Many Locals Have Rooting Interests

Tarik Hislop and Paint Branch are one of 3 Montgomery County girls' teams in the Maryland semis. (By Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)

Looking around the room at a news conference yesterday for the Maryland semifinalists, coaches from Prince George's and Montgomery counties saw plenty of familiar faces. Both jurisdictions have six teams -- three boys', three girls' -- remaining in their respective brackets, leading coaches from both school systems to puff their chests a little bit.

"I was very happy about it," Fairmont Heights boys' coach George Wake said. "Like I told the kids, Largo is my enemy during the season, but now they're my friends because they're from the county. I'll be even happier on Saturday if all of us get the awards last."

Montgomery and Prince George's are each guaranteed one boys' team and one girls' team in the semifinals. However, each county benefited from teams winning regions that are populated by schools from other areas. For instance, the Sherwood boys and Blake girls won the 4A North Region comprising mainly Baltimore-area schools. Same goes for the Surrattsville girls in the 1A South Region.

By contrast, the other counties in the Washington suburbs -- Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel, Charles, Calvert and St. Mary's -- have a total of five teams remaining. Baltimore City and Baltimore County have seven teams remaining.

"That speaks volumes for [Montgomery] the way the county is able to compete," said Bethesda-Chevy Chase Coach Steve Thompson, whose eighth-ranked team plays third-ranked Largo in Thursday's Maryland 3A semifinals, one of four Montgomery vs. Prince George's matchups. "I've been at B-CC for 27 years, and often times it seems we don't always get the respect that all the private schools which are taking our players get, or even some of the Prince George's County schools."