Fort Hill stopped by Edmondson, 67-51, in Final Four

Mar. 9—ROCKVILLE, Md. — Fort Hill tried to ride out the Red Storm, but in the end, Edmondson wore the Sentinels down.

The Sentinels, making their first trip to the Final Four in 15 years, sunk four first quarter 3-pointers and were within striking distance down 32-25 at the half. However, Edmondson got out of its zone, switched every ball screen and allowed its size and athleticism to go to work.

The 6-foot-8 and 6-10 rim protectors built a Red Storm wall at the rim, and D.J. Dantzler took over to send No. 4 Edmondson past No. 1 Fort Hill, 67-51, in the Class 1A state semifinals Wednesday evening at Richard Montgomery High School.

"They overwhelmed us in the third quarter with their length," Fort Hill head coach Thad Burner said. "You're working so hard to get shots off, and before you know it, there's 6'4" on you, there's 6'5". You get down in the paint and it's 6'7". It wore on us."

The Sentinels (22-3), trying to make their first state championship appearance since 1973, knew they had their work cut out for them against the Baltimore City runner-ups and the 2022 state finalist Red Storm (19-7).

At the onset, Fort Hill was up for the challenge.

Edmondson came out in a zone like it had in the Baltimore City championship game, but Fort Hill shot lights out, with Mikey Allen burying a 3-pointer and Anthony Burns and Owen Seifarth drilling one each.

The game was tied at 14-all after one, and the Sentinels were within 24-23 following a Seifarth putback and a Deshaun Brown backdoor cut at the 2:45 mark of the second period. The two makes were the Sentinels' first two in the paint of the game.

Allen and Steven Spencer provided sparks on the offensive end before halftime, scoring eight and seven points, respectively. The duo finished as Fort Hill's lone double-figure scorers with Allen tallying 15 and Spencer 10.

Seifarth and Brown added eight points apiece. Burns scored six.

Edmondson used an 8-0 run to lead 32-25 at the half, which was part of a larger 16-2 onslaught that saw the Red Storm surge ahead 40-25.

Xavier Davis came off the bench and sunk consecutive triples to spark Edmondson late in the first half, and Dantzler went on a personal 8-0 run out of the intermission in just a minute and 12 seconds.

On the other end, Fort Hill was struggling to get separation. After making four 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes, it made four the rest of the game.

"We didn't shoot that well, or at least some of us didn't," Burns said. "We played way harder at the end than we did at the beginning. ... At the end of the day, we had to just make shots, and we didn't."

The game turned when Edmondson abandoned the zone and let its athletes and superior size go to work in man-to-man defense.

When Fort Hill got favorable matchups with Edmondson forwards switched on the Sentinels' guards, the Red Storms' big men were athletic enough to keep up.

"We had to go man, they shot the ball real well," Edmondson head coach Darnell Dantzler said. "The thing about coaching, I'm not always right, I just make some of the decisions. We tried to start off in zone and use our length, but they shot the ball extremely well. ... Basketball is about making adjustments."

Coach Dantzler said the Red Storm prioritized stopping Allen and Owen Seifarth, who are the Sentinels' leading scorers combining for 38.4 points per game. Edmondson succeeded, holding the duo to a combined 23 points.

"Their length and their pressure on the ball," Allen said of what part of the Red Storm defense gave the Sentinels trouble. "We had too many turnovers."

Underneath the basket, the 6-8 Marcus Jackson was an unstoppable force on the defensive end. He wasn't too shabby on offense either, dominating the smaller Sentinel lineup with 18 points on nine field goals.

Jackson's final three makes were all slam dunks when Fort Hill was pressing in the final few minutes of the game — the highlight a ferocious one-handed flush.

The sophomore center's running mate, Chase Foster — a 6-10 freshman — ended with eight points, including three straight tough finishes at the basket after catching the ball at the foul line against the Sentinels' 2-3 zone and driving.

Trailing 53-36 entering the fourth quarter, Fort Hill made some headway after implementing a half-court trap with 4:40 to play. A series of steals and finishes the other way led to a 6-0 flurry that got the Sentinels within 59-46 with 2:30 to play.

But Edmondson broke Fort Hill's press three straight times leading to three straight Jackson dunks to end the Sentinels' season.

Fort Hill also didn't help itself at the foul line, making only 5 of 11 free throws.

Burner admitted Fort Hill could've tried its pressure defense earlier in the game, but foul trouble to Allen, who picked up his second personal with a minute to go in the opening quarter, made doing so difficult.

"In order for us to press, you need to make baskets," Burner said. "In the second quarter, when Mikey picked up his second, we had to be more passive. Looking back on it, we probably should have just stepped our foot on the gas."

Edmondson advances to the state championship on Saturday. The Red Storm are looking to avenge the loss to Lake Clifton they suffered at the same stage a year ago.

Fort Hill's season comes to a close. It was a banner year for the Sentinels, who shared a Western Maryland Athletic Conference title with Allegany and won the region over those same Campers for the first time since 2008.

In the end, the juggernaut that is Baltimore City, one that has given Western Maryland fits since Allegany won the region's last boys basketball state title in 1993, was too much to overcome.

"We set goals at the beginning of the year," Burner said. "Our goal was to maybe get down here and maybe make it further, and they achieved that. Basketball is a different animal in Maryland. It's tough, especially when you get down here."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.