Thomas S. Wootton High vs Rockville High School

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.