In Gwynn Park's third appearance in the state final four in the last four years, the Yellow Jackets' dreams of winning the 2A championship were shattered again as they fell to Digital Harbor 75-45.

Digital Harbor opened the game on a 7-0 run and never looked backed. Afterwards, their coach Johnnie Grimes talked about his defensive strategy against Gwynn Park's star guard Brandon Ford. "He's the one that makes them go - he does it all. We just needed to take him out of the game," he said.

Ford couldn't find his rhythm, Gwynn Park senior forward Tion Barnes picked up two quick fouls, and the team shot only 29 percent in the first half. Still, Gwynn Park went into the half only down 29-18.

The third quarter is where Digital Harbor ran away with the game, though, as Gwynn Park's poor shooting continued in the 2^nd half. The Yellow Jackets missed layups, midrange jump shots and 3 pointers; Gwynn Park shot an awful 14-58 from the field overall.

Their poor shooting led to many fast break points for Digital Harbor. Gwynn Park struggled with its transition defense and on the glass, they were out-rebounded 49-29.

And the easy transition buckets buried them into a deficit they could not overcome.

The Yellow Jackets started the fourth quarter down 53-32 and their hopes of making it to tomorrow's 2A final slowly dwindled away.

Despite being down big in the fourth quarter, Gwynn Park's effort never lessened. "I was still enjoying the game, it was my final game," said Ford. "I wish I was still playing right now."

Senior guard Daniel Henry led the Yellow Jackets with 15 points and three rebounds, while Barnes added nine and seven. And Digital Harbor junior forward Antonio Manns led all scorers with 16 points and added 11 rebounds.

After having a season full of ups and downs, a tough conference schedule and being battle tested in Maryland's state tournament, Gwynn Park, the Maryland Class 2A South Regional Champs, finished the season 17-9.