Wise pressed, and Dundalk broke. The top-seeded Pumas used a 23-point third quarter to pull away from the Owls for a 65-46 win to advance to the state semifinals. Wise (21-3) will take on Frederick (22-4) and is two wins away from the second state championship in program history.
The Pumas entered Friday’s game in Upper Marlboro having won 11 straight. Their last loss came in late January to third-seeded Bowie, which lost its state quarterfinal matchup to Richard Montgomery, 64-61, on Friday.
Since that defeat more than a month ago, Wise has been infallible. Wilson attributed his team’s growth to better preparation — the Pumas scour film and attempt to simulate their upcoming opponent’s game plan in practice.
After knocking off DuVal on Tuesday for its first 4A South II region title since 2020, Wise needed to quickly figure out its game plan for Dundalk (12-10), which had not played a game against a Prince George’s County team this season.
“We know that they play a different style of basketball. We realize that they do a lot of passing and cutting and they play more of a wide-open style of offense,” Wilson said before the game of the opponent from Baltimore. “We’re anticipating them trying to play fast.”
That up-tempo style was apparent from the opening tip. The Pumas opened the game on an 8-0 run but were quickly matched by the Owls’ guards, junior Jermaine Morgan and senior KhiRay Kasey, who pushed the ball quickly up the court and kept their team within striking distance.
Then came the Pumas’ third-quarter surge, spurred by a full-court press led by Marcus Rustin. The senior guard and his teammates rushed their opponents and forced a litany of turnovers, leading to easy layups and wide-open three-pointers.
“In that second half we were just pressing a lot and we started to speed them up,” Rustin said. “We like to play fast, so once we speed up a team, we’re blowing the doors off from there.”
The Pumas’ press catalyzed an 11-0 run to start the third quarter, and the game was quickly out of hand from there. Senior Jamal Drummond swished a three-pointer to balloon Wise’s lead further and shook his head in the direction of his bench. The blowout was on.