A Thomas Johnson Comeback Win

The script was somewhat familiar. Thomas Johnson from Frederick, MD, the Washington Post's number one team, would fall behind and then methodically change the flow of the game to walk away with the win. Thursday night it happened at the Maryland State 4A semifinals in Cole Field House on the University of Maryland's campus. The oppponent was Magruder High School, a powerful program from Rockville, MD, in the DC-area. The result: the Washington Post's number one team (TJ) defeated the Post's number nine squad, 70-61.

Magruder boasts one of the top sophomore's in the area, Isaiah Swann, who has averaged 22.8 points per game this season. But then the Patriots have their own superplayer, Jermaine Thomas (La Salle), with a 26.6 average along with 7.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists. And Thomas was coming off a 51 point performance in the East Regional Championship win over Meade H.S. (108-77).

The Patriots have a number of other ingredients that make this team successful and "a joy to watch." Head Coach Tom Dickman said following TJ's championship at the St. James Invitational last month, "You know I like to just go and watch some teams play; squads that really have it together. This team, well I would go to watch them play."

The La Salle-bound guard understood what was needed. "We just had to play our game," he said. "We knew Magruder was tough. It was especially important how we played on the defensive end."

Maybe therein lies the clue to the comeback win. Though 'comeback' may not be right term - the Patriots play with such confidence that after seeing them a number of times, it just seems that at some point the game will go their way. It happens by steady, hard work; a basket, a rebound, a steal, a block, a defensive position -- they all get put together as TJ calmly takes and holds the lead. Oh, and don't forget their confidence.

The defense worked well on Swann who wasn't able to hit the three-pointer as his normal rate (44.3 percent) until less than four minutes left in the game when he hit three out of four in a two-minute stretch. But while that was happening, TJ was responding. Thomas Richard hit Nate Naylor for a bunny. Richard hit a layup of his own. And Thomas ran the floor after a steal with Swann dogging him the whole way a while he powered up for the layup.

Magruder took an early lead of 8-2 in the first four minutes of the opening period and took a 22-15 lead into the second quarter. TJ started to make their move, led by the inside and outside scoring of Richard. The teams went to the locker room tied, 29-29.

Then up steps a different Patriot, senior guard Kevin Rinehart, who hit three shots from behind the arc in the last 90 seconds of the third, including one on a pass from Thomas as time expired giving Thomas Johnson a 53-44 lead.

The Patriots were led in scoring by Richard with 28 points; he also had a game-high 12 rebounds. Thomas chipped in 19 points and dished out 10 assists, the most by any player Thursday. Rinehart's four three-pointers gave him 12 points.

Magruder's top scorer and rebounder was 6-2 senior Pele Paelay (Coastal Carolina) with 19 points and seven rebounds. Swann contributed 18 points. He shot 33 percent (4 of 12) from behind the arc.

Thomas Johnson will face Eleanor Roosevelt High School in the state 4A finals, the class with the largest schools, at 8:00 p.m. Saturday night at Cole.