Gwynn Park's basketball team advanced to the Class 2A state title game against Baltimore's City College, but the Yellow Jackets lost 56-45, as City College captured its second consecutive state title.

Ford even gets reminded of it during the summer AAU season when he plays against players from City College.

"They all wear back-to-back championship shirts every time I see them," he said. "I still haven't gotten over that game."

The Yellow Jackets have begun the process of getting back to the state title game as they play this summer in the Falconers League at Riverdale Baptist High School. They looked in midseason form on Tuesday night as they took apart Charles H. Flowers, 55-25.

Gwynn Park returns its top two players in seniors Ford and forward Tion Barnes. It loses Mike Hemsley, who scored 22 points in the state title game. But the Yellow Jackets have one of the deepest programs in the County 3A/2A/1A League and have several players ready to step into leading roles.

Varsity assistant coach Jarrett Thompson, who is coaching the summer league team, said Gwynn Park is full of players that are ready to have their moment.

"We have guys that have been in this program for years and now they are going to get their opportunity," Thompson said. "This is their year and they are hungry. They want to get back to the state title game and that's all that we have been talking about. The sky is the limit for us."

One of those players who is ready to make an impact is forward Marcel Boyd. The 6-foot-8 junior has spent time in the offseason working on his offensive game. Tuesday night, Boyd looked comfortable in the paint and even ran the fast break a few times. He scored six points in against Flowers and controlled the paint on offense and on defense.

Boyd said he doesn't feel any pressure needing to step into Hemsley's role in the offense and defense.

"We have a lot of good players on the team this year," Boyd said. "We are good from the top player all the way to the ninth-best player. Everyone can be a starter on this team."

But the toughest thing the Yellow Jackets could face in the months leading up to the start of the season is the attention from other teams and fans of basketball in Prince George's County. Ford, Boyd and Thompson all said the key to success for Gwynn Park is working hard and staying humble.

It's something that Ford said the team should be able to handle.

"The biggest things for us is staying disciplined and staying humble," he said. "We are pretty good but at the same time we aren't going to let that make us cocky. We need to keep working hard and if we can do that, hopefully we can make another state title run."

E-mail Joshua Hudson at jhudson@gazette.net.