FREDERICK — In Wednesday’s Class 2A state semifinal, Dunbar boys basketball found a dose of Poet Pride in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter against Prince George’s County power Largo to force overtime.

The Poets amazingly made up nine points in the final 1:11 of regulation, capped by Todd Taylor’s three free throws to tie the game with three seconds left.

It was an intense and draining stretch, and as the Poets were catching their breath early in overtime, Largo took the lead and never let go in capturing a thrilling 70-64 win at host Thomas Johnson.

Largo, which got 29 points from star senior forward Cam Ward, takes a 24-3 record into Friday’s state championship against No. 6 New Town, which needed two overtimes to claim an 82-74 win over Middletown in Wednesday’s other semifinal. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at the University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center.

The Poets, looking to add to their state-best 16 titles, fought valiantly to get to Friday’s big game. Instead, they fell a tad short to finish with a 23-3 record.

After the sensational final minute of the fourth quarter, which featured a steal and layup from Khalil Montgomery and a long-range 3-pointer by Taylor on the possession before he made the three free throws to tie the game at 60, the Poets started the overtime just flat enough.

The Lions got a follow basket from Ward, who blocked a shot at the other end before the Poets missed their next three attempts. Largo’s Jalen Johnson (20 points) spun through the lane to make it 64-60 with 1:55 to play.

Dunbar would twice get within two points and had the ball down 67-64 with 42 seconds left, but Largo forced a turnover with 21 seconds left and added three free throws to secure the win.

The Poets used a balanced offensive effort to offset the fine all-around performance from Ward, a Michigan State commit who became the all-time leading scorer in Maryland public school history earlier in the postseason. He broke the 33-year record of 2,611 points held by Mike Roberts, a 1992 Pocomoke grad.

For Dunbar, Brian Collins scored a team-high 18 points with DaJohn Ellis adding 16 and Taylor scoring 15. The performance made first-year coach Donte Pretlow proud.

“It’s what we’ve preached all year — not giving up,” he said. “Like I told them before we came — up, down, good, bad, ugly — we’re together and we’re going to keep fighting until the horn goes off at the end. So that was the task for the day, we did it, and we almost got it.”

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