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The Thomas Stone boys basketball team is different this year. Thursday's 76-53 win over Blake in the Class 3A state semifinals at the Comcast Center in College Park to clinch a second state final berth in three years proved it.

The Cougars (23-1, Charles County) gained a reputation as poor closers in big games over the last two years. Stone let slip an 18-point second-half lead against Springbrook in the 2008 4A final and gave up a late advantage in a loss to Wise in last year's semifinals.

But Thursday, the Cougars shrugged off an error-riddled third quarter to finish the Bengals (19-4) in the fourth. Stone will play Milford Mill, 69-41 winners over Stephen Decatur in the other semifinal, Saturday at the Comcast Center for the state title.

Thursday's loss certainly is not how the Bengals envisioned their season ending. But the Class 3A West Region champions feel they surpassed outside expectations.

"We thought we'd be playing here," said Blake coach Marcus Wiggins. "If you ask anyone else, they probably would have thought differently. But at no time did we think we wouldn't be playing here."

The Bengals made it to Thursday's state semifinal without second-leading scorer Carlton Agwu (13 points per game), who dislocated his arm two weeks ago. Agwu was back Thursday and scored seven points.

"He was just cleared [Wednesday] to play," Wiggins said. "That thing was bad. If you would have seen it, you might have fainted. But this kid has the highest threshold of pain I've ever seen. We made a promise to him that he had to get cleared and we would make it to Comcast."

Senior point guard Max Hedgepeth, who had three assists Thursday, and Agwu were integral parts of Blake's run this season, but the Bengals return all but four players next year, including three three-year contributors, and stand a good chance of returning to College Park.

Like most of Blake's opponents this season, Stone held significant advantages in size and experience. But the Cougars know how to use their size and put together a complete game.

They outrebounded Blake, 48-35. Stephen Battle scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Johnson tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds and guard Leandre Smith, who provides strength around the perimeter, added 11 points.

"We watched tape on them and we knew they were big," said Blake junior Ryan Frazier. "But they're not only big, they're real good. We weren't intimidated, though. We played our hardest."

Blake's only real hope Thursday was its scrappy guard play and outside shooting. Juniors Brandon Hedley (23 points) and Frazier (15) led the Bengals in scoring, but shot a combined 4 of 23 from 3-point range.

"They attacked us in the middle and we knew they would be strong in the post," Wiggins said. "We did not finish our buckets and they did."

A slow start set the Bengals back by 12 points in the first quarter and 32-14 at halftime. They implemented a full-court press in the second half to force some turnovers and go on a bit of a run to get themselves within nine points midway through the fourth, but the Cougars responded to pull away late.

"Maybe the guys were trying to make it interesting for me," said Stone coach Dale Lamberth. "But they did a good job bouncing back. They did not get rattled. And that is how I know we're a different team than last year, no matter what happens Saturday."