by Eric Brilliant
Semifinal: Riverdale Baptist vs DeMatha
DeMatha looked to keep their eight game winning streak alive against the two seed, Riverdale Baptist, in the first semi-final game of the day. Dematha took care of business against Brandywine Boyz winning by 34 points while Riverdale Baptist had an impressive win against the Cadets.
Riverdale Baptist stormed out to a seven point lead early as Jack Furman (‘24, G), who was shooting 48.4 percent from three entering Friday’s game, continued his excellence from the perimeter. Nate Wooden (‘24, G) also had a couple of offensive rebounds, leading to second chance points and finished the half with nine points. Jacob Wallace (‘25, G) helped DeMatha crawl back into this one, taking a two point deficit entering halftime.
Ashton Meeks (‘26, G) had a nice drive out of half to tie it for DeMatha and answered a Jack Furman three with a three of his own. Meeks scored 13 points in the second half, giving DeMatha another scoring threat alongside Jacob Wallace. Dematha began to ramp up their defensive pressure, taking the lead early in the second half. Wallace had a big and-1 to extend Dematha’s lead to six with under four minutes to play. Riverdale was unable to answer, losing 57-67.
Semifinal: Tenley Tigers (Jackson Reed) vs Bullis
In one of the more anticipated matchups of this year’s CHSL, the Tenley Tigers faced off against Bullis in the night cap. Bullis survived a thriller against Grace Brethren, escaping with a one point victory while the Tigers took care of business against St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes. The Tigers returned Joe Mcrae (‘24, G), who won Defensive Player of the Year in CHSL, but were missing key reserve Jack Corrigan Contay. Bullis was missing a key reserve of their own, Jewel Walker (‘24, F), and star big man, Eric Reibe (‘25, C).
Both teams started off slow offensively with the first basket not coming until two minutes into the half. The Tigers were impressive defensively, which they have been all year, and did a nice job of making Adrien Stevens (‘25, G) take difficult shots. However, Stevens began to heat up quickly for Bullis, finishing the first half 4-of-8 from the field. Darren Moore (‘25, G) hit a big three for Bullis to tie the game going into halftime.
Tenley jumped out to a seven point lead early in the second half thanks to Justin Gilmore (‘24, G) and Jayden Fort (‘25, F). Gilmore did a nice job of finding his teammates while the Tigers big man, Jayden Fort, exploded in the second half, finishing with 21 points. The Tigers stifled Bullis defensively, holding them to 14 points in the second half and securing the victory. The Tigers will get to avenge their end of season loss against Dematha in the championship while Bullis’ undefeated season comes to an end.