Mike Mathews
Cumberland Times-News
— COLLEGE PARK — Allegany’s dreams of a perfect year came to a halt Friday, but it took a near-perfect second-half performance by Dunbar’s Derrell Edwards to do it.
Edwards, held to two points until the final minutes of the first half, finished with a game-high 33 and a state tournament record seven 3-point goals in leading the Poets to a 67-56 victory over the Campers in the Class 1A state semifinals at the Comcast Center.
Dunbar (18-5) will play Owings Mills in today’s 1 p.m. championship game, which pits the 11-time state champion Poets against a team making its first state tournament appearance. Owings Mills edged Snow Hill 44-42 in the other semifnial.
Casey Roberts had 28 points, nine rebounds, five steals and three assists — all team highs — for Allegany, which finished 23-1.
The Campers matched the Poets point-for-point and then some throughout the first half and led 24-18 after a shot by Adam Boor two minutes left in the second quarter.
Edwards, averaging 19 points per game, was just 1-for-6 for two points at the time, but hit back-to-back 3-pointers as the Poets scored eight straight points to take a 26-24 halftime lead.
Edwards, after the 1-for-6 start, went 9-for-13 the rest of the way. He missed his first four 3-point tries, and was 7-for-9 over the final 18 minutes. His seven 3-pointers tied the single-game record set by Westmar’s Mac Sloan in 1993 and matched by Southwestern’s Cornelius McMurray in 1997.
Allegany, winless in five tries against the Baltimore power, seemed to have all the bases covered until the late first-half spurt led by Edwards. No other Poet scored more than seven points.
“They didn’t present anything to us that we didn’t know about. We were well prepared for them,’’ said Allegany coach Tedd Eirich. “Derrell Edwards was just outrageous. From all the scouts we had on him we knew he was a good shooter, but we never saw him do the things he did today. We had guys in his face and he was burying 3-pointers a couple feet beyond the 3-point line. He was the difference. Nobody else on their team hurt us. He was just incredible today.”
Edwards was 10-for-19 from the floor, the rest of the Dunbar team, 14-for-36. He was 6-for-8 from the foul line, his teammates, 3-for-8. The 6-foot-3 senior was 7-for-13 from the 3-point line, the other 11 Poets that played, 3-for-12.
“I had no idea of the record,’’ Edwards said. “But as a shooter, you know when you’re on. I was rushing things in the first half. I had to calm down, and knew if I calmed down it would help my teammates do the same. The first three ... I didn’t feel like it was going in when I shot it. But when it did I said to myself, ‘that’s all I needed to get started.’”
From that point, he was almost a one-man team, at least on the offensive end of the floor for Dunbar. He had two 3-point goals and a 3-point play in the third quarter, which ended 47-38, then scored 16 of Dunbar’s 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Allegany played a 2-3 zone until the final minutes, and it worked especially well in the first half. But the Poets, after a 26-point first half, scored 41 points in the second.
“I think the difference in the first half was we were allowing them to set up their zone,’’ said Dunbar coach Cyrus Jones. “We needed some transition buckets and fast break points. We were not able to do that in the first half. In the second half we were, and we got them on their heels a bit.”
The Campers trailed by 12 (47-35) late in the third but roared back behind a 3-point play by Boor, and a jumper and 3-pointer by Roberts to close to within 47-43 with 6:55 to go.
But while Edwards scored Dunbar’s next 15 points with three 3-pointers, four free throws and a dunk, the Campers went 5-for-13 from the foul line the rest of the way.
“We had horrible foul shooting in the second half, and missed the front ends of a number of one-and-ones,’’ said Eirich. “You can’t beat Dunbar if you miss free throws. You have to play the perfect game, and we failed at that.”
Roberts had 22 of his 28 points in the second half. Dustin Wharton had 12 points, and Jordan Grady nine points and five rebounds.
“I’m proud of my players. They did things in Allegany history that had never happened before. These seniors gave everything they had. I was concerned about us coming out and playing scared in this game, and we did the absolute opposite of that,’’ Eirich said.
“We fought them tooth and nail the whole game. Even when they got up by 10 or so on us we fought back and never gave up. I’ll never forget the wonderful ride these kids let me go on with them this year, and last year. There’s nothing bad to say about this group of seniors.”
Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. He can be reached at mmathews@times-news.com.
