Any time the boys basketball teams of in-town rivals Walt Whitman and Bethesda-Chevy Chase high schools collide, an easy victory is never expected. Add in the stakes of a regional championship and it becomes an impossibility.
With less than 90 seconds remaining in Tuesday’s Class 4A West II Final, a Walt Whitman lead that sat at eight points minutes earlier had withered down to one. Walt Whitman guard Thomas Farrell had the ball near the top of the key when he spotted a gap to the left of the hoop. The senior drove to the basket, absorbed a foul and made the layup, causing a thunderous ovation from the home supporters with 1:18 left in the fourth quarter. Farrell marched to the foul line and converted the impending free-throw, extending the Viking lead to two possessions.
When Walt Whitman needed a bucket, its team captain and leading scorer provided a momentum-swinging three-point play as the Vikings defeated the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons 59-54 to win their first regional title since the 2015-16 season.
“It feels great, I haven’t been here before,” Farrell said minutes after the final buzzer. “The last two years I’ve been on varsity, we lost in the semis, and then the semis again, and then we were here and I knew I had to make something.”
Tuesday’s game marked the third time these two teams met this season. On Jan. 12, the Vikings overcame a 10-point halftime deficit for a 58-53 victory. Over a month later, on Feb. 16, Bethesda-Chevy Chase won 74-62.
Falling to the Barons on Feb. 16 was a main factor in Walt Whitman missing out on a spot in the Montgomery County Championship game. As a result of the loss, the Vikings were part of a four-way coin toss with Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Paint Branch and John F. Kennedy high schools that decided who got an opportunity to play Magruder High for the county crown. Bethesda-Chevy Chase won the coin toss and defeated the Colonels on Feb. 23.
With the sting of a missed opportunity still fresh, Walt Whitman was determined to not let another defeat to Bethesda-Chevy Chase be the reason they miss out on another championship.
“This game was personal and something I knew I wasn’t going to lose,” said Titian DeRosa, who led the Vikings with 21 points. “I’d rather die on this court than lose this game.”
The junior was one of four Vikings players in double-figures. Farrell had 15 points, Evan Brown added 11 and Sean Curran was a strong presence on the interior, scoring 10 points.
This is head coach Chris Lun’s fourth region championship as coach of the Vikings. Walt Whitman moves on to the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) quarterfinals, where it will be pitted against the seven other 4A region champions. The Vikings will find out their first opponent Wednesday morning, as they aim to win their first state championship since 2006.
“If we can compete with a team like [Bethesda-Chevy Chase] we can compete with anyone in the state,” Lun said. “Whoever we end up playing, we’re going to show up, we’re going to play team basketball and give it our best effort.”
Richard Montgomery High defeats John F. Kennedy High
Coach David Breslaw’s Richard Montgomery team did not have an easy path to a regional title. Between injuries, fatigue and what he described as one of the toughest schedules of any public high school program in the state, the obstacles were plentiful for the Rockets. After a 58-49 victory over John F. Kennedy, Richard Montgomery is the 4A West Region II Champions for the third time in program history.
This is the Rockets’ first regional crown since back-to-back titles in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. Richard Montgomery lost five of their six games, between Jan. 30 and Feb, 16, but have rebounded to win four in a row heading into the state quarterfinals.
“We just got really worn down near the end of the season and took a lot of losses. To know that we can come back from that is really encouraging,” Breslaw said in a phone interview after his team’s victory.
Richard Montgomery was led by 18 points from Dante Mayo Jr., 15 points from Tavaras Vaughn-Cooper and Khalil Wilson added 13.
The last time a Richard Montgomery boys basketball team won a state title was 1966.
Thomas S. Wootton, Poolesville win titles
Thomas S. Wootton High of Rockville defeated James Hubert Blake High 64-54 to win the Class West 3A II title. Poolesville High defeated Hammond High 71-49 to win the 2A West II title.
Wootton will travel to face St. Charles in the quarterfinals of the 3A tournament, while Poolesville will visit Middletown in the 2A.