No. 9 C.M. Wright beats Huntingtown, 61-52
COLLEGE PARK — The C. Milton Wright boys basketball team is headed to a state championship game for the first time after a 61-52 victory over Huntingtown in the Class 3A semifinal game Thursday afternoon at Maryland’s Xfinity Center.
The No. 9 Mustangs will meet Stephen Decatur in Saturday’s title game at 3 p.m.
C. Milton Wright senior Corey Bays led the way, going 9-for-9 from the foul line, including 6-for-6 in the fourth quarter, to finish with a game-high 25 points.
“My teammates really get me the ball in scoring position, so I’ve got to give all the credit to them,” Bays said. “At this stage of the game, every team’s good, so you’ve got to do the little things well. You’ve really got to make foul shots, and I was able to hit all mine.”
Kyle Harkins (10 points), Dante Brown (seven) and Chris Lorenzo (nine) also made free throws in the fourth quarter. The Mustangs went 22-for-29 in the game. Huntingtown finished 6-for-12.
The Mustangs (23-3) and Hurricanes (21-6) battled nearly evenly in the first half. Malik Jackson’s steal and layup in the half’s final 10 seconds, however, ended a 6-0 run and gave C. Milton Wright a 28-23 lead at the break.
The Hurricanes closed to within two points twice in the third quarter, but the Mustangs, behind clutch free-throw shooting, pulled away in the fourth.
Just a year ago, the Mustangs fell in their first-ever trip to the state tourney, 75-61, to Centennial in the semifinal game. Thursday’s outcome was different.
“We talked about it all week, about being here before and finishing what we started,” Mustangs coach Jon Stefanides said. “Just watching the bus ride down, how much different it was from last year, how they looked a lot calmer than they did in the past. And then on the court we talked a lot about just be yourself and everything will be fine. They did, they were themselves today.”
A dunk by Brown pushed the lead to 42-35 with six minutes to play. The Hurricanes closed to within 43-39 on Brandon Easton’s 3-pointer. But Lorenzo made his only 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.
The Mustangs were sent to the line with 2:47 remaining. Bays hit both ends of the one-and-one for a 52-43 lead.
Bays connected on two additional oneand-one opportunities and gave the Mustangs 10-point leads.
Huntingtown did get the lead down to 57-52, but with just 18.9 seconds left. Harkins and Lorenzo each hit a pair of free throws to finish the scoring.
Will Bailey came off the bench to give the Mustangs a lift on the boards. Bailey had 10 rebounds, Bays eight and Brown six. Eleven rebounds came on the offensive end, ending in several second and third shots. The Mustangs out-rebounded the Hurricanes 37-31.
Bryan Easton scored 15 points to pace three Hurricanes in double figures. Brandon Easton added 12 and Davaughn Reid had 10.