Wheaton Basketball Aims for Regional Championship

Update: Wheaton lost to South Carroll Wednesday night, 50 to 47.

As Wheaton High School boys’  basketball coach Sharief Hashim looked ahead to the season in late November, he said with cautious optimism, “We're trying to turn it up a little bit this year. We realize we haven't crossed the threshold yet and just really want to continue to build on the things that we've done.” 

Now only two games away from locking up just the second regional championship in school history, the Knights have effectively crossed the threshold. 

Wheaton (15-8), which has already clinched its first winning record since the 2004-05 season, beat Poolesville, 56-54, Monday in the Class 2A West quarterfinals and faces South Carroll Wednesday in the regional semifinals. With a win, the Knights would advance to face either North Hagerstown or Winters Mill in the Class 2A West championship game. 

Wheaton, which had been 20-18 in its last 38 games under Hashim heading into this year, had posted just a 13-52 record in the three years leading up to his arrival in 2008. 

“We knew we were talented going into the season and just wanted to put ourselves in the best position to make a run at the end of the year,” Hashim said. “And now, we’re just taking it one game at a time, but I feel really good about our chances. It would be really special to finish this off [with a regional title].” 

Including Monday’s victory against Poolesville, Wheaton has won seven of its last eight games with the lone defeat coming at the hands of Springbrook, which has won the Class 2A state championship each of the last three years. 

Seniors Charles Woods (16.1 points per game), Rayshawn Taylor (15.6), Aaron Murray (8.8) and Isaiah Hill (7.9) are each averaging at least seven points per game for the well-balanced Knights. Taylor, who led Wheaton with 17 points per game last season, had a team-high 18 points against Poolesville while Hill’s late 3-pointer, which came with the Knights trailing by one with just nine seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, proved to be the difference in the game. 

“We have a lot of different weapons and it’s very difficult to contain us,” Woods said. “Not a lot of teams have four or five different players that can score like that. I’m just excited and I’m really confident that we can win this whole thing.” 

Hashim has also been encouraged by Wheaton’s improving defense. 

“We’re just playing good all-around basketball,” Hashim said. “Our defensive intensity has definitely been a lot better than it was at times during the regular season and that’s helped us go on this little run here. We’re playing our best basketball at the right time and it’s just been a really special year to get to this point.” 

But Murray still recognizes the challenge that lies ahead in South Carroll (22-1). Coincidentally, the Cavaliers ousted the Knights in the first round of last year’s playoffs. 

Senior forward Ryan McTavish leads South Carroll in scoring (20 points per game). 

“They’re a good team,” Murray said. “But we’ve really come together as a team and we’re looking a lot better than when we faced them last year.  

“I’m just looking at them as another test for us,” he added. “It’ll be a big test for us though. But we’re just ready to play ball. They beat us last year and we’re ready to beat them this year.”