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Digital Harbor blows by Gwynn Park in Class 2A state semifinals

Posted by Michael Glick at Mar 11, 2011 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )

Digital Harbor blows by Gwynn Park in Class 2A state semifinals
Written by Brandon Hopp
03/11/11

Three Rams players post double-doubles in 75-45 rout. (VIDEOS COMING)

 

Cook, Smith, N. Manns

RAMS ON A ROLL: (from left) Daquan Cook, Kevin Smith and Nyme Manns combined for 38 points in the win.

VIDEO GALLERY

 

At the start of the season, Digital Harbor’s boys basketball coach Johnnie Grimes knew that he had a collective group of talented players. But with several transfer and first-year players, he also knew that it would take a while for the team to build its chemistry.

After the Rams’ dominating performance in Friday night’s Class 2A state semifinals against Gwynn Park, it’s hard to believe that this squad hasn’t played together for a couple of years.

The Baltimore City school had three players tally double-doubles on its way to a dominating, 75-45, rout over the Yellow Jackets of Prince George’s County at the University of Maryland.

“Right now, they are really, really jelling and they are giving so much of a big effort on the defensive end, especially in rebounding the ball,” Grimes said of his team.

“In the beginning, we knew that we could jell but we started off bad,” junior guard Daquan Cook explained.  “But we knew that we would come together. We practiced hard every day.”

Digital Harbor began the season with a 3-3 mark but slowly started to play as a cohesive unit as the year wore on.  In last Friday’s 2A North Regional championship, the Rams avenged an earyl season loss to Edmondson by stunning the Red Storm, 80-55, to claim the title.

Digital turned in another impressive win at the Comcast Center. Junior Antonio Manns led the way with a game-high 16 points and 11 rebounds. Cook filled the stat sheet with 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, while Nyme Manns added 15 points and 10 boards.  Senior Kevin Smith contributed eight points.

Daniel Henry had 15 points, while Tion Barnes and Jalen Harris each had 9 for Gwynn Park (17-9).

“I think we came into the season with not much chemistry,” said Antonio Manns. “We had a lot of transfers and then once we got ourselves together, we just started playing together and going hard…We just want to go out and play strong and play together.”

The Rams (15-7) scored the first seven points of the game behind a jumper by Antonio Manns, a layup by Cook and a three-point play from Nyme Manns.  Gwynn Park closed to within 7-4 with 3:33 left in the first quarter but that was the closest the Jackets would get over the remaining 27 minutes.

Digital Harbor pushed the lead to 29-18 at halftime. Ronald Epps (seven points) finished a putback inside, Antonio Manns scored inside and Nyme Manns flushed a one-handed jam in a decisive 13-3 run in the third quarter to open the Rams’ lead to 44-26 midway through the period.

Ahead by 21 points entering the fourth quarter, Digital Harbor finished off Gwynn Park with an 11-0 run to push their advantage to 32 points.

The Rams dominated in every phase of the game.  They out-rebounded the taller Yellow Jackets, 49-29, including grabbing 14 offensive boards.  Digital Harbor was quicker to loose balls and played unselfishly.  Of the 29 field goals that they scored, 15 of those buckets were assisted.

“On this night, we got beat by a better team. I thought Digital Harbor played great,” said Gwynn Park coach Mike Glick. “They had an excellent game plan…In this game we were thoroughly outplayed in every aspect of the game.”

The Rams will face Easton, a 69-52 winner over South Carroll on Friday, in the Class 2A state championship tomorrow, Saturday, at 5 p.m.  Digital Harbor is looking for its second state crown in three years after winning the Class 1A title in 2009.

No. 8 Digital Harbor 75, Gwynn Park 45
  1 2 3 4 F
Digital Harbor 11 18 24 22 75
Gwynn Park 6 12 14 13 45
Digital Harbor:
Cook 15, K. Smith 8, Epps 7, N. Manns 15, A. Manns 16, Williams 2, Shango 2, Barnes 7, Conyers 2, D. Smith 1. Totals 29 20-31 75.
Gwynn Park:
Hall 1, Ford 2, Walton 2, Henry 15, Barnes 9, Hawkins 6, Harris 9, Grant 1.Totals 18 13-19
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Gwynn Park falls to Digital Harbor in 2A semifinal

Posted by Michael Glick at Mar 11, 2011 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
Friday March 11, 2011
by Terron Hampton | Staff Writer
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Christopher Anderson/The Gazette
Gwynn Park's Brandon Ford (left) drives to the basket during Friday night's 2A state semifinal game against Digital Harbor at the Comcast Center in College Park.







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Digital Harbor boys cruise to Class 2A state final

Posted by Michael Glick at Mar 11, 2011 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )

Digital Harbor boys cruise to Class 2A state final
By Glenn Graham, The Baltimore Sun

10:16 p.m. EST, March 11, 2011

COLLEGE PARK
Mid-November through the month or so that followed — a time when the Digital Harbor boys basketball team was more like an uneven collection of individual talent — is now a distant memory.

No more struggling to identify roles. No more having one player or the next trying to do too much. No more losses.

The surging Rams, who started the season with a 2-4 mark, have turned the corner and then some.

Taking turns stepping up on offense, rebounding at both ends and playing solid team defense, the No. 6 Rams proved too tough to handle for Gwynn Park in the Class 2A state semifinals, coming away with a dominating 75-45 win over the Yellow Jackets from Prince George's County Friday night at Comcast Center.

A state champion in Class 1A in 2009, Digital Harbor (15-7) will try to add a 2A crown when it returns to Comcast Center on Saturday to meet the South Carroll-Easton winner. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

Antonio Manns (16 points, 11 rebounds), Nyme Manns (15, 11) and Daquan Cook (15, 10) — all junior transfers — registered double doubles as Digital Harbor shot 50 percent from the field and outrebounded the Yellow Jackets (17-9), 49-29.

"I think we came into the season with not much chemistry — we had a lot of transfers — and then once we got ourselves together, we just started playing together and going hard. We just want o go out and play strong and play together," said Antonio Manns.

That was certainly the case in Friday's stunning win over Gwynn Park, which lost to City in last year's title game but was banking on that experience pulling them through this year.

The Rams led 29-18 at the half and methodically pulled away in the third quarter. Five different players scored in the pivotal quarter — Cook leading the way with eight — as the Rams took a 53-32 lead into the final quarter.

Senior point guard Kevin Smith, who scored eight points and took care of the basketball, isn't surprised the team is one win away from a state title.

"Yeah, that was our goal from the beginning — to get to where we are today. We had a setback with the losses, but we still had our goal," said Smith, who transferred from Huntington Prep in West Virginia. "We just started over at practice, started from the basics and worked our way up. It's paying off."

After a tough 68-65 loss to No. 4 Dunbar to end their regular season, the Rams hit their stride in the tough Class 2A North region, grinding out a 72-70 road win at Lake Clifton in an early-round game before avenging an 83-66 loss against Edmondson with an 80-55 statement performance for the regional crown.

glenn.graham@baltsun.com

DH – A. Manns 16, Cook 15, N. Manns 15, Epps 7, K. Smith 8, Barnes 7, Shango 2, Williams 2, Conyers 2, D. Smith 1. Totals: 25 20-31 75.

GP – Henry 11, Barnes 9, Harris 9, Ford 6, Hall 1, Walton 2, Hawkins 6, Grant 1. Totals: 14 13-19 45.

Half: DH, 29-18
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Gwynn Park finally falls

Posted by Michael Glick at Mar 11, 2011 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
Gwynn Park finally falls
by Antwain Jackson 3/12/2011

In Gwynn Park's third appearance in the state final four in the last four years, the Yellow Jackets' dreams of winning the 2A championship were shattered again as they fell to Digital Harbor 75-45.

Digital Harbor opened the game on a 7-0 run and never looked backed. Afterwards, their coach Johnnie Grimes talked about his defensive strategy against Gwynn Park's star guard Brandon Ford. "He's the one that makes them go - he does it all. We just needed to take him out of the game," he said.

Ford couldn't find his rhythm, Gwynn Park senior forward Tion Barnes picked up two quick fouls, and the team shot only 29 percent in the first half. Still, Gwynn Park went into the half only down 29-18.

The third quarter is where Digital Harbor ran away with the game, though, as Gwynn Park's poor shooting continued in the 2nd half. The Yellow Jackets missed layups, midrange jump shots and 3 pointers; Gwynn Park shot an awful 14-58 from the field overall.

Their poor shooting led to many fast break points for Digital Harbor. Gwynn Park struggled with its transition defense and on the glass, they were out-rebounded 49-29.

And the easy transition buckets buried them into a deficit they could not overcome.

The Yellow Jackets started the fourth quarter down 53-32 and their hopes of making it to tomorrow's 2A final slowly dwindled away.

Despite being down big in the fourth quarter, Gwynn Park's effort never lessened. "I was still enjoying the game, it was my final game," said Ford. "I wish I was still playing right now."

Senior guard Daniel Henry led the Yellow Jackets with 15 points and three rebounds, while Barnes added nine and seven. And Digital Harbor junior forward Antonio Manns led all scorers with 16 points and added 11 rebounds.

After having a season full of ups and downs, a tough conference schedule and being battle tested in Maryland's state tournament, Gwynn Park, the Maryland Class 2A South Regional Champs, finished the season 17-9.

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Digital Harbor 75 Gwynn Park 45

Posted by Michael Glick at Mar 11, 2011 4:00PM PST ( 0 Comments )
Friday Semifinal's
Digital Harbor 75  Gwynn Park 45
Friday's headliner was Digital Harbor out of Baltimore City and the Gwynn Park Yellow Jackets out of PG County in the first 2A semi-final.  Gwynn Park was making their third trip to the Comcast Center in the last 4 years and was stacked with high-profile seniors and a boatload of experience.  Gwynn Park is led by their tandem of 1,000 point scorers Tion Barnes and Brandon Ford.  Digital Harbor is led by their dynamic back court of Daquan Cook and Kevin Smith.  Both teams have strong supporting casts.  Outside of a couple 4A schools Digital Harbor may be the hottest team in the state.  Almost their entire starting line-up transferred in from other schools for the 2010-11 campaign.  It took some time for the Rams to gel but they are currently clicking on all cylinders. 

On Friday evening one team's season had to end.  Digital Harbor came out very aggressive and used a box-and-one for almost the entire game on Yellow Jacket Brandon Ford.  Tion Barnes picked up two very early fouls.  From the get go Digital Harbor dominated the game in all phases.  They outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 49-29.  They shot 50% from the field while holding Gwynn Park to just 24.1%.  It was a humiliating loss for the 2A south regional champions.  At the half Gwynn Park trailed by a 11 and seemed lucky to be that close.  The game was certainly in striking distance as the teams came out of the locker rooms.  But the Rams intensity was dominant and no Yellow Jackets could get on track.  The loan bright spot for Gwynn Park was senior Daniel Henry who continued his stellar post season play scoring 15 points in 27 minutes.  Gwynn Park had multiple players in foul trouble throughout and coach Mike Glick tinkered with many different lineups.  Digital Harbor is a heavy favorite to bring home the hardware. A 25 point win versus Edmondson in the regional final and a 30 point trouncing over Gwynn Park in the state semifinal are two exceptional outings.