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."