CATONSVILLE, Md. – Wi-Hi boy’s basketball fell to Henry E. Lackey 44-42 in overtime in the MPSSAA 2A State Championship Tuesday night at UMBC’s Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Catonsville. The Tribe finished the 2025-26 season as the 2A runners-up after falling just short in the final game of Head Coach Butch Waller’s 60-year career.
Wi-Hi leaned on their defense for an early 6-0 lead. A low-scoring first quarter ended with the Tribe maintaining a 10-6 lead.
In the second quarter Wi-Hi unlocked their offense in transition, capitalizing on stops and turnovers to expand their lead to as many as 12 points at 21-9 with just over three minutes to play in the half. Lackey responded to close the 2nd quarter on a 9-3 run capped by a late three-pointer from Travis Suggs (11 points) that made it 24-18 at the break.
The third quarter belonged squarely to Lackey. The Chargers held Wi-Hi without a basket in the period, outscoring the Tribe 13-1 to bring a 31-25 lead into the fourth.
While they were waiting on their offense to warm back up in the fourth, the Tribe took their turn at holding the opposition without a basket for a whole quarter. Wi-Hi finally broke through midway through the fourth quarter, with seniors Demar Brunson (17 points) and Vic Collins (nine points) stringing together enough offense to pull Wi-Hi even with Lackey at 34-34 following a made free throw from Tyson Hayward (11 points). Both teams saw opportunities with the game tied down the stretch, but a scoreless final 90 seconds of regulation sent the game to overtime.
After Hayward followed his own miss to bring Wi-Hi within two points at 38-36 with just over 1:30 remaining in the extra period, Lackey outscored the Tribe 6-3 to put the game out of reach. A buzzer-beating three from Collins reduced the deficit to two points for a 44-42 final.
The game marked the 10th MPSSAA State Championship appearance for Wi-Hi boy’s basketball, and the program’s 7th under Butch Waller.
Waller finished his storied 60-year career with 955 wins, the most all-time by a public-school coach in Maryland.
