Cambridge falls in 1A state championship to Edmondson

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Cambridge-South Dorchester fought until the very end. Taking the defending champions to their limits, they ultimately fell to Edmondson-Westside, 69-65.

Defense dominated the opening minutes of the contest, but the Red Storm quickly jumped to an 11-3 advantage. Josiah Brown’s 3-pointer with 2:22 left in the first forced Cambridge head coach Shawn Tucker to call his first timeout.

The storm continued following the timeout, as Edmondson knocked down long distance shots including one from Darnell Dantzler Jr., ending the first quarter ahead by nine.

Koby Ennals dropped a three to open the scoring in the second quarter, then followed it up with a two-hand slam dunk a minute later, cutting the deficit to four. Darren Belizaire hit a shot from the free throw line closing the gap to two.

The defending 1A champs quickly built that lead back up to eight, but Semaj Pinder and Sterling Perkins knocked down back-to-back threes. A Perkins steal and transition lay-up by Ennals tied the game at 23-23 with 45 seconds remaining in the first half. Still, the Red Storm entered halftime with a 28-23 lead, thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Kyrie Sherrod.

The Vikings weathering the storm in the second half found themselves trailing by double-digits once again, but fought back. An Anthony Hughes put-back bucket tied the game at 47-47 at the end of the third quarter.

Ennals tied the game again early in the fourth quarter, minutes later a Semaj Pinder running floater cut the Edmondson lead to one with 4:21 left in the game.

A key call with 3:08 came when a Hughes was called for a charge. The Red Storm continuing to cling to a three-point advantage.

Josiah Brown’s 3-pointer at the 2:45 mark was followed by another from Sherrod, and suddenly the Edmondson lead had ballooned back to nine. Pinder followed with a three of his own twelve seconds later to stop the bleeding.

A Pinder three brought life back to the Vikings with under a minute to play, but at that point trailing by four, Cambridge was forced to foul.

The Vikings finish the 2023-24 season an impressive 25-3 and the MPSSAA 1A boys basketball runners-up.