CHESAPEAKE — Landstown star sophomore Damien Robinson doesn’t need any motivation.
He knows each time he steps on the court, he will be tested and he’s ready to bring it.
The one thing you don’t want to do is give him extra motivation.
But that’s what Oscar Smith did prior to the Class 6 Region A semifinal Tuesday.
“There was a lot of talk coming into this game. A lot of posts like the ‘Dame stopper,’” said Robinson, referring to an Instagram post about him. “It just puts an edge on my shoulder. They said they want to be the ‘Dame stopper,’ but they can’t stop me. I just came out hard every time.”
Robinson took that challenge to heart and dominated the defending region champions on their home court as he scored a game-high 31 points to lead Landstown to a 59-47 victory. The win helped the Eagles advance to next week’s Class 6 state tournament.
But first they have to travel to Midlothian on Thursday to face No. 1 seed Manchester, which beat Western Branch in the other semifinal.
The victory also helped Robinson’s father, Dwight, clinch his 10th state tournament berth in 22 seasons.
Landstown and Oscar Smith know one another well, as the two teams have played in the region finals the past three seasons, with the Tigers winning two.
But Dwight Robinson is now 6-2 against Oscar Smith coach LaVar Griffin in the postseason.
He also heard the talk prior to the game about his son. He knew that wasn’t a good thing for Oscar Smith.
“I guess it was something on Instagram from a player on Oscar Smith,” he said. “He had his picture up there and had written ‘Dame stopper’ up on there. And he showed it to me before the game. That motivates Dame. Dame is the kind of kid if you present him with a challenge, he’s going to meet the challenge.”
The Eagles (22-3) led from start to finish in a game that was never close.
Damien Robinson was a major reason as he scored eight points in the first quarter to help give the Eagles a 19-8 lead. He added 10 more in the second quarter as Landstown took a 34-19 lead into halftime.
Class 6 Region A Semifinal: Landstown 19, Oscar Smith 8
Josiah Law with the three-point play at the end of the first quarter pic.twitter.com/BdrhSi4nqb
— Larry Rubama (@LHRubama) February 24, 2026
The Eagles’ Josiah Law, a 6-foot-4 junior forward, finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
“Most people think it’s just me and I shoot the ball every time,” said Damien Robinson, who also had four steals and a monster dunk. “But, no, I have great pieces around me. Josiah Law comes up big on the boards and finishing inside. And Chase Johnson and Rashad Shaw are both key scorers. So that takes a lot of pressure off of me.”
Landstown also stepped it up on defense as the Eagles held Oscar Smith to 7-of-26 shooting in the first half, including 1-of-10 from 3-point range.
“Our defense was really good, and we’ve been working hard on that all week,” Dwight Robinson said. “The guys are really locked in and really in tune with what we’re trying to do and what we need to do in order to be successful.”
Oscar Smith, which finished the season 18-3, was led by Cason Fitch’s 19 points and seven rebounds.
