Fort Hill takes on top seed Cambridge-SD in state semifinals Tuesday

Mar. 11—SILVER SPRING — After a 15-year Final Four drought, Fort Hill is making its second consecutive Class 1A state semifinal trip: The Sentinels don't want to leave empty-handed this time around.

No. 4 Fort Hill (20-4) advanced to this stage after overcoming a 19-point deficit to shock seven-time state champ Lake Clifton, 51-40, in one of its biggest triumphs in school history.

The Sentinels draw top-seeded Cambridge-South Dorchester (24-2) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Montgomery Blair High School.

Brimming with confidence after a dominant 42-16 second half against one of Baltimore City's best, Fort Hill has its sights set on its first trip to the title game in 51 years.

"Last time we went down there, we didn't play our best game," said Fort Hill guard Jabril Daniels, referencing the Sentinels' 67-51 defeat to eventual state champion Edmondson-Westside in the state semis last year. "This time we're going to come out, give it all we got. We want to go to (the University of) Maryland."

Fort Hill, the No. 1 ranked team in the Cumberland area, is making its 12th state semifinal appearance and is 4-7 in those games. The Sentinels have lost six semifinals in a row since falling in the 1973 Class A (now 3A) championship game.

Fort Hill has won three state titles (1948, '49 and '58).

Cambridge-South Dorchester is making its 13th Final Four appearance Tuesday and is 4-8 in semifinal games. The Vikings have fallen in three straight semis, most recently winning in 1996 — also the year of their latest state title. CSD also won states in 1980 and '89.

Like Fort Hill, Cambridge-SD also has recent Final Four experience, being routed by eventual state champion Lake Clifton, 59-29, in 2022.

Both teams are conference champions.

Fort Hill won the Western Maryland Athletic Conference outright with a 7-1 record.

Cambridge-South Dorchester captured the Bayside Conference with a 70-57 title game victory over Stephen Decatur — the No. 1 seed in the Class 3A state tournament and another Final Four participant.

Fort Hill will enter Tuesday's neutral site bout riding significant momentum after coming back from a 20-1 deficit against Lake Clifton to become the first team in area history to defeat a Baltimore City school at the state tournament.

Schools west of Washington County were previously 0-13.

Cambridge-South Dorchester took care of eighth-seeded CMIT-North, 74-58, in its quarterfinal contest.

The Vikings feature an athletic starting five that look to push the tempo and wreak havoc on both sides of the floor.

"All five guys are going to shoot it from outside. All five guys are going to drive it in the paint," Fort Hill head coach Thad Burner said. "I think we have a good shot, but we can't turn the ball over.

"They play fast on both ends. They get after it. They work really hard to turn you over on defense. We've got a big challenge ahead of us."

While Lake Clifton was slow and methodical offensively against Fort Hill, sometimes to a fault, Cambridge-South Dorchester looks to shoot the basketball early and often.

Cambridge-SD doesn't have a true post player, opting instead to play position-less basketball with junior wing Koby Ennals (6-foot-4), junior guards Anthony Hughes (6-2) and Jaden Harris (6-2), sophomore guard Semaj Pinder (6-2) and lightning-quick sophomore point guard Lashaun Moody (5-9).

"Moody is as good as anyone I've seen," Burner said.

Fort Hill returns some experience from last year's Final Four team in Deshaun Brown and Steven Spencer.

Brown (6-1) made a statement as a Player of the Year candidate against Lake Clifton, scoring 12 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter.

"For some of us guys, we've been here last year," said the senior guard, who averages 19.3 points per game. "It's a new story, we're writing it. We're not done yet."

Spencer (6-1) didn't score against Lake Clifton, but he did everything else, pulling down a team-high eight rebounds and dishing out five assists.

Spencer averages 7.1 points a game, yet he's proven himself to be a big-game player, scoring 10 points against Edmondson in last year's Final Four defeat.

Gavin Carney (6-2) averages double figures at 10 points a game down low, and he's joined in the post by slasher Liam Hamilton (6-3), who scored eight points against Lake Clifton.

Guard Jabril Daniels (6-0) scores at a 7.8 clip, but he's averaging 16.7 points over Fort Hill's three playoff victories. His brother, Gamil Daniels (5-11), has been a spark plug off the bench and averages 5.6 points.

Fort Hill averages 68 points per game and allows 49.9. Cambridge-SD averages 77.2 points and gives up 49.1 a night.

Both teams may see some familiar faces Tuesday, as the two schools met on the gridiron in the Class 1A football state semifinals in the fall, a 38-20 Fort Hill win.

The Daniels, Brown, Carney, Landon Sensbaugh, Braylin Rhodes, Cam Banks and Spencer were on the Sentinels' championship team. Hughes, Moody, Pinder, K'Marion Hall and Darren Belzaire played in the game for CSD.

Now, Fort Hill is adding basketball accolades to its decorated football history.

The Sentinels haven't hung a banner in 51 years for basketball. They can hang another with a win Tuesday.

"This is back-to-back trips to the Final Four," Burner said. "They think they can beat anyone. I think they thought that all year, but they truly believe it now."

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