Aquille Carr (#3) and Patterson lead BSR's high school basketball rankings.

Following our coverage of this weekend’s high school state football championships, we now move on to the fast-approaching high school basketball season with our short, yet informative area preview. The preview will cover the Baltimore metro area, which is rife with basketball talent, and produces most of Maryland’s state championship teams on a yearly basis. Additionally, several top NBA players played their high school basketball in this area, including Carmelo Anthony (Towson Catholic) and Rudy Gay (Eastern Tech, Archbishop Spalding). The “metro” area includes Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Harford County, Cecil County, Howard County, and Anne Arundel County.

The preview includes rankings of the area’s top 15 teams, preseason All-Metro selections, some notable games to put on the calendar, and predictions for the area’s major conferences, and Maryland’s four state championships.

Top 15
1. Patterson
2. St. Frances
3. Milford Mill
4. John Carroll
5. Mount St. Joseph’s
6. McDonogh
7. Lake Clifton
8. Dunbar
9. Edmondson
10. Calvert Hall
11. Digital Harbor
12. Forest Park
13. City
14. Glenelg Country
15. Owings Mills

 

Preseason All-Metro

DaQuan Cook (#10) will play for St. Frances this season after leading Digital Harbor to last year's Class 2A state title.

1st Team
G: Aquille Carr, Patterson, Jr. (Preseason Player of the Year)
G: DaQuan Cook, St. Frances, Sr.
G: Myrek Fowlkes, Patterson, Jr.
F: Isaiah Miles, Milford Mill, Sr.
F: Kayel Locke, McDonogh, Sr.

2nd Team
G: Tyson Smith, Milford Mill, Sr.
G: Aaron Parks, Lake Clifton, Sr.
G: Kameron Williams, Mount St. Joseph’s, Jr.
F: Jared Jones, John Carroll, Sr.
C: Josh Forney, St. Frances, Sr.

Games to Watch
1/28/12, Patterson vs. St. Frances: Featuring our pre-season #1 and #2, this matchup is part of the Mayor’s Basketball Academy event at Coppin State. If both teams play up to expectations to start their seasons, this game could go a long way in determining the top team in Baltimore.

12/16/11, Owings Mills vs. Milford Mill: A repeat of last year’s Baltimore County championship, this game features the county’s two perennial powers. Owings Mills is at home, but Milford Mill has a deep, talented team. Keep an eye on Milford guard Tyson Smith, who starred for Owings Mills last year before transferring.

12/20/11, St. Frances vs. McDonogh: The first real MIAA A test for both of these teams, this game will show whether St. Frances is a team to be reckoned with this season, or whether they are just a collection of big-name transfers without good chemistry.

2/7/12, McDonogh vs. John Carroll: Both of these teams will be competing with St. Frances in the MIAA A conference race,  and this late-season matchup looks to have a large impact on the final conference standings.

2/10/12, Edmondson vs. Patterson: Another big late-season game, Edmondson could threaten Patterson’s run for another city championship. Being that this will be one of the most highly anticipated games in the city this year, expect it to be moved to Coppin or Morgan State.

Predictions
4A State Champ: North Point (Charles County)
3A State Champ: Milford Mill
2A State Champ: Lake Clifton
1A State Champ: Dunbar
Baltimore City Division 1: Patterson
Baltimore City Division 2: Forest Park
Baltimore County: Milford Mill
Baltimore Catholic League: St. Frances
MIAA A: McDonogh
MIAA B: St. Vincent Pallotti
UCBAC: Aberdeen
Anne Arundel County: Annapolis

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Edgar Walker is a staff writer for Baltimore Sports Report, focusing on the Ravens and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter for entertaining and informative tweets.

Check out all of BSR’s high school sports coverage here.