Frederick, MD - The #1 seeded Dragons built up a massive lead and cruised to victory as they ended the CCBC Catonsville Cardinals season 90-74 in the Region 20 tournament quarterfinals.

The two teams exchanged early baskets as they were tied 15-15 with Marquis Freeman (Manassas, VA/Fork Union Prep) and Ethan Wilson (Manassas, VA/Osbourn Park) hitting their shots to set the tone. Shane Taylor (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) hit a three pointer to break the deadlock as the Dragons would go on to hold the lead for the rest of the game. Taylor hit another long range shot followed by Koby Baptiste (New Carrollton, MD/Parkdale) hitting his first three pointer of the season as the Dragons piled on the points late in the first half to take a 43-27 lead into halftime. 

Baptiste was unstoppable in the second half as the Dragons built up a 30 point lead with Catonsville having no answers to the suffocating Howard side. The Cardinals made a late run to make the score look more reasonable, but the result was never in question as the Dragons advanced shooting 59% from the field with 46 points in the paint. 

Baptiste scored a career high 28 points on 10-16 from the floor and 7-9 from the free throw line along with 11 rebounds, five assists, and four steals in a commanding performance. Taylor scored 13 off the bench while Freeman and O'Meech Wilson (Glen Burnie, MD/North County) each scored 12 points.

The Dragons will advance to the semifinals where they will take on Montgomery College on Friday, March 10 at 5:30 PM with the rest of the tournament games taking place at Frederick Community College. Howard defeated the #4 seeded Raptors 68-59 at Montgomery in a regular season game on February 8.