Roosevelt Surprises Wise in Playoff Game

After an erratic regular season that failed to live up to expectations, the Eleanor Roosevelt Raiders appear to be hitting their stride at the perfect time.

The Raiders outscored Wise 22-10 in the fourth quarter to shock the favored Pumas 60-53 in a 4A South Region semifinal game on Wednesday in Upper Marlboro.

“It’s got to be just unity and everybody pulling together,” ERHS senior guard Cameron Israel said. “Everybody said, ‘Wise is the 4A South team to beat,’ and they didn’t even include us in anything. So, we just wanted to come out and prove that we’re still a factor in this and we can do it.”

Senior forward Prince Okoroh scored a game-high 21 points to lead Roosevelt, while Israel scored 10 of his 14 in the fourth quarter.

“We just know that we’re working on the basics during the season,” Okoroh said. “When it comes to the playoffs, we just put it all together and lay it on the line, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Wise looked every bit like the favorite early on though, opening Wednesday’s game on a 10-0 run. Then, the Raiders responded with an 11-0 run, taking their first lead.

“I was really proud of our poise,” Roosevelt coach Brendan O’Connell said. “We talk about it being a 32-minute game, but the kids showed a lot of character not panicking. I think in the playoffs last year against Wise, they were up 13-0 on us. So, they’ve been there before.”

The Pumas (22-3) led 12-11 after one quarter, extended their lead to 28-21 at halftime and 43-38 after three quarters.

The tide changed in the fourth quarter as Roosevelt opened the period on a 9-0 run. They took the lead on a jumper by Miller with 5:31 to go and never relinquished it.

“We played great defense tonight,” O’Connell said. “I don’t think it’s any secret formula – we just play hard, play good defense and play together. We know that’s what’s going to win us games, especially considering we’re not a great offensive team.”

Wise cut the deficit to 53-51 on a 3-pointer by junior guard Keith Shivers with 1:25 remaining, but couldn’t get any closer. After going undefeated against Prince George’s County 4A foes during the regular season en route to the best record in school history, Wise’s first setback ended its season.

“You’re always going to remember your last game,” Wise coach O.J. Johnson said, “but I didn’t want these young men to remember this. If it was a game I wanted them to remember, at least it would be on the big stage. Unfortunately we fell a little short this year, but I thought overall, we had a great year.”

Roosevelt (16-8) advances to face C.H. Flowers in the regional title game on Saturday. The Jaguars beat Bowie in Wednesday’s other semifinal. A win would put the Raiders back in the state tournament, where they finished as runner-ups last season.

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