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Douglass stuns top-seeded Gwynn Park

Posted by Michael Glick at Mar 1, 2012 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
Douglass stuns top-seeded Gwynn Park

Eagles advance to 2A South final on buzzer-beater; Largo wins, Friendly and Surrattsville lose in regional playoffs

by Gazette Staff

To say that the Frederick Douglass High School boys basketball team has been off the radar this season would be an understatement. The Eagles were 9-13 during the regular season, including a 6-12 mark in the Prince George's County 3A/21/1A League.

None of that matters anymore.

On Thursday night in a 2A South Region semifinal game, Douglass stunned top-seeded Gwynn Park as Mike Cunningham hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Eagles a 53-52 victory.

Douglass will visit Largo at 2 p.m. Saturday in the region final.

Trailing 52-50, Douglass took a time out to set up a play with four seconds remaining in the game.

"I told them we're good," said Eagles' coach Tyrone Massenburg. "The energy that we had, the way we were playing, I felt confident that we would make a play. I wouldn't predict a win, but I felt like we were going to do something good.

"I didn't think [Gwynn Park] would play us as tight, they didn't want to foul ... we got a big shot from Mike Cunningham that won the game for us."

JaSahn Johnson led Douglass with 17 points, hitting 9 of 11 at the foul line. As a team, the Eagles were 16 of 19 at the line, while Gwynn Park was 9 of 11. Cunningham had 13 points and Jeffrey Calhoun and Montez Lee each had 10. Xavier Richards had 13 points and Ageyi Gregory added 11 for Gwynn Park (19-6).

Calhoun, the Eagles' starting point guard, suffered a broken hand during the fourth game of the season, an 81-66 loss to Gwynn Park. He returned the lineup last week.

"Since he's been back, we haven't lost a game," Massenburg said. "He's elevated everyone else's game and all the pieces are falling in place for us."

Douglass lost both of its regular season games against Largo, 73-54 in the season opener on Dec. 6 and 76-56 on Jan. 20.

"They're a great team," Massenburg said of Largo. "[The Lions] and Gwynn Park are two of the top teams in the county, so we got our hands full."

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Gwynn Park tops Flowers in county title game

Posted by Michael Glick at Feb 29, 2012 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
Thursday, March 01, 2012
Basketball notebook, Feb. 29

Greg Dohler/The Gazette Gwynn Park High School's Marcel Boyd (center) and Eric Batts (left) celebrate winning the county championship trophy after defeating Charles H. Flowers last week. The Yellow Jackets might face a familiar foe for the 2A South Region crown on Saturday, Largo.

by James Peters and Dan Feldman

Staff WritersThe Prince George’s County championship game is suppose to decide who’s the best boys basketball team in Prince George’s County. But the answer to that question may not be known until Saturday, if ever.

Gwynn Park defeated Charles H. Flowers in the county title game on Feb. 22. But Largo — which split the County 3A/2A/1A League title and two regular-season games with Gwynn Park but lost a coin toss to determine the league representative in the title game — could make a case.

Did Gwynn Park’s 57-51 win against Flowers prove it was the county’s top team?

“No, no,” Gwynn Park coach Michael Glick said emphatically. “I think that Largo could’ve very, very easily been right here and done the same exact thing.”

Largo, in fact, was at the contest and introduced as a league co-champion before Gwynn Park and Flowers were introduced.

“I really have no feeling toward it one way or the other,” Largo coach Lew Howard said. “If the coin toss had went the other way, we’d be playing in the game and would have prepared for them. It wasn’t. It’s no big deal. Our ultimate goal is to compete in the regional tournament and to hopefully to represent Prince George’s County at the Maryland state playoffs.”

Provided they both win Thursday’s region semifinal games, Gwynn Park and Largo could meet for the 2A South Region championship on Saturday. Then, fans might really know which was the best team in the county this year.

dfeldman@gazette.net; jpeters@gazette.net

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Gwynn Park Defeats Flowers, Wins County Championship

Posted by Michael Glick at Feb 22, 2012 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )

Gwynn Park Defeats Flowers, Wins County Championship

by: Kevin Green 2/23/2012

It was apparent from his first shot of the game that Agyei Gregory had his shooting stroke working Wednesday.

After he made his first 3-pointer of the night, the St. Thomas, Virgin Islands native would attempt five more over the course of the game. Each of his subsequent shots from downtown swished through the net just as smoothly as his first.

The Gwynn Park boys’ basketball team rode the impeccable three-point shooting of its senior sniper en route to claiming the Prince George’s County championship, defeating Charles H. Flowers 57-51. Gwynn Park’s title is the second in program history and the first at the school for head coach Mike Glick, who had taken the Yellow Jackets to two other county championships, each ending in defeat.

Gregory led all scorers in the contest with 22 points, including shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc. Late in the third quarter, the Yellow Jackets (18-5) threatened to pull away from Flowers for good with an 11-3 scoring run which included the last two of Gregory’s six threes, each coming on passes from Marcel Boyd, who himself had been commanding more attention in the post. The run increased Gwynn Park’s lead to 44-33. Gregory would also add eight rebounds and two assists in his efforts.

“He’s always shot the ball well and this is the best he’s shot the ball this season, and he stepped up at a crucial time,” Glick said.

“After [Gregory] shot the ball a couple of times we didn’t do a good job of identifying him and closing down and making him put the ball on the floor,” Flowers coach Billy Lanier said.

The presence of Boyd in the low post also paid dividends for Gwynn Park. The Howard-bound senior notched another double-double, scoring 13 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, blocking three shots, and challenging several other shots. His ability as an offensive threat helped open up opportunities for his teammates, including both Gregory and Xavier Richards, who also posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

“When you have a 6-8 kid like that who can score it makes it a whole lot easier for the guards,” Lanier said.

Three of Boyd’s 13 points came in an unusual circumstance at the end of the first quarter. On an inbounds play, he banked in his first three of the season on a buzzer-beating half-court shot after not finding any teammates open to pass to.

Perhaps Boyd’s most impactful play of the night came late in the fourth quarter, with the Yellow Jackets leading 48-46. As he had done several other times in the game, he received a pass in the low post with the Jaguars’ Darret Gorham guarding him. Boyd got past Gorham with a post move and scored on a layup while getting fouled. He would convert on the three-point play and give Gwynn Park a five-point lead which it would not relinquish.

“Marcel is really developing as a player and I thought tonight he was very assertive offensively,” Glick said. “His presence inside was the difference in the game.”

Despite falling behind by 11 late in the third quarter, Flowers (16-5) battled back to tie the score with a 13-2 run in the fourth quarter due to forcing turnovers and clutch shooting, but Boyd’s presence in the middle of Gwynn Park’s 2-3 zone defense forced the Jaguars to settle for 23 3-pointers, of which they made nine. Junior guard Dontae Holloway led the Jaguars with 12 points on four-of-eight shooting from behind the arc.

“We got good looks the whole game,” Lanier said. “We had a couple of rim-outs and bad luck, and shots just didn’t go down tonight. We have to do a better job of getting easier opportunities on offensive rebounds and we didn’t do that.”

Gwynn Park’s switch to the 2-3 zone was unusual for a team that mainly plays man-to-man, but because Glick knew that Flowers attacks the basket often, he wanted to get the Jaguars out of their comfort zone with the defensive change. Lanier credited Boyd with clogging the lane and making it difficult for his team.

Because both teams won their own leagues and hold top seeds in their respective regional tournaments, the teams will next take the court Tuesday and await the results of Friday’s first-round action. Despite losing the county championship, Lanier can now focus his team on many goals that still lie ahead of the Jaguars.

“At the end of the day, our goal was to win our league, and we did,” Lanier said. “And then play in the regional and hopefully be successful. Our goals are still in front of us.”

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Gwynn Park Captures 2012 P.G. County Championship with 57-51 Victory Over Flowers

Posted by Michael Glick at Feb 22, 2012 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
Gwynn Park Captures 2012 P.G. County Championship with 57-51 Victory Over Flowers21 hours ago by Marc Stern in ( Capitol Hoops Video , High School , Top Stories )

Gwynn Park senior Agyei Gregory saved one of the best games of his high school career for one of the Yellow Jackets biggest games of the season. The 6'3' shooting guard connected on all six of his three point attempts in leading Gwynn Park to the 2012 P.G. County Championship game in front of a packed house at Wise High School in Upper Marlboro.

The victory marked the first P.G. County championship for the Yellow Jackets since 2006. That was the year before Gwynn Park head coach Mike Glick took the helm for the Brandywine school. Glick was elated to win his first PG County chip. He and his Yellow Jackets have become regulars at the Maryland State tournament's finals at the Comcast Center but this was something different. This victory reassured Gwynn Park that they have bragging right's as the best of the best in PG County. The craziest thing about the victory is that Gwynn Park was so close to not even playing in the game. The Yellow Jackets had identical records with Largo, and they elected to flip a coin to see who would represent the 3A/2A/1A side of the bracket versus C.H. Flowers, the winner of the 4A side of the PG bracket. Gwynn Park won the coin toss and the rest is now history.

Agyei Gregory would make the game's first basket, a three pointer right in front of the Flowers bench 1:16 in to the game. He wouldn't cool down. He was hitting everything and Flowers was unable to stop him. Flowers would connect on nine 3-balls in the game themselves, but almost all of them were why trailing. Gwynn Park led for almost the entire game, however the game was very close. In fact three of the four quarters saw both teams score the same amount of points. It was the second quarter when Gwynn Park outscored Flowers by six points and they would hold on to that lead for the majority of the duration. The Yellow Jackets got big performances from many other players in this game. 6'8' center Marcel Boyd double doubled going for 13 points and 12 boards. Xavier Richards showed why he is arguably the most athletic player in PG county, scoring 12 points and making a few acrobatic shots to preserve the Gwynn Park lead. Yellow Jacket sharp-shooter Jalen Harris who entered the championship game with 46 three's on the season, had a quiet night going for four points. But he hit a huge three late in the game to end a late Flowers surge. Robert Flint and Jarvis Hawkins did a phenomenal job breaking the vaunted Flowers press.

Flowers had a balanced attack. They had four players score between 8 and 12 points. They were led by Dontae Holloway's 12 points which came on four triples. Senior David Barnes played a terrific game for Flowers. He was often at the top of the Yellow Jackets zone defense reversing the ball and patiently waiting for opportunities to slither in the lane, find his shot, and distribute to players who found holes in the Gwynn Park zone. It was a four point game with a minute to go but Flowers couldn't get a shot to drop, and Gwynn Park began to tack on late points from the stripe. The final score was 57-51 Gwynn Park.

Both teams now turn their attention to the Maryland State Tournament. Gwynn Park earned the #1 seed in the 2A South. They have a first round bye and then host the winner of Glenelg and McDonough next Tuesday night . It appears that Gwynn Park has a fairly easy road to the 2A South championship when they will potentially host Largo. Largo and Gwynn Park split a pair of games in the regular season. Flowers will be the #1 seed in the 4A South. They too, have a first round bye. They may have a tough test on their hands in the second round with a Suitland led Roddy Peters squad. They will then potentially host Wise in the regional semi-finals. If they can win those games they could potentially play Eleanor Roosevelt for the 4A South Regional championship with a trip to the Comcast Center on the line. Flowers and Roosevelt met last year for the regional chip and Roosevelt came out victorious.

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Win avenges Gwynn Park's 2010 setback

Posted by Michael Glick at Feb 22, 2012 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
Win avenges Gwynn Park's 2010 setback

Boyd, Gregory and Richards lead Yellow Jackets past Flowers in county championship game

by Dan Feldman, Staff Writer

View photos from Wednesday's Gwynn Park-Flowers game.

Just before riding to Henry A. Wise High School for the Prince George's County championship game Wednesday, the Gwynn Park boys basketball team watched the fourth quarter of 2010 county title game.

Crowded into coach Michael Glick's classroom, the players saw the previous edition of the team blow a 13-point lead in a little more than the final two minutes. They saw Oxon Hill make a shot at the buzzer to win. They saw the tears flow on the sideline afterward.

Still motivated a few hours later by the video that Glick never showed even that 2010 team, the Yellow Jackets beat Charles H. Flowers for the 2012 Prince George's County championship, 57-51. Gwynn Park led by eight early in the fourth quarter, but unlike 2010, it surged to victory after a 46-46 tie midway through the period.

“I wanted to win this so bad,” said Marcel Boyd, the only current Yellow Jacket to play in that 2010 game. “At the end of the game, when they started coming back a little bit, I thought in my head about the sophomore loss at the last second and thought, ‘No, I can't. I can't let my team go down like this.' So I stepped up. I motivated my teammates. I said, ‘C'mon, we're not going to lose this game.'”

Boyd's contributions were more than just intangible. The 6-foot-9 Howard University recruit had 13 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.

“Marcel Boyd was the difference in the game,” said Glick, whose team split the County 3A/2A/1A League title with Largo and won a coin flip to reach Wednesday's contest. “I thought he was a commanding presence inside.”

After Glick said that, he was reminded of Agyei Gregory, who had 22 points and eight rebounds.

“I guess I should give Agyei Gregory some credit,” Glick said laughing. “Agyei Gregory, I couldn't be prouder of him. He shot the ball so well, and he's really coming into his own.”

The senior guard didn't play as much earlier in the season as he learned to deal with physicality, but now a starter, he made six 3-pointers.

“Agyei is awesome,” Boyd said when asked about Gregory's outside shooting. “It freed me inside, so I could do my inside work.”

If Gregory enabled Boyd's offense, Xavier Richards did the same defensively. The senior guard helped protect the rim with three blocks and funneled his own man toward the long arms of Boyd.

“Xavier's a beast,” Boyd said. “He's a man-child. This kid is super athletic.”

Richards scored Gwynn Park's last two baskets and three of its final four, including a turnaround layup while falling.

“Anything he does [never] ceases to amaze me,” Glick said. “He's an unbelievable athlete. He makes shots that I just can't imagine how the go in.”

Richards' late defense might have been even more incredible.

On Flowers' final possession, Richards blocked a 3-pointer, and when he thought the ball went out of bounds, he celebrated momentarily before collapsing inside and getting a steal.

“I just go for the ball all the time,” said Richards, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. “That's all I see right there when it comes down to the last seconds of the game.”

For all Richards' late heroics and Gregory's game-long shot-making, Glick kept going back to Boyd. At the end of the first quarter, Boyd had the ball well beyond the 3-point arc as part of a designed play. But instead of kicking to a guard, as the play prescribed, Boyd turned around and made his first 3-pointer of the season — which Glick deemed the game's best play.

“I guess he figured he was the 3-point shooter,” Glick said.

And why not? After the heartbreaking loss two years ago, Boyd redefined his legacy in the county championship contest Wednesday. Couldn't he redefine his game, too?

After the victory, the Gwynn Park players passed around their new trophy like they passed around compliments.

But, perhaps, the highest praise came from their opponent.

“We played a good basketball team — and definitely not a 2A/3A team,” said Flowers coach Billy Lanier, whose team won the County 4A League to reach the game. “It looked like a 4A team.

dfeldman@gazette.net

Gwynn Park 57, Flowers 51

Gwynn Park 14 15 15 13 — 57

Flowers 14 9 15 13 — 51

Gwynn Park (18-5): Agyei Gregory 22, Marcel Boyd 13, Xavier Richards 12, Jalen Harris 4, Jarvis Hawkins 2, Robert Flint 2, Achkel Bazil 2.

Flowers (16-5): Dontae Holloway 12, Brandon Green 11, David Barnes 10, Reggie Sidbury 8, Clint Robinson 4, Darret Gorham 2, Kofi Andoh 2, Malik Harris 2.