City boys basketball believes that it has yet to put in a clean, complete effort in this year’s Class 3A state playoffs. Still, the No. 12 Knights march on.

In Tuesday night’s semifinal against Milford Mill, City’s defense carried the first-half play and then its offense caught up in the second as the Knights gradually pulled away for a 66-55 win over the Millers at host New Town’s packed gym.

City (21-5) will take on Sherwood — a 54-37 winner over Old Mill in Tuesday’s other semifinal — for the state title, set for 4 p.m. Saturday at University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center.

In reaching the title game, the Knights got another fine all-around performance from senior combo guard Omarr Smith Jr., who scored a game-high 27 points while adding 10 rebounds and four assists.

“In the first half, we didn’t really play a bad game defensively, but offensively we weren’t playing like ourselves running sets all the way through. So that was the big emphasis coming out in the second half,” said Smith, who scored 17 of his points in the second half with the game tied at the break.

A choppy first half dictated by both teams’ defenses included six one-point lead changes in the second quarter before Knights forward Camari Stewart (14 points, eight rebounds) made a free throw with less than a second left to tie the game at 26.

City coach Omarr Smith Sr. asked for crisper play on offense — ball reversals and precise cuts to the basket — to help out the strong defensive work.

After the Millers opened with a 5-0 run to lead 31-26, the Knights found their way. They went on a 9-0 spurt — two baskets each came from Smith and Jordan Hammond — to take a 35-31 lead. Then they scored the last five points of the third quarter with Smith finding Khmon Horton at the rim to help build a 44-36 advantage entering the fourth.

Smith took over good chunks of the final frame to put the game away.

SEED boys stun Edmondson in 1A

UPPER MARLBORO — With tensions high and fans from both teams spilling onto the court, Henry A. Wise High School athletic director Jason Gordon took the microphone and pleaded with the crowd as the final seconds of the Class 1A state semifinal ticked away.

“Calm down,” he said. “Act like you’ve been there before.”

The response from the SEED School faithful was simple but impactful: “We haven’t.”

Every game past the regional final was a first for the upstart program. In the blink of an eye, the Sabers overcame a seven-point deficit with one minute left and had one shot at the upset of the season.

“We’re an up-and-coming program,” coach Eddie Green Jr. said. “To be down seven with a minute left, our kids always believed the whole time. We kept fighting.”

Khaled Al-Mateen’s go-ahead 3-pointer in the final seconds sealed the victory, part of his 31-point night, sending the Sabers to the Class 1A state final with a 60-59 win over two-time defending 1A state champion Edmondson.

“He had 27 in the regional final, hit the game-winner in the semifinal. Who else am I supposed to give it to?” Green said with a huge smile.

SEED (15-5) will play Cambridge-South Dorchester at 2 p.m. Friday at University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center.

The Red Storm, the two-time defending state champions, entered the game 26-0.

— Timothy Dashiell

Old Mills boys fall in 4A

SILVER SPRING — Old Mill dreamt of its first state title. The Patriots have only played for one, back in the 2010 Class 4A state final. It took another eight years to even reach the state semifinals, and another seven years after that loss to make it again.

They just didn’t wake up soon enough, or for long enough, to realize their dreams this year, either.

Sherwood overpowered Old Mill from the first quarter of the 3A state semifinal Tuesday, running up enough of an advantage to survive the Patriots’ short-lived rally in the second and third quarters, 54-37.

Greg Smith couldn’t quite source where his team’s underwhelming performance came from. The Old Mill coach thought of how zealous his players acted in the locker room before stepping out onto the Montgomery Blair court for the first time. Senior Brian Poore especially, he noted, might as well have been a dragon as fired up as he seemed pregame.

But in the end, the senior was one of the key parts missing for Old Mill to piece together a comeback. Poore led his squad with 19.5 points per game heading into the semifinal round. Sherwood corralled him at every step in the first half, and what shots he did manage to take — even layups — failed.

— Katherine Fominykh

Oakland Mills girls advance in 3A

FREDERICK — Oakland Mills scrimmaged Poly before last season. The eventual Class 3A state champion Engineers dominated the Scorpions in that 20-minute session.

Tuesday night at Thomas Johnson High School, the teams met again on a much grander stage — the 3A state semifinals.

While the Engineers featured some new faces, Oakland Mills returned the exact same group. That tight-knit unit that doesn’t feature a player taller than 5 feet 8 once again showed how much they’ve grown. Last year, Oakland Mills won its first playoff game. Now, the Scorpions are 32 minutes away from the program’s second state title after defeating the Engineers, 59-51.

Oakland Mills will make its second state championship game appearance and first since its lone state title in 1998. The third-seeded Scorpions will face No. 5 South River at 6 p.m. Friday night at the University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center after the Seahawks defeated Oakdale, 46-43, in the other semifinal.

“I’m really happy,” Oakland Mills junior Jeriah Shipp said. “We’re making history for Oakland Mills High School and it just feels great to do it. This group, we’re all a family now, too.”

— Jacob Steinberg

Pikesville girls eyeing 5th straight 1A crown

Mariah Jones-Bey’s steal and basket with 12 seconds left in the first half ended a 9-0 run and gave Pikesville a 15-point lead. The defensive pressure was even better in the second half when the Panthers held Forest Park to five field goals as they cruised to a 59-33 victory in a Class 1A state semifinal at New Town.

The Panthers (24-3) advance to the state championship game at noon Saturday, where they will try to win their fifth straight state title. They’ll play Southern-Garrett at the University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center. Forest Park finished 20-5.

Jones-Bey scored a game-high 17 points and added seven rebounds, five steals and five assists.

“I’m just happy right now,” Jones-Bey said. “I was glad that I got that steal. I’m glad I kept my energy up and I gave everybody else energy because everybody came in a little nervous.”

After forcing 13 turnovers in the first half, the Panthers were even stingier in the third quarter when four players each grabbed steals in the first three minutes. Pikesville bolted to a 44-20 lead at the end of the quarter.

“We came in with a plan,” Jones-Bey said. “Everybody came in with the same intensity. We had no reaching, just to play straight-up defense and everybody did and that’s what we talked about.”

“It was our game plan to perfection,” Pikesville coach Michael Dukes said.

— Craig J. Clary

South River girls reach 3A final

FREDERICK — South River girls basketball entered this season with a dream to play for a state championship. Tuesday night at Thomas Johnson High School, the Seahawks made that dream a reality.

South River outlasted top-seeded Oakdale in a gritty defensive battle, 46-43, in a Class 3A state semifinal. No. 5 seed South River will face No. 3 Oakland Mills at 6 p.m. Friday night at the Xfinity Center. It will be South River’s third state title appearance in program history and first since 2005.

“I’m so proud of these kids,” South River coach Mike Zivic said. “Some of them have been with me four years. The amount of time, effort and energy that they’ve put into basketball. They honestly love it, too. I can’t be prouder of these kids and what they’ve overcome on the court and off.”

South River had all the makings of a championship team last year. However, injuries derailed its season as five girls suffered a torn ACL. They returned this season and helped push the Seahawks (16-3) to a dominant regular season. South River rolled through Anne Arundel County competition, with its only losses coming against private school opponents.

South River played its best stretch of basketball midway through the third. The Seahawks orchestrated a 7-0 run to take their largest lead of the game 38-29 with 3:08 remaining in the third. However, Oakdale responded with a 9-0 spurt to even things in the late stages of the quarter. Kiera West drained two free throws inside the final minute to give the Seahawks a two-point advantage entering the final eight minutes.

South River needed every ounce of defensive effort inside a chaotic final minute. The Bears cut it to a one-point game with 26.3 seconds remaining and regained possession on a jump ball with an opportunity to take the lead. Oakdale quickly inbounded the ball but a 3-point shot sailed past the rim and caromed out of play.

The Seahawks missed their next four free throws, giving the Bears another shot to take the lead in the final 15 seconds. However, South River delivered its best defensive possession of the game in the critical moment. Pinned near the baseline, Oakdale guard Shay Raiford’s pass attempt was intercepted and the energetic Seahawks crowd reached deafening levels. West iced the victory on a pair of free throws with a second remaining.

— Katherine Fominykh