More News

With 2.3 seconds left in Thursday's Class 4A boys basketball state semifinal and his Blue Devils clinging to a two-point lead, Springbrook senior guard DeShaunt Walker went to the line for a pair of double-bonus free throws.

Before stepping to the line, Walker turned and said a few timely words to teammates Enerio Jones and Devon Pestano: "This is where big-time players make big-time shots."

True to his statement, Walker calmly stepped up and sank both free throws at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center to clinch Springbrook's 52-48 victory over Eleanor Roosevelt (19-6, Prince George's County) and a third-straight trip to the 4A state final. Springbrook (24-1) is the two-time defending champion.

"I envisioned me going to the line and just knocking them both down," Walker said. "I knew it was going to be big. One was going to be critical but I knew two would put it way."

The late free throws by Walker capped a game-high 18 points on 5 of 10 shooting from the field, including 3 for 5 from 3-point range, and 5 of 6 shooting from the line. He started so strong in the first half Roosevelt went to a box-and-one defense to slow him down.

"He's very big for us," said Springbrook coach Tom Crowell. "He gives a lot of leadership; he's a very solid player out there offensively and defensively. He's very important. He's the backbone of our team this year."

Walker was anything but a one-man show. Jones made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 31.9 seconds and Pestano made one with 9.6 seconds left for a 50-46 lead. Roosevelt's Alex Bates (seven points, 10 rebounds) converted a layup with three seconds left and after a Raiders timeout, they fouled Walker.

Springbrook will now play Old Mill, which beat Urbana, Saturday at 8 p.m. at Comcast. A win Saturday would put the Blue Devils in elite company. Only Gwynn Park (1968-70) and Dunbar (2003-06) have won three straight boys titles since the introduction of classifications.

"I don't think anyone envisioned success like this," Crowell said. "We have very good players at Springbrook. We've been fortunate. We've won a lot of close games. We've been blessed."

Walker's solid performance started from the opening tipoff, as he erupted for eight first-quarter points to help Springbrook forge a 10-10 tie in what was a sloppy start to a sloppy game. Springbrook shot 40 percent from the field, while Roosevelt made just 34 percent of its attempts.

Walker and Jones led the Blue Devils to a 20-12 lead early in the second quarter, but the Raiders went on a 12-4 run that ended with a buzzer-beating layup by Howard Wilder to tie it at halftime. The box-and-one (four players in a zone defense and one shadowing Walker) threw Springbrook off balance.

"You have to give Eleanor Roosevelt credit tonight," Crowell said. "That gave us a little problem there for a while. It took us two or three different offenses and we drew up three or four offenses at halftime but we finally settled on the spread offense at halftime."

The Blue Devils, through the inside play of Demetric Austin (five points, five rebounds in the third quarter) and some stingy defense, opened up a 35-31 lead after three quarters. Several minutes spanned between field goals for the Raiders but they remained close after Chaun Miller (15 points) nailed an off-balance 3-pointer late in the quarter.

"It hurts right now but I couldn't be more proud of my teammates," said Miller, who is one of several players set to return for the Raiders next season.