The Baltimore County boys basketball championship game almost didn’t live up to the hype. Then it did, in every way.

No. 6 New Town had dropped its regular-season finale at home to No. 2 Parkville just four days ago. On Tuesday night, Titans coach Derek Wise pointed to a longer-than-usual meeting reviewing that game’s film as a difference-maker in helping New Town knock off the defending county champs, 61-53.

“Our film session was a couple hours long,” Wise said. “We didn’t play well. We saw that. And we knew if we fixed those mistakes from the first game, I thought things would turn around for us... I thought we were prepared and locked in. The guys earned it today.”

The game’s opening minutes were marred by problems with the shot clock, making it difficult to sustain a full, uninterrupted possession. Once it was fixed, the air in Parkville’s sold-out gym thinned rather quickly. Suddenly, every possession, even a mere two minutes in, felt like it could decide the county champion.

Parkville coach Josh Czerski entered the locker room with his team trailing 32-19. Then he flipped a switch.

“We talked about energy and effort,” he said. “We just weren’t giving it. We came out flat and not moving the ball or running our sets like we’re supposed to. We didn’t play our game the right way. We didn’t execute.”

It lit a fire under his team, which entered 22-0. The Knights stormed back in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to three. Senior Caron Smith led the way with 15 points and two 3s, while Josiah Legree added 10 points. Sincere Barfield knocked down a few tough shots, including two 3s — one of which flirted with NBA range.

“They can shoot, man. And they can shoot from anywhere,” Wise said about fending off the Knights’ comeback attempt. “We had to close out on shooters and we had to rotate. I told our guys, ‘We’re not gonna win if we don’t rebound.’ ”

To Wise, slowing the pace helped solidify the victory. In the end, the Knights couldn’t make enough plays to dig out of that early hole.

“They’re a well-coached team and always well-prepared,” Czerski said. “We didn’t come out with that energy. We kind of looked past them because we had that win a couple days ago. It’s more about us looking in the mirror as a staff and as a team to be more prepared for the state playoffs.”

Pikesville holds off New Town for Baltimore County girls title: Pikesville girls basketball outscored visiting New Town 18-7 in the third quarter and held on for a 51-44 victory in the Baltimore County championship game Tuesday night.

Mariah Jones-Bey and Aliyah Taylor led the No. 10 Panthers with 13 points each and Jayda Mayles added 11. New Town was led by Nialah Mingo (15 points) and Nasia Hart (10).

Mayles started the third-quarter surge by hitting consecutive 3-points in the first 80 seconds.

“I said somebody has got to step up and she did,” Pikesville coach Michael Dukes said. “It was important for us to strike first in that third quarter because they took all the momentum at halftime.”

The title was the first for twins Aliyah and Bree Taylor, who came in as freshmen the year after the Panthers won their second straight county championship in 2020. The coronavirus canceled the 2020-21 season and Hereford defeated Western Tech in the championship game last year.

“It feels really great knowing that we couldn’t win last year and it was a really good opportunity that we had to win this year,” Aliyah said.

“I feel so good for this team and we had a couple of transfers and people were writing us off a little bit and I let them know, ‘Don’t let that define your season,’ ” Dukes said. “I think the kids played with a chip on their shoulder this year and I think it’s really carried them through, for sure.”

— Craig Clary

City boys stay perfect, win Baltimore City crown: When City boys basketball took on Edmondson in the regular season one month ago, the Knights won a close game filled with offense.

In Tuesday’s Baltimore City title game at Morgan State, No. 3 City had to find a different way to get past the No. 8 Red Storm.

With the defensive intensity ramped up, the Knights were able to solve Edmondson’s stubborn zone in the second half, getting 19 points from Danny Parsons and a key 3-pointer from K’Won Johnson to grind out a 52-46 win.

City, which beat Edmondson, 78-73, on Jan. 19, heads into the Class 3A playoffs with an undefeated 23-0 mark and its first Baltimore City title since 2014.

With the Knights trailing in the fourth quarter, Johnson’s 3-pointer gave City the lead for good with under two minutes to play. A steal and layup from Parsons came shortly after to help seal the win.

“Tonight, we saw we could be resilient when we face adversity,” City fifth-year coach Omarr Smith said. “Their zone was really tough and we were also missing shots we normally make. Late in the game, we came up big making some shots and we got enough stops and converted them into points in transition, so that was really key.”

Kyree Smith finished with nine points and Camerin Horton added eight for City. For Edmondson, Kyrie Sherrod scored 13 points and Darnell Dantzler Jr. chipped in 10.

— Glenn Graham

Poly girls pull away late in Baltimore City championship: No. 4 Poly girls basketball opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run to take charge in a 52-44 win over No. 13 Western in Tuesday night’s Baltimore City championship game.

Leading 28-26 at the half, the Engineers extended their lead and sealed the victory with clutch free-throw shooting in the final minutes to hold off the defending champion Doves. The win avenges Poly’s 75-51 loss to Western in last year’s title game and gives the Engineers their fourth crown in five years.

Da’Brya Clark scored a team-high 19 points for Poly, while Taylor Addison added 12. Western got a game-high 21 points from Breasia Coit.

The Doves cut the lead to 46-43 with 3:28 to play, but Poly hit six free throws in the final two minutes to pull away.

Both teams received first-round byes in their respective region playoffs and will begin their state title runs Monday. Poly, competing in Class 3A, will host the Patterson-Milford Mill winner with Western waiting on the Perry Hall-Mervo winner in Class 4A.

— Glenn Graham