Dunbar misses final for 1st time since 2000

Snow Hill 63 No. 15 Dunbar 54

Varsity basketball Boys 1A semifinals

COLLEGE PARK -- Part of wearing a maroon Poets jersey is being part of a rich basketball tradition.

No. 15 Dunbar is known for being one of the best teams in Maryland when it comes to boys basketball state championship success.

But being part of such tradition also means incredible expectations are constantly put on high school players' shoulders. Yesterday at Comcast Center, the Poets couldn't keep up with the speed of the guards of Snow Hill of Worcester County. They were crushed at the free-throw line and lost, 63-54.

The loss means the Poets won't qualify for the state championship game, the first time that has happened since 2000 and just the second time since 1993. Snow Hill will play Surrattsville of Prince George's County in the 1A state championship game today at Comcast Center at 1 p.m. Surrattsville beat Fort Hill of Allegany County, 83-64, yesterday.

"We've never had the opportunity to play Dunbar and personally ... it was a big challenge," Snow Hill coach Allen Miller said. "I was looking forward to it. We knew the history, and I was just proud to have the opportunity to play them. I wanted to see how good our program really was."

Snow Hill (27-0) uses a small lineup consisting of five guards that did damage by driving to the paint for easy baskets. Guards Darryle Dennis (23 points), Keith Jackson (13 points) and Trevon Johnson (15 points) were all effective for the Eagles.

The game was sloppy in the first half, with both teams playing transition basketball rather than using half-court sets. The Poets were down by as many as nine points, but a baseline drive and dunk by Sean Farr sparked a 9-4 run to end the half with Snow Hill up 28-26.

Dunbar (16-9) was down just one point going into the fourth quarter but started to fall behind when it couldn't limit Snow Hill's penetration. The Poets switched to a 2-2-1 press with six minutes left in the quarter, and Darrel Edwards scored on a driving basket to make the score 43-38.

On the next possession, Jackson drove, was fouled and made both free throws.

Snow Hill shot 12-for-19 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Dunbar didn't go to the line in the second half and shot just 1-for-4 for the game.

"It was more so us not being aggressive, attacking the basket, settling for jump shots instead of trying to go inside and get the ball to our inside people," first-year Dunbar coach Cyrus Jones said.

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