On Wednesday, February 24th, the Eleanor Roosevelt High School boys’ basketball team defeated Gwynn Park High School in the Prince George’s County Championship game by a score of 72-63.

The win gave the Raiders their second county championship title in a row, and allowed them to rebound from the loss in their regular season finale against Bowie.

The Raiders started off the game trailing 5-0, but this would be the team’s only deficit the rest of the game. They went on a run to close out the first quarter 15-10.

The second quarter was no different, as the Raiders came out firing. Star senior guard, Naji Marshall helped the team build on their lead with 9 points in this quarter to give them a 34-28 lead.

In the third quarter, the Raiders pulled away from the Yellow Jackets through a team effort on offense and defense. Roosevelt passed the ball well to the open man on offense, and forced turnovers on defense to disrupt any momentum Gwynn Park tried to gain. They closed out the quarter with a 52-43 lead.

Things continued the same way in the fourth quarter, as the Raiders stifled the Yellow Jackets comeback attempts by making clutch free throws down the stretch to win 72-63.

Senior forward/center Victor Okafor said the team “responded way better and way smarter” in this game compared to the previous loss against Bowie and that they are putting that loss behind them. He also added that the mentality throughout the game was that “we have to get this win.”

When asked what the team did successfully to keep their lead throughout the game, senior guard Naji Marshall said, they “kept getting stops and rebounding.”

The Raiders now are ranked number five in the Washington Post’s All-Met rankings. After a regional quarterfinal playoff victory over C.H. Flowers, the Raiders improved their record to 20-3 and will now look to go a run to the state championship at the Xfinity Center.

The next playoff game will be a second rematch March 2nd in the regional semifinal against rival Bowie High School.

Senior forward/center Trent Bishop described the team’s attitude towards the rematch in one word: “confident.”