For 61 years, Carroll County high school boys basketball was Maryland?s also-ran and afterthought.
If the drought for a county team winning a state championship had lasted one more year, it would have qualified for social security.
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There was no reason to expect Winters Mill to be the team to end such a streak of futility in the Class 2A State Tournament. The Falcons had six losses, and weren?t going to make it past Prince George?s County?s Gwynn Park in the semifinals.
No way. No how.
Basketball fans across the state already had engraved the trophy for the Yellow Jackets, who had gone 25-1 playing in a county that?s nationally known for producing great players. If for some reason a miracle happened, then the Class? two-time defending champion, Randallstown, would likely be waiting for the Falcons in the final.
Again, there was no chance Winters Mill would beat the Rams, who had won the 3A title in 2005, the year before they moved to 2A to begin their back-to-back title run.
It would take a run worthy of Villanova during the 1985 NCAA Men?s Basketball Tournament or an upset on the level of the New York Giants beating the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII for Winters Mill to leave Comcast Center a champion.
The impossible needed to happen at the Comcast Center in College Park this past weekend.
And it did.
Coach David Herman?s squad vanquished both of those Maryland basketball giants en route to claiming Carroll?s first state championship since Harry Truman was president of the United States.
The Falcons? tournament run brought madness to March. The 58-56 victory over Gwynn Park Friday featured a game-winning shot by guard Devon Lesniak that called to mind Bryce Drew?s buzzer-beater in Valparaiso?s upset of Ole Miss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 1998.
The 54-47 shocker over Randallstown in the title game was like Duke taking down undefeated, defending champion UNLV in the Final Four in 1991.
About the only person who could say he expected his team his team to slay so many dragons, was Herman.
Even that is hard to believe.
“We?re a new school, we come from an area that [hasn?t won] in 61 years,” Herman acknowledged. “I know how good they are and how good they could be. I?m not going to sit here and say this is something I predicted or whatever, but I know they have a lot of ability and I believe in them a lot.”
Herman was right. If basketball junkies didn?t know about Penn State-bound guard Cammeron Woodyard before, they certainly do now. His 35 points and 21 rebounds during the two games couldn?t be overlooked.
Randallstown coach Kim Rivers routinely sees some of the best talent in the state, and sometimes the country playing in highly competitive Baltimore County league. He called Woodyard, “probably the best player we played against all year, all around.”
Not only are Maryland high school basketball teams aware of Woodyard now, they?ve been put on notice.
Carroll County teams, much like Howard County?s once-underestimated boys? basketball teams, aren?t doormats anymore. They can play and they can win state championships ? even if it takes 61 years to do it.
Matt Palmer is a staff writer for The Examiner who regularly writes columns about the NFL, Major League Baseball and other sports. He can be reached at [email protected].
