COLLEGE PARK, Md. — For the first time in three years our area high school basketball players were able to play for the ultimate prize, a state championship.
The past two state finals were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two games took place on Friday night at Xfinity Center.
Lake Clifton defeated Edmondson/Westside 60-46 in the boys 1A state final.
Lakers guard Quinton Monroe had 22 points to lead all scorers. Myles McDuffie added 15 for the champs.
Josiah Brown netted 21 points for Edmondson.
"It feels amazing, we did this for a lot of reasons," said McDuffle. "We work hard every day, nobody works like us. We’re going to keep it like that forever."
"We stuck to what we do and they couldn’t take us away from what we do and that was the key," said Lakers Head Coach Herman Tree Harried. "We stayed resilient. We dealt with adversity. We dealt with some ups and downs."
It is the third straight state title for Lake Clifton. They also won the past two state titles, before the pandemic, in 2018 and 2019. Harried earned his sixth state championship. He has won a title in each classification.
In the second game of the evening Western defeated Clarksburg 81-68 to capture the girls 4A state championship.
Doves guard Ny'Ceara Pryor exploded for 40 points. Western's Gabrielle Johnson added 29.
It is Western's first state championship since 1995. They took home the title with only seven players on their roster.
