The Gwynn Park High School boys' basketball program has won a county-best 10 state titles in its illustrious history, but it has been 22 years since the Yellow Jackets last hoisted a state championship trophy.

This weekend, the Yellow Jackets (19-3) will try for title No. 11 after winning the 2A South Region title with an overtime victory against Oakland Mills on Saturday. Gwynn Park will take on North Carroll (18-5) in a state semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday at the University of Maryland, College Park's Comcast Center.

Defending state champion City College (21-2) takes on Easton (18-4) in the other Class 2A boys' semifinal game.

The Yellow Jackets return to the state semifinals for the first time since 2008, when Winters Mill hit a buzzer-beating shot to slip past Gwynn Park, 58-56, in the semifinals. Winters Mill went on to win the state title.

It's the second trip to the state semifinals for the Brandywine school under coach Mike Glick, who said this season's circumstances are different than those two years ago.

"In 2008, we were senior-dominated and very experienced," Glick said. "This year we have a bunch of younger guys that are contributing to this team."

The Yellow Jackets are battle-tested this season. The team won a thrilling 79-75 decision against Oakland Mills in the region final on Saturday, and doesn't count on just a few players for most of the team's production, like the 2008 squad did.

The Yellow Jackets are led by juniors Brandon Ford (19.8 points, four rebounds, three assists per game) and Tion Barnes (14.5 points, 8.1 rebounds per game, 28 blocks for the season), and seniors Mike Hemsley (13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists), Brian Blue (five points, 4.5 rebounds, three assists) and Curtis Hardy (six points, 4.5 rebounds).

Also adding key contributions for the Yellow Jackets have been sophomore guard Eric Batts, junior guard Daniel Henry and sophomore forward Marcel Boyd .

Ford said that the team possesses certain intangibles.

"It's really like a brotherhood on this team," Ford said. "I love these guys. It's just the way we have bonded this season. We have really grown in our time together. Everybody on the team is on the same page and we are all friends."

North Carroll runs a slow-paced offense that thrives on off-ball screens, back cuts and discipline.

The Panthers are led by 6-foot-5 forward Danny Hoffman (18.6 points, 11.3 rebounds per game), junior forward Charlie Clark (10.2 points, 8.5 rebounds) and senior guard Brian Kron (10.4 points, 2.5 rebounds).

"I think we've gotten to this point because of how well we play together," said coach Chris Vaughn. "Everybody plays a role on this team. We lost last year's regional final game and the region final the year before that."

An interesting coaching matchup could occur if Gwynn Park and City College advance to Saturday's 6 p.m. title game.

When Glick coached at Archbishop Spalding prior to joining Gwynn Park, he had regular showdowns against City College coach Mike Daniel, who then coached at Towson Catholic. Glick said he has a winning record against Daniel in head-to-head meetings.

2A Boys State Semifinals

Gwynn Park (18-3) vs. North Carroll (20-5)

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Comcast Center, College Park

Players to watch: Roosevelt: Brandon Ford (19.8 points per game, four rebounds per game, three assists per game); Tion Barnes (14.5 ppg, 8.1 rpg). North Carroll: Danny Hoffman (18.6 ppg, 11.3 rpg); Charlie Clark (10.2 ppg, 8.5 rpg)

E-mail Terron Hampton at thampton@gazette.net.

The Scorpions appeared in control of the game after junior forward Kerry Bethea hit a layup with 5 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the game to give his team an eight-point lead.

Nine minutes of game time later, the Yellow Jackets punched their ticket to next week's state semifinals. The Yellow Jackets came up with a series of clutch plays to force overtime and eventually prevailed, 79-75, at Henry A. Wise High in Upper Marlboro.

Gwynn Park will head to the University of Maryland, College Park's Comcast Center to take on North Carroll at 7 p.m. Friday. The Yellow Jackets have one of the county's most storied programs, with 10 state championships in their history. This year marks the Brandywine school's 20th trip to the state semifinals.

Yellow Jackets' junior guard Brandon Ford kept his team in the game, scoring 16 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

"I just didn't want to lose," Ford said. "It was our goal to win the county, region and state championship and while we didn't win the county championship, we got the region. Our seniors wanted this game so bad."

Gwynn Park junior forward Marcel Boyd had perhaps the biggest play in a game that was filled with great plays. With the Yellow Jackets trailing, 54-49, with 3:22 remaining in the fourth quarter, Boyd came up with a blocked shot despite facing a three-on-one fast break.

Another critical play for the Yellow Jackets was a steal and layup by senior forward Tion Barnes with 29 seconds to play that gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead since the 6:19 mark of the third quarter.

Gwynn Park had its hands full with the Scorpions' Greg Whittington, Sean O'Callaghan and Bethea, who combined to score 48 points and gave the Yellow Jackets problems all afternoon.

But both Whitting and Bethea fouled out of the game in the first 17 seconds of overtime.

"The game was never in doubt in my mind because we've been down by a lot before this season and came back," Barnes said. "I didn't feel that [the 6-foot-7 Whittington] was that tough of a matchup. I thought [Bethea] was much more of a problem for us. We wanted this game for all of our seniors so we can keep our dream alive of finishing as champions."

The Yellow Jackets got a balanced effort as Mike Hemsley (17 points), Brian Blue (five points, double-digit rebounds), Curtis Hardy (15 points), Barnes (six points, double-digit rebounds) and Ford all had key contributions.

"They have the heart of lions," Gwynn Park coach Mike Glick said of his players. "These kids were all a part of our junior varsity program and it's a testament to our program. The way they played in this game is a microcosm of our season."

Thursday evening, in front of a capacity crowd at Gwynn Park High in Brandywine, the Yellow Jackets shook off several droughts and disposed of rival and reigning region champion Frederick Douglass, 64-60, in a 2A South Region semifinal.

Hemsley and his Gwynn Park teammates will face Oakland Mills on Saturday in the 2A South Region final at Henry A. Wise High School in Upper Marlboro. The winner will advance to the 2A state semifinals at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center next week.

"Me and the other four seniors all got together with the other players without the coaches," Hemsley said of their impromptu meeting after the loss to Oxon Hill. "We just wanted to make sure that we would stay together. That [county championship] game hurt. But it wasn't the end of the season. We had to get back and start working on our goal of winning the region. Douglass knocked us out the last two years, so it meant a lot that we beat them my senior year. Now we're going to play for the region championship."

Through three quarters of play the game was so evenly matched that both teams were in position to make a pivotal run. Douglass, which trailed 19-10 at the end of the first period thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Gwynn Park's Brian Blue, used runs of 6-0 and 9-0 in the second period to claim a 29-26 halftime advantage. The Eagles held a two-point lead, 41-39, heading into the final period.

But in the fourth quarter the Yellow Jackets were the more resilient team, and the senior-laden squad also got to the foul line early and often. Gwynn Park was in the double bonus for the final six minutes and made 14 of 22 free throws over that span, while the Eagles finally reached the bonus with 42 seconds remaining. Douglass managed only 1 of 3 free throws down the stretch.

"I really think our free-throw shooting was the difference," said Gwynn Park coach Mike Glick. "We missed a lot of free throws the other night against Oxon Hill, but tonight we converted on them. I think we still have to work on them in practice. We're looking forward to playing Hammond. It's the one seed against the two seed, so that should be exciting. But we knew all season it would be either us or Douglass that represented the county in the region final."

Douglass coach Tyrone Massenburg likewise sensed throughout the season the path to a return trip to the Comcast Center would go through Gwynn Park. Thursday evening his team nearly battled through the mounting foul trouble to overtake its rival. Junior Timmone Whatley scored 25 points, including his team's last 11, and he capped the scoring with a dunk as time expired.

"Timmone's a warrior," Massenburg said. "We just had too many turnovers in the fourth quarter. But I'm proud of these kids. All year long we knew we would have a target on our back. We were not going to surprise anybody after last year. It takes a special team to win a state title. So many things can happen along the way."

Gwynn Park junior guard Brandon Ford opened the fourth quarter with three-point play to give the Yellow Jackets a 42-41 lead. That triggered a series of lead changes, with Eric Washington and Whatley responding for the Eagles each time the Yellow Jackets forged ahead.

Douglass enjoyed two scoring runs in the second quarter, but with the game tied at 49-49 with four minutes to play before halftime it was Gwynn Park's turn to gain some momentum. Deante Brown scored and then Ford added a bucket and a free throw and Curtis Hardy made one free throw to give Gwynn Park a 58-49 lead with 1:32 remaining.

Consecutive baskets from Whatley gave the Eagles a glimmer of hope in the fourth quarter, and his three-point play narrowed the deficit to 59-54 with 50 seconds remaining in the game. But the Yellow Jackets got three free throws from Brown and two more from Ford, and that was enough to offset the last three baskets from Whatley.

The Yellow Jackets will play host to County 3A/2A/1A League rival Frederick Douglass on Thursday in a region semifinal game. It's a contest that seemed destined to happen at the beginning of the season. But before both teams began preparations for Thursday night's clash, they both needed to take care of business in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

The Yellow Jackets easily defeated Long Reach, 66-44, in a 2A South Region quarterfinal, while Douglass took care of McDonough, 57-45.

"You have two very evenly matched teams that have great players and are well coached," Glick said of his Yellow Jackets and Douglass. "The team that does the little things right is probably going to come out with the victory."

Four players scored in double figures for the Yellow Jackets in their victory against Long Reach. Brandon Ford and Curtis Hardy each had 12, while Mike Hemsley added 11 and Tion Barnes scored 10.

Gwynn Park led 21-5 at the end of the first quarter and stretched that lead to 20 points midway through the second quarter. Long Reach cut the lead to 10 several times in the third quarter, but Gwynn Park pushed it back to 20 points midway through the fourth period.

It was a convincing victory for a Gwynn Park team that suffered a heartbreaking defeat the last time it was on the court.

In their last game prior to Tuesday's regional quarterfinal, the Yellow Jackets dropped a 73-72 decision to Oxon Hill in the Prince George's County championship on Feb. 24. Gwynn Park led by 12 late in the fourth quarter, but couldn't hang on as Oxon Hill closed the game on a 14-1 run.

Hemsley said the team called a players-only meeting after the loss to Oxon Hill to refocus on the ultimate goal, which is getting back to the University of Maryland, College Park's Comcast Center for the state tournament.

"We needed to come together as a family," Hemsley said. "We needed to remain focused and try and win this thing."

But before the Yellow Jackets think about making another trip to the Comcast Center, they need to win the season series against their rivals from Douglass. The teams split the first two meetings with each winning on its own court. Douglass defeated Gwynn Park, 77-73, while the Yellow Jackets evened the score, 67-51.

But Douglass still holds bragging rights against the Yellow Jackets. The Eagles won at Gwynn Park last season in the 2A South semifinals on their way to a Class 3A state runner-up finish.

Glick said Thursday's game is going to be similar to the first time the two teams met.

"It's going to be a heck of a game," he said. "Both teams have one day to come up with a game plan. The previous two meetings mean nothing."