COLLEGE PARK — At halftime of Friday's Class 1A state semifinal, New Town junior Devin Smith had one thing on his mind.
"To be honest, the thought of it being my last game of the season was what triggered into my head," Smith said. "I wanted to get another game. I wanted to get a state championship ring on my finger."
The slick-shooting 5-foot-10 guard went out and took a major step toward that goal, scoring scoring 22 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to lead the Titans to a 57-53 win over Joppatowne at Xfinity Center.
Now New Town (17-6) will move on to its third state championship game since 2012. The Titans' lone title came in 2007.
On Friday, they first needed to overcome a sluggish first half in which they shot 29 percent from the field.
“I thought we had to be a little bit more patient,” New Town coach Mike Daniel said. “We kind of explored the paint area a lot, and I think that was one of the differences in the game.”
Smith made a habit of driving through the lane and drawing fouls, and hit 10 of 15 free throws in the second half. He got plenty of support from 6-7 center Chris Fitzgerald (10 points on 5-for-6 shooting) and 6-3 forward Quincy Roche (10 points, seven rebounds).
It was defensively, however, where the Titans made the biggest impact, forcing 25 turnovers and holding Joppatowne (20-4) to 36 percent shooting overall.
“They definitely came back with a frenetic pace on defense,” Mariners coach Jermaine Head said. “Turnovers, free throws and second shots killed us. Their bigs weren't even involved in the first half. They just kept getting second chance put-backs, and that really kept the lead growing.”
Both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the first half.
New Town broke out to a 12-6 lead late in the first half by holding Joppatowne to two field goals on its first nine attempts, then went ice-cold itself, going without a basket for the next 5:30.
Head gave the Mariners a 13-12 lead on a 3-pointer to start the second quarter, and they extended it to six when Jakobi Bruce drove to the basket for a layup, drew the foul and completed the three-point play.
Jermaine Head Jr. finished with 18 points and Dominic Smith 12 had rebounds for Joppatowne, which was making its first appearance in the state semifinals since 2005.
In the third quarter, however, New Town made its move.
The Titans kept forcing turnovers and finally began to turn them into points, scoring 11 of the first 14 to start the half and taking a 30-26 lead when Smith scored on a fast-break layup and converted the three-point play.
Down the stretch, the Titans continued to build their lead from the foul line, making eight of their first 10 free throws in the fourth quarter.
“We had to have somebody step up and hit a couple free throws,” said Smith, who made 10 of his 15 attempts from the line. “The first half, we came out sluggish, so we had to come back in the second half better.”
Joppatowne trailed by as many as 10 before mounting a late charge that fell short.
“We didn't take advantage of the opportunity we had, and that's why we lost,” senior Fortune Okegweh said. “If we would've kept the intensity up in the second half, we would've gotten the W. I really feel like we were the better team, but we fell short.”