CUMBERLAND — For the third straight season, Fort Hill stands alone as the area champion.
The Sentinels waded through a highly competitive local season to finish 14-10 and capture the region title, ultimately falling in the Class 1A state quarterfinals to eventual champion Cambridge-South Dorchester.
For that, Fort Hill was named unanimous area champion.
“I’m super excited,” Fort Hill head coach Thad Burner said of the honor. “I thought the kids competed all year and gave themselves a chance. Excited to make it back to state tournament. When push came to shove, I thought we were as good as anybody in the area.”
The area championship is Fort Hill’s 13th in school history, breaking a tie with crosstown rival Allegany for the most ever. The Sentinels’ title two seasons ago ended a 15-year drought.
Fort Hill also becomes just the second school in history to capture three consecutive area titles. Allegany did so twice under Tedd Eirich, winning a record five in a row from 2013-18 and three straight from 2004-06.
“It’s not easy to win, particularly at Fort Hill,” Burner said. “It has a lot to do with the kids and their want to win. A lot to do with the kids who are seniors, they’re expected to win. Going back to Mikey (Allen) and those other guys, the foundation has been laid.”
The area championship is decided based on the results of the final Area Top 5 media poll.
Fort Hill received all six first-place votes for 30 points, followed by East Hardy (20-6) with 21, Mountain Ridge (14-10) with 20, Southern (13-11) with 13 and Hampshire (13-11) with three.
Frankfort (11-11) and Petersburg (12-11) also received votes.
The area sportswriter poll was voted on by Jeff Landes, Kyle Bennett, Jordan Kendall and Alex Rychwalski (Cumberland Times-News); Chapin Jewell (Mineral News-Tribune) and Trevor King (Garrett County Republican).
Fort Hill finished 7-1 in Western Maryland Athletic Conference play to win the conference for a third straight year.
However, the season didn’t start the way most championship campaigns do.
Fort Hill went 1-5 out of the gate, dropping an area game at Hampshire in the process, but the Sentinels showed their resilience winning six straight and 13 of their final 18 games.
It often wasn’t pretty, though Fort Hill found a way when it needed to.
The Sentinels emerged victorious in back-to-back playoff overtime games to defeat Mountain Ridge, 59-56, in the region finals and Southern, 62-58, in the semis to get back to states for a third time in as many years.
Fort Hill’s season finally came to an end at top-seeded Cambridge-South Dorchester, 53-44, in the state quarterfinals. Cambridge went on to win the state championship.
“It’s a winning mentality,” Burner said. “Even going back to Lake Clifton (last year), the tides turned in favor of us. The kids expect to win. We weren’t great in any aspect of the game, but when winning was on the line, our kids competed.
“When we won, we really earned it. We could defend, but we weren’t great at rebounding, shooting or scoring. We made plays when they really mattered in crunch time.”
Fort Hill was led by All-Area first-team forward Liam Hamilton and seniors Gamil and Jabril Daniels and Landen Sweitzer.
Hamilton, a junior, averaged 13 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game. Gamil Daniels, an All-Area second-teamer, also averaged double figures as the team’s point guard, garnering 11.7 points, 4.3 assists and 2.8 steals a night.
Jabril Daniels, the area football Player of the Year in the fall, was a defensive stopper and strong slasher, adding 9.0 points per game, and Landen Sweitzer (7.8 ppg) was the team’s top deep threat making 27 triples.
Sophomore Landyn Green provided the Sentinels with a rim presence at 6-foot-5, and Jacob ...