But when Wolverines coach Renard Johnson learned that his team would have to take on fellow 2A power Gwynn Park for the second time that season in the region semifinals, he became sick.

“I didn’t get any sleep that night,” Johnson said. “I was sick ... I’m serious. I hated it.”

Johnson’s dread for taking on the Yellow Jackets didn’t come from a place of animosity, but rather from a fear of familiarity. Gwynn Park, Douglass, Largo and Potomac made up a group that, for years, had battled for 2A supremacy. Each team knew one another inside and out, and the matchups had become annual heart-stopping affairs, coaches said.

This season, for the second time in three years, Johnson won’t need to worry about another playoff matchup with a 2A rival, as Potomac has moved to the 3A classification. When St. Charles High School (Waldorf) classified as a 2A school over the summer, Potomac, the most populated 2A school at the time, was bumped up to 3A once again in the middle of the cycle. It was a rare occurance since the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association reclassifies every two years.

In 2013 the Wolverines made a run to the 3A state championship game, where they fell to Milford Mill (Baltimore), 84-55. But, as Johnson explained, he won’t be losing any sleep over the move to the higher classification.

“I was more concerned when we went to 2A because [of] the level of competition in our league and the familiarity — that just didn’t feel right,” Johnson said. “It was the most nerve-racking thing ever. ... I’m relieved, to be quite honest, that we’re moving to the 3A.

“By no means am I taking the 3A lightly, but it’s just tough playing in that league and then having to play them in the playoffs.”

Johnson, as it turns out, isn’t the only coach that’s relieved.

“Any time you don’t have to play against Randall Broddie in the playoffs, that’s a sigh of relief,” Gwynn Park coach Mike Glick said.

Though the Wolverines may not have the firepower they boasted on last year’s state championship squad, they still return perhaps the county’s top talent in Broddie. A gritty guard, the senior floor general’s mix of athleticism and intelligence have captivated coaches since the Memphis recruit arrived at Potomac in 2012. Now, after playing with the likes of Dickson and Wiley, Broddie will sit squarely at the helm of the program, a role his coach says the senior is well prepared for.

“He’s been in the program for two years. He has a state championship. He knows what it takes to win those five games at the end,” Johnson said of his star guard. “There are going to be nights where I say, ‘You’ve got to win the game.’”

Broddie will undoubtedly be the subject of most opposing coaches’ gameplans — familiar foes not excluded. Glick and Douglass coach Tyrone Massenburg both watched as Broddie and the Wolverines defeated their teams en route to the regional title — an honor that the perennial powers have taken turns winning over the past few years. Gwynn Park took the 2A title in 2008, 2010 and 2011. Douglass raised the trophy in 2012 and Potomac, in 2014. Now, with Potomac gone, the door is open for a 2A team to restake their claim as the region’s best.

“It’s one less tough team in our region, that’s for sure,” Massenburg said of Potomac’s move. “Them moving on is just tougher for where they move to.”

But the regular season schedule remains intact, guaranteeing more of the back-breaking matchups the rivals have become so accustomed to.

“Douglass, Largo and Gwynn Park give us their best shot every year,” said Broddie, who noted that he’s never beaten Douglass at its gym. “I’m not taking any team for granted, especially those three.”

agutekunst@gazette.net