Prince George’s County has been designated a Hoops Hotbed by ESPN. The 2011-2012 Boys High School Basketball season is heating up. We believe these are five must see January games involving Prince George’s County teams.

• January 20th  7:15 p.m. – - Douglas (2A) travels to Largo (3A) in a must win game for the Eagles. Largo still has County and Maryland 3A State Title goals so they need to win to keep pace with Gwynn Park (2A) for a chance at the County Title.
• January 21st    7:30 p.m. – - DeMatha at Gonzaga on Saturday January 21st at 7:30 p.m.- – features two of the areas best teams and is the only game on this list that does not involve two Prince George’s County teams.
• January 24th   7:15 p.m. - – Duval is proving that they belong in the Prince George’s 4A League title race. A victory against the Suitland will help solidify their status as a contender.
• January 27th  7:30 p.m. – - Riverdale Baptist has national aspirations and travels to National Christian in game that will be one tough road test.
• January 31st   7:15 p.m.  — The last game featured game of the January involves Bowie and High Point two teams that are trying to position themselves to go deep in the Maryland State 4A playoffs. Bowie is the road team in this game but victory will help position them to be a first round playoff host.

Support our Prince George’s County teams and see you at the gym!

The surprising, not so surprising team for the 2011-2012 4A Boy’s Basketball season is DuVal. Improvement was expected when they returned 4 starters, but this year’s team has already eclipsed last year’s win total. The Tigers have eclipsed last years win total in just 8 games. They have a 6-2 record, including a win over perennial Prince George’s County 4A League leader Eleanor Roosevelt. The Raiders are off to a 6-2 start as well. Flowers and Bowie are both 4-1 in league play, but the Bowie Bulldogs may be benefiting from a weaker schedule. Suitland is about where they were expected to be 5-2 overall. Expect the Rams to have no problem reaching the playoffs. Oxon Hill is a team that is hard to figure out — they have wins against Flowers and Suitland but lost to 2A Crossland. They could contend with Wise for Maryland 4A playoff spot or drop out of contention early. High Point’s league record 2-3 does not reflect that of a playoff contender but it is much too soon to rule them out. The Eagles losses against, Eleanor Roosevelt, Suitland and Bowie should not cause alarm. Their two games against DuVal later in the season will help define both teams.

In Prince George’s County 3A/2A/1A league favorite Gwynn Park is off to a 4-4 start. While a .500 record is not up to Yellow Jacket standards, they still should be regarded as the team to beat since 3 of their losses are out league and against bigger schools. Their only league loss came against Potomac, who is off to a 6-3 start with a win over 4A Blandensburg. Largo and Friendly lead the Prince George’s County 3A/2A/1A League with 5-0 records in league play. Surrattsville which was a preseason 1A playoff favorite finds itself in a deep hole with a 0-5 start in league play. Another playoff contender Douglas is 2-3 and will have to do well against Gwynn Park and Friendly if they want to make the Maryland 2A playoffs. Forestville and Fairmont Heights should contend for Maryland 1/A playoff bids.

Among the private schools, DeMatha is off to another strong start at 10-0. All of the Stag’s wins have been double digit wins. Bishop McNamara is just under .500 6-7 with hopes of a strong finish to the season. St Vincent Pallotti is doing very well at 11-5. Riverdale Baptist as expected is also having a fine season at 14-2. You can follow all Prince George’s County High School Basketball teams here .