

North Point’s girls’ basketball team huddles around Coach Michael Serpone during a game earlier this season. The Eagles play in a region quarterfinal Monday night. (Doug Kapustin/For The Washington Post)

The North Point girls’ basketball team was no stranger to close games on a big stage heading into Wednesday night’s Southern Maryland Athletic Conference championship, but it had never overcome a deficit quite like this.

In the second quarter of their matchup against SMAC Chesapeake Division champion Chopticon, the Eagles stared down a 22-point mountain. And then they climbed it.

Senior Necole ‘Coco’ Hope poured in 25 points, going 6 of 9 from the free throw line and draining five shots from behind the arc to lead all scorers during the comeback charge in an eventual 62-60 victory.

“We’ve been winning ever since I was a freshman,” Hope said. “Losing wasn’t an option.”

[Montgomery: Wootton boys get first playoff win since 2012; B-CC girls making noise]

The Eagles received key contributions from several players on both ends of the floor as they clawed their way back into the game. Aliyah Bullock (12 points, 7 rebounds) said that, rather than focusing on the deficit, the Eagles focused on “keeping our heads in the game and staying connected together.”

That cohesion could be seen in Bullock’s stat line, but also in the production the team received from Latavia Jackson (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Synia Johnson (8 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists). By the start of the fourth quarter, the Eagles had whittled Chopticon’s lead down to five.

“The kids did a great job of that,” Coach Michael Serpone said. “Most teams, you go down 27-5, you know, they’re not fighting back, but our kids didn’t panic. They didn’t get stressed. They stuck to what we knew would eventually work.”

(Video by Nick Plum for Synthesis/Koubaroulis LLC./The Washington Post)

The Big number: 28.4

Points per game for North Point senior Jalen Gibbs, who finished the regular season as the area’s second-leading scorer as he led a late turnaround for the North Point boys.

SMAC Player of the Week

SF Kamau Mitchell, Thomas Stone, Jr.

Mitchell racked up 30 points to lead the Cougars past La Plata, 98-45, in the first round of the 2A South region playoffs.

Hurricanes nab their first title

The Huntingtown boys’ basketball team followed its script for success — which is full of selflessness, balance and hustle — to bring home the first SMAC championship in school history.

Despite falling to Westlake, 66-64 in December, the close outcome let the reigning 3A South region champions know they could hang with Westlake. They did more than that Wednesday as they jetted out to a 19-10 lead after the first quarter and hung on for a 63-58 victory.

“During the regular season we only lost to them by two at their place,” junior Daquan Watts said. “We figured, coming into the championship game, that they were definitely a beatable team if we just came out and played hard, executed our plays.”

[Howard County: Oakland Mills takes on underdog role versus top seed in region tournament]

Sophomore Charlie Weber (14 points) led the team in scoring, while Watts (13) and seniors Nemo Stewart (11), Davaughn Reid (10) and D.J. Hopkins (8) provided balance up and down the lineup.

According to Watts, Coach Josh Pratt would periodically pose a question to the team’s younger players as the regular season progressed.

“How do we want to send the seniors out?” Watts said.

The conference championship answered that question, in part, but the seniors’ farewell package isn’t complete as far as Watts is concerned.

“Winning the SMAC championship, that definitely is one step,” he said,” but we definitely want to get to states and try to make a run for a ring.