City College and Laurel Rally for Epic Wins in Maryland State Basketball Championships

City overcomes 18-Point deficit to claim 3A Title, while Laurelends 45-Year drought with dominant 4A victory

Baltimore City boys basketball won the Maryland Class 3A state championship Saturday. The Knights rallied from a 18-point deficit late in the first half to defeat Sherwood, 70-61, at the University of Maryland. / Derek Toney

College Park, Md. - There was a common theme in Saturday’s Maryland state boys basketball championships. 

No lead was safe. Baltimore City College and Laurel posted stirring come-from-behind victories at the University of Maryland’s XFINITY Center. 

The Spartans won the Class 4A crown with a 68-53 decision over Walt Whitman while City defeated Sherwood, 70-61, for the 3A title.

Here are some takeaways from Saturday’s championship finales

City was able to stay composed to overtake Sherwood

Unlike some of his coaching mentors, City College coach Omarr Smith rarely screams or animated on the sidelines. It didn’t change with the weight of a 18-point second half deficit and a rabid Sherwood audience bearing down.

“It’s just one of them things, lessons we learned all season to fight because we have nothing left to do,” Smith Sr. said. “We preached 32 minutes since we realized we were coming to the championship game. So I just told them we just had to get back out there and fight.”

The Knights (22-5 overall) outscored Sherwood, 47-24, in the second half to win their second 3A title in three seasons. The Baltimore (Md.) school was down 18 points late in the first half after a 23-0 spurt by the Warriors. City’s 2-2-1 zone full-court defensive press overwhelmed Sherwood in the second half.

The comeback started with 3-pointers from Jaden Hargrove and Jordan Rowlett in the final minute before halftime. 

Hargrove, a junior, went 3-for-5 from the field, including two 3-pointers.

“He’s our energy guy,” Hammond said of Hargrove. “When I see that Jaden is in a groove and into the game, it kind of just makes all of us [think], like it’s our last 16 minutes of the season and we knew we all had one goal, to win the state championship.”

Omarr Smith Jr. finally wins a title with his father

When Omarr Smith Jr. transferred from Archbishop Curley two years ago, he wanted to win a championship with his dad. After several misses, the New Mexico State University-bound guard/forward got to share the moment with his dad after his final high school game. 

“This is what I came here to do and it means everything to me. Winning the state championship with a parent as a coach, not a lot of people get to do that, so I’m not taking it for granted,” said Smith Jr. 

The Knights reached the Baltimore City league title game in 2025 and 2024 losing to Edmondson, which has a father-son duo with coach Darnell Dantzler and guard Darnell “DJ” Dantzler Jr. 

Smith finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and three steals for Saturday for City, which was upset in the 3A North Region playoffs last season. 

Laurel completes a meteoric and measured championship rise

For about three decades, Laurel has been an afterthought in the Prince George’s County (Md.) league, arguably the toughest boys basketball league in Maryland.

Not anymore. The Spartans (25-2) are champions for the first time since 1980. 

“They had an idea and a dream,” said Laurel second-year Eric Hines. “They believed in it, and they chased that dream. That’s what we said: ‘Chase the dream, chase the dream.’ And that’s what they did.”

Down 10-2, Laurel went on a 40-12 run over the final 13 minutes of the first half. The Spartans became the first Prince George’s County’s team outside of Eleanor Roosevelt (titles in 2022, 2019, 2016) to win a state title since 2014 (Henry A. Wise).

The road to Saturday’s coronation started four years ago in Laurel’s basketball office when then-freshmen Christian Brown, Amadou Kaloga and Jermaine Taylor each wrote the goal of winning a state championship. 

Hines, who was previously an assistant, fostered the culture with books, specifically “As a Man Thinketh,” an early 1900s self-help book by James Allen.

“Basketball, it’s a mental game. I mean, the physical aspect helps, too,” Brown said. “Once you have negative thoughts, it brings you and your team down and as a collective y’all just fall off. Today, we came in with a good mind.”

A mind of a champion. 

It was some really bad “Mojo” for MoCo hoops Saturday

Sherwood and Walt Whitman came to Gary Williams Court Saturday hoping to end the Montgomery County (Md.) league’s 13-year state championship drought. 

It fell excruciating apart. Sherwood led by 14 points at halftime before City rallied in the second half. 

The Warriors (25-3) finished with 22 turnovers as they struggled with City’s pressure in the second half.

“I wanted them to press…some passes were a little high, we weren’t in the right position,” said Sherwood coach Tom Sheahin. “I don’t know if the court made a big difference. It seemed like we got a little tired and winded.” 

It was deja vu all over again for Walt Whitman (22-5), which got off to a 10-2 start before leaving Gary Williams Court at halftime down 22 points. Last year, Whitman jumped out to a 10-3 lead against Frederick.

About a minute later, Whitman was behind and ended up down, 37-19 at halftime.

“We shot 22-percent in the first half and that makes it tough to win,” said Whitman coach Chris Lun, whose team went one-of-14 in the second quarter. “Laurel’s big and they’re quick..they’re a No. 1 seed for a reason. We played them last year and know how good they were and they came ready to play.”