As Tion Barnes returned to the Comcast Center court, his head hanging and his steps begrudgingly slow, his body language put the sting of Gwynn Park High School's state final defeat on full display.
A 6-foot-5 junior forward, Barnes, along with Gwynn Park teammates Curtis Hardy and Mike Hemsley, attempted to make a quick exit to the locker room of the University of Maryland, College Park's arena. But coach Mike Glick tracked his players down and brought them back out to the floor so they could accept their Class 2A runner-up plaques and watch Baltimore's City College walk away with the big prize.
After taking a seat on the bench, Barnes hid his dismay from the 56-45 loss by pulling his No. 23 jersey over his head. Led by 19 points from Nick Faust and 10 from center Jordan Latham, City College celebrated at center court and coach Mike Daniel collected his second consecutive state championship trophy.
It was the end of a whirlwind 24 hours for Gwynn Park, which won its state semifinal Friday night, then watched City College win its own semifinal before trying to devise a strategy for stopping the eventual two-time state champions.
Friday, 9:01 p.m.
Just 26 minutes have passed since Gwynn Park's 69-37 thrashing of North Carroll in the state semifinal, but Glick is already looking ahead to tomorrow's title game as he takes a seat at the Comcast Center to watch the second semifinal between City College and Easton.
Viewing a game with the seemingly endless resource of local basketball history, statistics and strategy that is Glick is like having a personal color commentator at your side. The fourth-year coach will answer all the questions you have on the sport – and even some you don't have – without hesitation.
City College jumps out to a 13-4 lead, and Glick starts talking about the Knights' coach, Daniel. The two had many past battles while Glick was at Archbishop Spalding and Daniel led Towson Catholic. Although Glick had Villanova commit Derek Snow on his side, Daniel countered with future Syracuse and Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony.
"We played some epic games, and we were blessed by the players we had," Glick recalls. "We're now both able to play a disciplined style of basketball in a public school environment."
In regard to the more pressing concern of Daniel's current crop of weapons, Glick immediately singles out Faust, the Knights' leading scorer, and the Xavier University-bound center, Latham. In order to win against City College, he says the Yellow Jackets will have to stop those two and make someone else beat them.
"That's next-level stuff right there," Glick says as Latham catches a pass, pulls up and knocks down a mid-range jumper in one smooth motion. "That's why he going to play for one of the top 20 teams in the country."
With the Knights enjoying a 30-10 lead at halftime, Glick tells his players to head home and get a good night's sleep. Now knowing for sure which team Gwynn Park is up against, Glick explains his squad's offensive tactics for the championship game.
"If it's an up-and-down game, we lose," he says. "A game in the 70s or 80s, we lose. If we shorten the game and we get good shots and we get them flustered, we're going to win the game. On offense, we're going to be patient."
Saturday, 6:12 p.m.
Two minutes into the 2A state championship game, Gwynn Park leads City College 6-4. Following more than 30 seconds of the Yellow Jackets patiently swinging chest passes around the perimeter, Ford dribbles around a screen and hits a three-pointer.
Faust promptly tries to respond with a 3-pointer, but Hardy contests the effort, and it finds nothing but air. Soon after, Latham gets the ball in the paint and an immediate double team from Barnes and Hemsley forces a turnover.
By the end of the first half, Glick's plan to keep the game low-scoring and shut down City College's daunting one-two punch of Faust (4 points) and Latham (2 points) is working. But an unexpected 19-point outburst from the Knights' role players has given them a 25-20 halftime lead over the Yellow Jackets.
Saturday, 1:36 p.m.
In a Gwynn Park classroom, one needs to look no further than the bulletin board labeled "SAT Information" to identify the room as Glick's. Instead of news of about the standardized test, the panel is covered, from corner to corner, with basketball newspaper clippings.
On the opposite wall, a quote is scribbled on the blackboard: "If you get a job you really love, you will never work a day in your life." Attributed to Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten, who led the DeMatha's boys' basketball program from 1956 to 2002, the words of wisdom seem particularly fitting as Glick spends his Saturday afternoon intently breaking down film of City College.
Staring at footage of his opponent's 59-52 loss to Ballou High (D.C.) in January, Glick sees Faust drill a 3-pointer before immediately telling assistant coaches Zach Sarver and Spencer Way his strategy for limiting the sharp-shooting junior.
"We're going to start the game with a box-and-one defense on number five," Glick explains. "We're not going to allow that kid to get into a rhythm. We have to take him out of the game from the very beginning."
The players, meanwhile, are taking part in a pregame shoot-around on their home court. At one end, Hardy, Hemsley and guard Brian Blue are in a 3-point competition. As Blue fires from the baseline, Hemsley lets out a distracting scream that throws the senior guard off and causes the shot to go awry. Minutes later, the two are still good-naturedly exchanging accusations of cheating.
"We're relaxed," says junior guard Brandon Ford, the Yellow Jackets' leading scorer this season. "We've been in this situation before and played in big games like this. It's just another game."
In stark contrast to the bright lights, slick hardwood and polished confines of the 17,950-seat Comcast Center, the dusty old gym at Gwynn Park is characterized by its aged floor and worn-down, wooden bleachers. Looming over the players is the past they are so desperately trying to live up to: 10 state championship banners won between 1968 and 1988.
"We think about that on a daily basis, and one of the things that attracted me to the job was the tradition of the school," says Glick, for whom the state final will be his 100th game with the Yellow Jackets.
Glick introduces his scouting report to the players by feverishly stating, "The number one thing you guys have to start doing right now, if you want to win, is you have to listen."
After breaking down City College's 2-3 zone and 2-2-1 press defenses and instructing Hardy to make Faust take bad shots under pressure, Glick moves on to the plan for dealing with Latham and his 6-foot-8 frame.
"He is trying to catch the ball, dribble to his right and he has a nice little jump hook," Glick says. "He will be the difference maker if you let him. Our game plan is to double him the second he gets the ball and to not let him get comfortable."
Saturday, 7:37 p.m.
Early in the fourth quarter, Faust takes another 3-pointer with Hardy in his face. This time, Faust drains the shot while falling out of bounds. On City College's next possession, Latham splits a double team and converts a layup plus the foul to make the lead 44-35. Following slow first halves, Faust and Latham have finally found rhythms.
Gwynn Park abandons its deliberate offensive approach in favor of a more up-tempo style, however, and claws back to within five with 2:45 remaining. But Hemsley, who leads the Yellow Jackets with 22 points, fouls out. With a chance to cut the lead, Hardy misses a pair of free throws, and back-to-back baskets from Latham and Faust push the City College lead to 11 points.
At the other end, Ford throws up a desperation 3-pointer that goes long. Blue's put-back attempt clanks off the iron and Latham snares the board in the final minute, ending Gwynn Park's hopes.
The night before, Glick said if the Knights wanted to beat the Yellow Jackets, they would have to limit Ford. Sure enough, the City College defense focused on the junior, and Ford only shot 3 for 13 from the field.
"It was hard to get shots off," Ford says at the postgame press conference. "They just shaded everything towards me. They made it tough for me to play."
Glick is quick to point out nothing is tougher than being on the losing end of a title game. In the end, though, Glick is pleased with his players' effort and the coaching staff's game plan, taking solace in feeling his team did everything it could to win.
"I couldn't be prouder of our basketball team," Glick says. "It's painful right now. At the same time, when we look back and reflect, I think we maximized everything out of this team."
