CIAA: Local storylines to watch on championship Saturday

Although local program Bowie State fell in a semifinal heartbreaker on Friday night at CFG Bank Arena, the CIAA women’s basketball final will feature a pair of Maryland high school alumnae playing significant roles for their collegiate programs.

There’s also strong ties to the area on the men’s side of the bracket. Here are the most compelling storylines heading into Saturday’s 1 p.m. women’s championship game between Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State and the men’s game between Bluefield State and Fayetteville State at 4 p.m.

Ellicott City’s Talia Trotter seeks third CIAA title

Talia Trotter, a former star for Marriott Ridge, terrorized Maryland Division 3A high school basketball and Howard County to the tune of 18.8 points, 4.7 steals and 3.5 assists per game. And, despite leaving Maryland to join Fayetteville State, Trotter — as if to say ‘Didn’t you miss me?’ — is making it an annual tradition to come back to win the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship in Baltimore.

The 2026 CIAA first-team selection continued her march to a third straight CIAA crown, and Fayetteville’s only Marylander helped beat a team full of them on the tournament’s de facto home squad, Bowie State. Between a strong local fan base for the Bulldogs and a wild traveling group of Fayetteville supporters, CFG Bank Arena was as raucous as it had been all tournament Friday.

That didn’t matter much to Trotter, who told teammates in one of their final huddles that they “have been here before.” Trotter backed up the talk with key plays down the stretch, leading Fayeteville to a 49-46 win. That included a crucial steal with 1:20 on the clock and a late free throw that forced Bowie State to hunt for a 3-pointer on its final possession.

“I’ve been here before, and I’m going to have the same game plan: Do whatever I can to help the team win,” she said.

Trotter has done a bit of everything through two games in the tournament, notching 18 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and eight steals.

On the other side of the bracket is Makayla Waleed of the Winston-Salem Rams. After finishing last a season ago, the Rams have dominated this season and this tournament, going 14-2 in CIAA play and winning their quarterfinal and semifinal games by 22 points and 35 points, respectively.

Waleed played at St. Vincent Pallotti and Emerge Christian Academy before spending three seasons at Temple University. She transferred to join first-year Winston-Salem head coach Tierra Terry. Waleed ranked 12th in the CIAA in scoring and fifth in steals, and she led the team with 19 points in the quarterfinals.

The Broncos and Rams split their regular-season matchups, with Waleed notching a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double in the Winston-Salem win.

Coach with local ties seeks men’s title with third team

The Maryland ties will be strong in the CIAA men’s championship on Saturday afternoon, starting with head coach Luke D’Alessio.

D’Alessio served as the head coach at CCBC Catonsville and Bowie State and assisted at Loyola. He’s done nothing but win at all stops.

D’Alessio went 124-52 at CCBC before going 199-96 at Bowie State. He led both programs to a No. 1 ranking and brought Bowie State to the Final Four in addition to winning a CIAA title.

In 2022, as coach of Fayetteville State, D’Alessio guided the Broncos to their first CIAA title since 1973.

This year, D’Alessio faced a new challenge. Fayetteville State did not renew his contract, calling it a mutual decision to part ways. It hired away Bluefield State’s head coach, 31-year-old Devin Hoehn.

A month later D’Alessio took over at Bluefield State, but Hoehn took most of his main contributors with him, leaving the Big Blue roster gutted. D’Alessio hit the transfer portal and cobbled together a roster that lacked significant collegiate experience.

“This is probably the hardest season I’ve ever had. I had 15 new guys. Most were role players at their previous school,” D’Alessio said after Friday’s semifinal win. “So it took a while. We were losing a whole bunch of close games early in the season, and that was tough for me.”

Now, to end that challenging season, D’Alessio gets a matchup that brings storylines straight out of Hollywood. After reviving the Fayetteville State program, D’Alessio will challenge the Broncos for the 2026 title with his group of Bluefield State newcomers.

Bluefield State has four players from Maryland. Junior Anthony Davenport, a Rockville native and Richard Montgomery High School alum, has notched 27 points in two CIAA tournament games. He’s a 38% shooter from beyond the arc and is 4-for-6 from distance in the tournament.

Baltimore’s Kyree Smith, a City alum, plays about 10-15 minutes per game off the bench and has scored seven points across two Bluefield State games. Two other Maryland natives, freshman Jalen Baker and junior Colin Harshman, are also on the Bluefield State roster.

Fayetteville State has one player from Maryland, Tobias Shiflet.

Bowie State women fall short

The Bowie State Bulldogs made another strong run in the CIAA tournament, reaching their second straight semifinal. The Bulldogs roster features 11 players from Maryland, including two major contributors from Baltimore in Kristin Sterling and Chaniya Taylor.

Taylor played at Forest Park High School, and Sterling attended Pikesville High School, winning a 2019 state title.

On Friday, Bowie State dropped a heartbreaker to two-time defending champion Fayetteville State, 49-46. It was the end of an emotional month and season for Bowie State, which played in honor of former athletic director Clyde Doughty Jr., who died Feb. 2 at the age of 67. He’d been the athletic director for 11 years.

“The AD and I were really close. The day that he passed was the day we played Bluefield State and they had honored me for becoming the all-time winningest coach at Bowie,” head coach Shadae Swan said. “He had left me a voicemail, telling me how proud he was of me, telling me to go out there and be great. He was the person that hired me. ... He believed in me before I believed in myself.”

In reference to her team’s effort Friday night, an emotional Swan said: “He would have been really proud of how we pushed through, how we rallied. He didn’t really care about the wins and losses. He just wanted us to go out and fight every night, and that’s what we did. That’s really all that I could ask for.”

Bowie State men get close in coach’s final game

The Bulldogs were given next to no shot in the tournament, but in their best performance of the year, they pushed top-seeded Fayetteville State to the brink before bowing out, 86-83, in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

KJ West, from Waldorf, ended his season with a 24-point, 10-rebound showing for the Bulldogs, who took a 41-32 halftime lead and led as late as the final 30 seconds, when they were up 83-82.

After the game, Bowie State coach Darrell Brooks announced his retirement after 40 years of coaching, 16 of which were with the Bulldogs. Brooks is an undergrad alumnus of the univeristy, class of 1979, and he earned a masters from Bowie State in 2019.

Brooks said the team did not know beforehand that this was his final game.

“I didn’t want to encumber them with anything, I just wanted them to play with free and clear minds,” he said. ”I’m just thankful to this university for everything they’ve given me, my wife and my family.”

Doughty, the athletic director, was honored at halftime of Wednesday’s game.

“He was a really good guy, and that’s not a term I use lightly,” Brooks said. “Student-athletes loved him, coaches, everybody. We were just trying to go out there and make him proud, and I’ll tell you, he’s smiling down, and he’s proud of this program right now.”

Marlboro native has career game in monumental upset

Winning a CIAA game is never easy and sometimes requires special performances, especially when facing a team that already beat you twice. Johnson C. Smith faced that situation, as the 11-15 Golden Bulls took on the 24-4 Virginia Union Panthers in the quarterfinals. The Panthers had won that matchup twice already, including by 52 points in December.

But the Golden Bulls had a little bit of magic in them on Thursday night, including the hot hand of sophomore Justin Bumbray, the only Maryland native on the roster. Bumbray, a Good Counsel alumnus, drilled a career-high three 3-pointers, finishing with 11 points, two rebounds, an assist and tenacious defense down the stretch. Bumbray entered the game shooting 21% from 3-point range with only nine made all season.

“The one thing about Justin is he lets me coach him. I’m probably harder on him than anyone. What he didn’t understand coming in as a freshman was that I saw the potential in what he could become,” Johnson C. Smith coach Antwain Banks said. “We know what the percentages are. We talked about it. It’s about when to take those shots, how to take those shots, being in rhythm. I’m happy for him. I’m happy for his family. To be able to do this back at home, that’s pressure. Just a great kid. He deserves everything he’s gotten tonight.”

Bumbray and the Golden Bulls couldn’t pull a second shocking upset, losing to Fayetteville State on Friday night. However, it was their first semifinal appearance since 2020.

John Carroll grad shines

Former John Carroll High School star Travis Vaughn returned to Maryland as Virginia Union’s point guard. Despite a quarterfinal loss, Vaughn, a junior, delivered a clean performance with eight points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal.

He didn’t commit a turnover, his 10th such game of the season. Although his home-state return didn’t go according to plan, Vaughn’s season isn’t necessarily over. The Panthers have a chance at an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II tournament.