West II

South River (19-7) used a dominant 26-9 second quarter to pull away from Colonel Zadok Magruder 67-50 and capture the MPSSAA Boys 3A State Championship Monday at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. Jonah Hall dropped 24 points while Jaden McDuffie — the Anne Arundel County Athlete of the Year, added 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals. The Seahawks outscored Magruder 15-1 at the free throw line. See more pics from the game here: www.instagram.com/picsbydouv/p/DWAQBjujs09/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqTnx5GusvE 🏀🏀 ROAD TO UMBC MPSSAA 3A BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP 🆚 #6 South River vs #4 Magruder 📍UMBC, Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena 📝 Kmillz (MFVAllSportsNetwork) Our third day of covering at the MPSSAA Basketball Championship in UMBC”s Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena, led us to the 3A Men’s matchup between the 6th seeded South River Seahawks of Edgewater in AA County, and the number 4 seeded Magruder Colonels out of Rockville of Montgomery County. Two programs who fought their way to this finale. The stage was set for these two teams to face off for a shot at raising the glorious state championship plaque.

 1ST HALF - The half of setting forth dominance. The tip off was quite quick in what seemed to be headed in the direction of the Colonels, found itself in the Seahawks hands of Northwestern commit, #22 Jaden McDuffie. He quickly shot down the court for a layup. And what started as beginning dominance turned in Magruder’s favor. The Colonel’s took the lead dropping a three and inside run to the basket. The Edgewater team didn’t quit taking over in 2nd period adding 26 points contributed from stars, #24 Jonah Hall, and #1 Jamie Finn. The Hawks lead at the end of the half,, 42-24.

 2ND HALF - The half of staying the course. While Magruder made a good attack on the Seahawks lead, even scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter, South River continued keeping its foot on the gas. This effort brought South River’s varsity boys program their first state title, winning the 3A matchup, 67-50. Very impressive victory and good competition between these two. 

 TO THE COLONELS, although the end result was not desirable, very proud of your unwavering effort You guys are an awesome organization, and be encouraged. Keep shining and striving for the best. 
 TO THE SEAHAWKS, this victory means the world to us. So glad we could capture some of your earlier games this season and see the events that led to your championship success. Super proud of you, thankful you get to experience now the fruit of your hard labor. KEEP SHINING for the whole athletic world to see. Wishing the Seahawks, the Edgewater community and fans more success in the future. TO BOTH, you guys are great. Do not allow anyone to say less. Keep doing what you’re doing. Thank you for making this game wonderful.

 MFV MVP - South River’s #24 Jonah Hall 24pts, 5 rebounds

South River controlled the game from the very beginning and never let their foot off the gas. The Seahawks came out with confidence and immediately found their rhythm on offense, moving the ball well and creating open shots. Each possession seemed to build their momentum even more, and the energy on the court continued to grow as the game went on. Whether it was fast breaks, sharp passing, or knocking down shots from the outside, South River looked comfortable and in control the entire night. The Seahawks’ offense stayed consistent throughout all four quarters. They didn’t slow down after building a lead—instead, they kept pushing the pace and attacking the basket. Their teamwork was on full display, with players finding each other for good looks and taking advantage of scoring opportunities whenever they appeared. Every time Magruder tried to settle in defensively, South River responded with another big play, keeping the pressure high and the crowd energized. On the other hand, Magruder had a difficult time getting anything going offensively. From the start of the game, shots just weren’t falling, and it became clear that they were struggling to find their rhythm. Open looks didn’t convert, and contested shots made it even tougher to put points on the board. As the game progressed, the frustration began to show as Magruder continued searching for answers but couldn’t break through South River’s momentum. The difference between the two teams became more noticeable with each quarter. While South River stayed composed, confident, and aggressive on offense, Magruder continued to battle but couldn’t catch a break. Missed opportunities and cold shooting made it difficult for them to close the gap, allowing the Seahawks to stay comfortably ahead. By the final buzzer, South River’s relentless offense and consistent play told the whole story. The Seahawks never let their momentum fade and proved why they were the stronger team that night, delivering a dominant performance from start to finish while Magruder struggled to keep up.

Jonah Hall drops 24, Jaden McDuffie adds 21, and Jamie Finn scores 16, three players in double digits, leading South River to its first ever state championship under their leading scorers dad, head coach Darren Hall. 🏆

Magruder is moving on to the 3A State Championship! They will face South River HS as their final obstacle. Check out them in high quality here: www.instagram.com/p/DVwLDYYjnWv/

Watch now on instagram: www.instagram.com/reel/DVuXU7CjuJM/

2025/2026 Regional Champions from MoCo

Gaithersburg 60 Northwood 41

Game summary coming soon...

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/

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.

Score was the other way around

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.

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.

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.