it was a 6-0 run for the away squad. But by the end of the third quarter, things were knotted once more at 39 apiece — the Wildcats had found another way to battle back. But they simply couldn’t compete with Damascus’ 19-point fourth frame. Incredibly, it took over two minutes into the quarter before either team notched a point — the first came from a Tony DeStefano paint shot. But Jayden Thompson spinning layup soon tied things with just over five minutes left. So what separated the Hornets? A rapid 5-0 run ensued over the following minute, while the Wildcats’ outside shooting struggles and missed layups handicapped them. An Ethan Ray spinning layup with three minutes left to play nearly sealed the game for Hornets — the dagger felt like it was soon to come. But Walter Johnson’s defense suddenly came alive, rejecting Damascus layups that had easily gone through the net earlier in the game. A Thompson fast break layup cut the Hornets’ lead down to two with 1:41 left to play. It was ultimately Ray that delivered on Damascus’ game-sealing buckets; a midrange fadeaway and a heavily-contested reverse layup under the hoop. The Hornets will look to take the momentum from Friday’s win into their Tuesday contest against 2-9 Northwood.

It was a low scoring first half with WJ edging CH by 2 points. The second half saw sophomore sensation Carter “Wiggle” Brooks control the tempo while having no turnovers finishing the game with a team high 14 points. Freshman Jeremiah “DaDOG” Williams had another strong performance adding 9 points. The final score was 52– 48

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

great game by clarkburg

🏀🏀Wootton Patriots vs Laurel Spartans NIT Tourney at AACS Game Highlights
 The thrilling Wootton vs Laurel NIT Game highlights are presented, showcasing the best plays and moments of intense competition. This video provides an exciting look into the game for fans of both teams and those interested in high school basketball in the area
 Final Score: PATRIOTS - 70 SPARTANS - 43 👀 MFV U📺🔗⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgrL3c0nTfc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-9nM2vZduU

After 45 years, the Laurel Spartans are back on top, taking home the Boys 4A state title! 🏆💍