Following a season in which it won the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference title, the St. Charles High School boys basketball team continued its gritty, postseason success on Wednesday afternoon when the Spartans rallied to upend Stephen Decatur High 63-61.
The Spartans will next take on Northeast High of Anne Arundel County, which beat Long Reach High of Howard County in this week’s other 3A state semifinal. That game is slated for Friday, March 15, at 7 p.m. at University of Maryland’s Xfinity Center.
St. Charles (21-5) and Stephen Decatur (25-3) were tied at 31-all at the intermission, but it was the Seahawks that gained the upper hand in the third quarter and would eventually take a 47-41 lead into the final frame at Wednesday’s semifinal held at Henry Wise High in Prince George’s County. Stephen Decatur still owned a six-point lead with six minutes remaining, but over the remainder of the contest it was the Spartans who displayed the most resolve.
St. Charles senior Xavier Buchanan rapidly reversed the course of the contest by connecting on a three-point field goal then senior Tajir Webster added a layup and that was immediately followed by a three-pointer from senior Shamir Taylor that capped an 8-0 run and vaulted the Spartans to their first lead since early in the third quarter.
Taylor would again come through in a big way for the Spartans moments later, connecting on a short jumper to tie the game at 53-all then, after getting fouled attempting a three-pointer, made all three free throws to lift the Spartans to a 56-53 lead. But the Seahawks drew even at 56-all and 58-all, Webster hit a pair of free throws and Taylor added two more foul shots for a 62-58 lead with 15.8 seconds left.
“Shamir always comes through for us in those situations,” St. Charles coach Brett Campbell said. “He’s hit a lot of clutch shots for us this season. But even up four with 15 seconds left, it was not a comfortable lead. I mean, Stephen Decatur is very good and they had only lost one or two games before tonight. They’re accustomed to winning, so I couldn’t relax until after the buzzer.”
Taylor went back to the line moments later and made one of two foul shots for a 63-59 lead with 11.2 seconds left and the Seahawks answered with a layup with three seconds remaining. Spartans junior Bryce Selby had the chance to seal the verdict with 2.2 seconds left, but missed both free throws and St. Charles celebrated when the Seahawks were unable to get off a shot in the waning seconds.
Last Friday evening the Spartans punched their ticket to the 3A state semifinals by rallying for a 63-60 victory over visiting Thomas S. Wootton High from Montgomery County. In a contentious back-and-forth affair that saw six lead changes in the fourth quarter, St. Charles rallied from a 60-56 deficit with 2:45 remaining by ending the game on a 7-0 run with the final four points courtesy of free throws from Taylor.
“I told coach [Campbell] when I went to the line I was making the foul shots,” Taylor said. “I wasn’t that nervous. I wanted the ball in that situation. So, when I got to the foul line I knew what I had to do.”
The St. Charles Spartans will make their first state tournament appearance since 2020 when they were the No. 1 overall seed and the tournament prematurely concluded due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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