2008 All-County Boys Basketball Team

Brenda Ahearn⁄The Gazette The Gazette-Star All-County Boys’ Basketball Team includes: (front row, from left) Jamahl Brown, Klevin Pollard, Sean Thomas; (middle row, from left) Will Alston, Naji Hibbert, Coach of the Year Lewis Howard, Maurice Sutton, Talib Zanna; (back row, from left) Khaalis Coppock-Bey, Terrance Burke, Harold Washington. Not pictured: Thomas Robinson.

The senior doesn’t have much bulk on his lanky 6-foot-11 frame. But once opponents saw him play a few possessions on defense, it was clear he was a force to be reckoned with. With Sutton controlling the paint, the Lions captured the state Class 3A championship — Largo’s first in 15 years. Sutton created problems for the opposition at both ends of the floor, averaging 18 points, 12 rebounds and a whopping nine blocks per contest. Sutton, who has drawn serious interest from the University of Kentucky and Seton Hall, is expected to make a college choice in the coming weeks.

Coach of the Year

Lewis Howard

Howard has had his share of bumps during his time at Largo. In 2004, the Lions lost in the state Class 4A semifinals in Howard’s first trip to the state Final Four. Last season, the Lions fell short of perfection, suffering their only loss of the season in the Class 3A semifinals. But with the nucleus of that team still intact this season Howard and the Lions won games of all types — close battles and blowouts. Largo won its last two 3A South Region playoff games on the road, including a 49-48 victory at Lackey in the region title game. The Lions then avenged last year’s state semifinal loss to Bethesda-Chevy Chase, beating the Barons in this year’s semifinals before easily dispatching Long Reach in the title game.

First Team

Will Alston, Laurel: The Spartans could have had a dropoff this year after graduating their two best players from last season, but Alston helped them to the Class 4A semifinals for the first time since 1980. A transfer from Archbishop Spalding, the senior averaged 21 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, helping Laurel to a 22-3 record and the county championship.

Naji Hibbert, DeMatha: On one of the youngest DeMatha squads in years, Hibbert helped the three-time Washington Catholic Athletic Conference champions reach the tournament semifinals. He transferred from St. Frances Academy in Baltimore to a team that was missing five starters to begin the season and averaged 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals and is being recruited by Miami (Fla.) and Syracuse, among others.

Harold Washington, Gwynn Park: The Yellow Jackets went from a middle-of-the-pack squad to one of the best in the state as Washington took off for nearly 19 points and two steals per game. He could drive inside or hit from the outside, as he led the team with 31 3-pointers, and helped Gwynn Park into the Class 2A state tournament for the first time in four years.

Sean Thomas, Gwynn Park: The other half of the Yellow Jackets’ success this year, Thomas put up numbers nearly identical to his teammate in the backcourt. He averaged 18.9 points and had his best game of the year — 30 points on 12 for 13 shooting — in a win against defending County 3A⁄2A⁄1A League champion Largo on Jan. 19, which was key in helping Gwynn Park win 22 straight regular season games.

Thomas Robinson, Riverdale Baptist: A major contributor to the 31-6 Crusaders, Robinson averaged 16 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks, two assists and two steals per game. The junior recorded 23 double-doubles during the season. He was named to the all-tournament team and most outstanding defensive player at the National Association of Christian Athletes tournament and also was selected to the all-tournament team at the Lone Star Invitational.

Klevin Pollard, Largo: Pollard quietly got better as he progressed in his career with the Lions. Last season, he was overshadowed by former Lions Kwame Morgan and Maurice Colter. But the senior’s time came this year as he averaged 21 points, five assists and four rebounds per contest for the state Class 3A champion Lions.

Talib Zanna, Bishop McNamara: The junior came off a serious injury to have a breakout season. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 16 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks during a season removed from a broken ankle. With one more year of high school left, Zanna has drawn interest from schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East and Atlantic 10.

Terrance Burke, Northwestern: Despite the Wildcats’ struggles as a team, the senior quietly established himself as one of the best players in the county over the past two years. Burke carried the Wildcats on his back for stretches as he averaged 24.8 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Burke has drawn interest from a number of Division I schools and has a scholarship offer from Farleigh-Dickinson University.

Jamahl Brown, Surrattsville: The premier scorer in the county, Brown was virtually unstoppable when he decided to shoot the ball from close or long range. The senior averaged 27 points, eight rebounds and five steals per game. Brown averaged 38 points per game in the postseason as he helped lead Surrattsville to the Class 1A state title game. Brown is still evaluating his college options.

Khaalis Coppock-Bey, Fairmont Heights: The only returning starter from last season’s state Class 2A runner-up, Coppock-Bey was the heart of the Hornets’ attack this season. The junior averaged 22.3 points, five rebounds and two assists per game this season. Coppock-Bey scored a season-high 34 points against Frederick Douglass and helped the Hornets make the Class 2A South Region semifinals.

Second Team

Marquise Simmons, Central

Israel Alao, Bladensburg

Jason Burns, Frederick Douglass

Chaune Duffy, Fairmont Heights

Justin Bess, DuVal

Dewayne Jackson, Bowie

Deonte Edmunds and Sedric Baker, Oxon Hill

Rashad Whack, Bishop McNamara

Reggie Young, Laurel

Lasan Kromah and Brenden Straughn, Eleanor Roosevelt

Kenny Tate, DeMatha

Eric Washington, St. Vincent Pallotti

Delonta Boyd, Henry A. Wise

Chandler Davenport, Queen Anne

A.J. Thomas, Friendly

All-county teams are selected by the Gazette-Star sports staff based on our observations, athletes’ performances, statistics and nominations from coaches. Staff writers Terron Hampton, Ted Black and Kevin Hilgers compiled the writeups on these pages.

March 24, 2008

Washington Becomes a Bobcat 

James Quinn
MDVarsity.com Staff

Gwynn Park's outstanding senior All-County guard Harold Washington verbally committed to Quinnipiac College on March 21.

Harold Washington

Quinnipiac is a Division I-A college located in Hamden, Connecticut. The Bobcats play in the Northeast Conference (NEC), which was represented in the NCAA Tournament by Mount St. Mary's College.

The 6-foot-1 Washington averaged 19 points, five rebounds, two steals and four assists for Gwynn Park as a senior. He it 35 percent of his three-point field goal attempts and had a single game high of 34 points this season.

Washington was First team All-County in Prince George's County this year and received All-Met Honors. Washington has also been selected to play in the Capital Classic Preliminary game in April.

Quinnipiac has increasingly recruited the Washington D.C. and Baltimore area in the last few years and landing Washington, an athletic wing guard with tremendous shooting range, is a major coup for the Bobcats.

Throughout the course of this season, a large number of local prep basketball players in the D.C. area mentioned Quinnipiac as a college that they were considering. Quinnipiac head coach Tom Moore, a former assistant coach at UConn, already has several former D.C. area prep hoops products on the current Bobcat roster.

Washington, along with backcourt mate Sean Thomas, who was recently chosen First Team All-Met by the Washington Post, led Gwynn Park to a 25-2 record this year. The Yellow Jackets had a tremendous run through Prince George's County this season, including a pair of convincing wins over eventual Maryland 3A Champion Largo, before losing to Winters Mill, 58-56, on a buzzer beater in the 2A Semifinals at the Comcast Center.

The Yellow Jackets were ranked No. 8 in the Washington Post's Final Top Twenty Rankings. Thomas is expected to commit to a Division I college very soon, as well.

Yellow Jacket coach Mike Glick, who previously built private school hoops powers at Catholic Schools Pallotti and Archbishop Spalding before arriving at Gwynn Park two years ago told MdVarsity.com.,

"He picked a perfect school in Quinnipiac," Yellow Jacket head coach Mike Glick said. "He is a great fit for the school and the basketball program. Coach Moore is going to do a great job up there. He recruited Rudy Gay (now in the NBA after two stellar years at UConn) to UConn when I had Rudy at Spalding. Coach Moore recruited Harold as a two, which is Harold's natural position. He is kind of an undersized two guard, but he has enough size to be a wing guard in that league. Harold still has a lot of upside. Like I said, I think he'll do great there – I couldn't be happier for him."

Glick added that Washington is a full academic qualifier for college freshman eligibility. Washington ultimately chose Quinnipiac over Hampton University and Morgan State, two fast rising MEAC programs.

"Harold also had some interest from some larger colleges, like George Mason," Glick said. "If he had decided to prep for a year to see if he could get a little more college exposure with a prep year, some other colleges definitely would have come in and recruited him, but Harold was (academically) qualified and Quinnipiac was a great fit."

Loyola College also recruited Washington and reportedly would have recruited him in 2008-2009 if he had gone to prep school.

"They (Quinnipiac) are going to be a very good program in the Northeast Conference, said Glick. "And I think that Harold can be a part of their success. I think he has a chance to help them some right away."

EDITOR'S NOTE: MDVarsity.com's James Quinn went In the Gym early this year to profile the 2007-2008 Gwynn Park team and did separate profiles on coach Mike Glick's outstanding senior guards Sean Thomas and Harold Washington. Both the Yellow Jacket team and their stellar backcourt lived up to their advance billing as Gwynn Park went 25-2 and advanced to the Maryland State 2A Semifinals at the Comcast Center in mid-March.

Posted at 2:15 PM ET, 03/21/2008

Gwynn Park Guard to Quinnipiac

From Josh Barr:

Gwynn Park guard Harold Washington took an unofficial visit and committed this morning to play for Quinnipiac, Gwynn Park Coach Mike Glick reports. Quinnipiac is coached by Tom Moore, who recruited Rudy Gay to Connecticut. Gay played for Glick at Spalding.

Quinnipiac Scores A Pair
DeAndre Bynum		By Dave Telep National Recruiting Director Posted Mar 23, 2008 Tom Moore's Quinnipiac program scored a pair of commitments this weekend. One of them was former Memphis standout DeAndre Bynum, a 6-foot-5 senior.
The crew from Quinnipiac struck twice this weekend. DeAndre Bynum, a wing, and Harold Washington, a combo guard, both committed to Tom Moore’s program from the Class of 2008. Bynum, a former Memphis (Tenn.) White Station standout, transferred to Camp Hills (Md.) Progressive Christian this season. Washington, who will play in the Capital Classic all-star game, averaged 19 points a game at Gwynn Park High School. Hampton offered Washington and George Mason was said to be taking a peek. Regardless, Moore’s program appealed the most to Washington. “It’s a beautiful facility,” Washington said. “I loved the coach’s plan for the program. It’s a program that is going somewhere. It seems like the school is putting a lot of money into the basketball program and the coaches are looking for players to build the program.” Washington knew of Bynum before the pair verballed but it’s been a while since he’s seen him play. “I saw him on the AAU circuit but other than that I don’t really know him. He told me that he felt the same way I did about the school.”

No. 12 Winters Mill 58, Gwynn Park 56

Lesniak's buzzer-beater sends Winters Mill to final

By Rich Scherr | Special to The Sun

March 15, 2008

Gwynn Park buzzer-beaten in 2A semis

Sean Thomas squatted and pulled his jersey to his face 15 feet from the basket at Comcast Center, between the elbow and the 3-point line. It was the very spot where the senior’s Gwynn Park High School basketball team saw its season come to a dramatic end in the Class 2A semifinals Friday night.

Then Lesniak, double-teamed just inside the 3-point line, fell back and put up a prayer of a shot that arched high into the air and dropped through the net, ending Gwynn Park’s season with a 58-56 defeat.

There were no tears or lamentations among the Yellow Jackets (25-2), who had the most wins of any team in the county and were aiming for their first state title in 20 years. But the buzzer-beater was emotionally draining.

‘‘I don’t think there are any words to describe it,” said senior Harold Washington. ‘‘You hope it works out, but unfortunately it didn’t.”

The Falcons (21-5), in their first-ever appearance at the state tournament, defeated two-time defending champion Randallstown, 54-47, for the 2A title Saturday.

Thomas led Gwynn Park with 18 points, Washington scored 15 and Mark Penn had 10 points, including two 3-pointers. But the Yellow Jackets shot 39 percent and went 10 for 21 from the free-throw line, missing three of their last five while Winters Mill rallied from an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit.

They also were outrebounded, 40-32, by the Falcons, who had a good combination of size and shooting skill that challenged Gwynn Park’s defense. Cammeron Woodyard, a 6-foot-5 Penn State recruit, scored 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds. Rashad Blackwell, 6-6, had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

‘‘They’re a great team. You don’t get here unless you’re a great team,” said Gwynn Park coach Mike Glick. ‘‘Cammeron Woodyard’s a great player, probably the best player we’ve played against all season. I thought they had an excellent game plan, but at the same time I thought our kids played great.”

Gwynn Park’s tallest player, 6-5 senior Ronnell Leggett, almost wasn’t available. He was cleared to play by his doctor before the game after breaking an orbital bone when he was elbowed in the face in the South Region final last weekend. He stepped in for seven points, five rebounds and a block.

Lesniak’s basket was the final stroke of the Falcons’ game-ending rally, which came just when Gwynn Park appeared to be pulling away in the back-and-forth contest.

Neither team led by more than six entering the fourth quarter. Gwynn Park broke ahead for its largest lead of the game, 52-44 with 4 1⁄2 minutes left, when Leggett and Cory Anderson made back-to-back layups and Thomas drove from baseline to baseline.

But the Falcons made sure that wouldn’t be the decisive run. Winters Mill crawled out of the deficit with five straight free throws, then Lesniak grabbed an offensive rebound and dished to Blackwell for a layup that put the Falcons within one.

Thomas went 1 for 2 from the foul line on Gwynn Park’s next possession, and Blackwell made a turnaround shot at the other end to tie the game for the first time since the third quarter.

Washington scored inside with two minutes left and was fouled, but he missed the shot. Kendall Dorsey hit a huge 3-pointer with 1 1⁄2 minutes remaining to give Winters Mill a one-point lead.

Gwynn Park, which had struggled to get inside shots to fall all night, missed three in a row on its next possession before Thomas was fouled going after a rebound. He made one free throw to tie the game with just over a minute left.

Glick said even without his team’s untimely shooting slump, there was no guarantee the Yellow Jackets would have coasted to a win.

‘‘I don’t think that if we make those shots we’re going to pull away,” he said. ‘‘I think you had two totally evenly matched teams. I thought Winters Mill had strength inside, I thought our guard play was excellent. I just thought that the game could have gone either way.”

But after Thomas’ free throw, the Falcons waited for the last shot. They got it in improbable fashion.

‘‘This wasn’t a game where we lost the game,” Glick said. ‘‘It was a great high school basketball game. Their players stepped up and made a few shots. But I couldn’t be prouder of my players.”

E-mail Kevin Hilgers at khilgers@gazette.net.