By Phil Murphy
DigitalSports.com
Centreville 74, Dominion 71
The
only game that featured a team outside of the Northern Region was the
one that ended in the most dramatic fashion, a last-second, 74-71
Centreville victory over Dominion of Loudoun County.
Centreville
(2-5) and Dominion (2-4) were tied at 71 with :3.9 seconds left in
regulation, a figure that was just shortened by half of a second when a
Wildcat inbound pass was denegated to the scorers’ table by Titan
senior center Ben Dickerson.
Without a single strategic adjustment from Centreville Coach Brian Doyle, sophomore Bobby Warhurst (14 points) passed the ball to point guard — and standout golfer — Nick Tisinger (five points). Tisinger took one dribble toward senior Ryan Farrar,
who had a team-high 32 points, including 17 in the second quarter
alone, but Dominion was waiting for that. Farrar was ensconced in
black-and-silver.
So Tisinger improvised.
He took two quick dribbles away from Farrar before firing a belt-high pass to junior Jahmal Jones (10 points) who was stranded beyond the arch on the right baseline.
Jones
received the ball from Tisinger and without hesitation — but with
impeccable form — lofted a jump shot just before the angry drone of
the buzzer.
Bottoms.
The Wildcat bench erupted in celebration of their second win of the season, with Jones’ three-pointer as time expired.
“The
play was designed to go to Ryan [Farrar],” he said. “But I guess
everyone on Dominion went straight to Ryan, so I got the ball and had
to step up.”
His heroics overshadowed those of Centreville’s Farrar, whose 32 points were a career best, and Dominion junior guard Deandre Albritton, who had a game-high 34 points, 21 of which came after half time.
“He’s
a great player,” Farrar said of Albritton. “He’s quick, he can shoot,
he can basically do everything. I’m just happy to come out with the
win.”
The Wildcats hope to carry the momentum from this win
forward as they will face district rival Oakton in the tournament
semifinal at 6:30 p.m. tonight. The Titans play Stuart today at 3 p.m.
for the right to play in Saturday’s fifth-place game.
** For interviews and highlights from the game, click here **
Yorktown 79, Marshall 75
The
Patriots (4-4) led by 12 points with 2 minutes, 9 seconds remaining in
the game. However, the Statesmen (4-3) lived up to their mantra: “Small
School, Big Heart” and nearly broke the hearts of Yorktown supporters
before ultimately falling, 79-75, in the first round of the McLean
Holiday Tournament.
Marshall hit three of its 12 three-point shots in those final 129 seconds, including one from senior guard Nate Whittington, who made nine during game. He finished with a game-high 29 points.
“We have people driving — we have Stanley [Watts] and Bryan [Whittington]
— and when people are driving, it makes it much easier on me,” he
said. “I felt it tonight … I’ve had some games where I hit five or
six [three-pointers], but not nine.”
The Statesmen scored 47 second-half points in the loss after posting just 28 in the first.
“Coach [Frost] wanted us to focus on defense in the second
half,” Whittington said. “In the first half, we gave up 45 points.
We’re not going to win many games when we give up 45 points in a half.
We came out with a full-court press, going man-to-man. But then, on
offense, it just came alive. People were making that extra pass. It was
good.”
Yorktown Coach Rich Avila said before the game
that he thought outside shooting would be the ultimate determinant of
the winner. Marshall set the bar extraordinarily high, but the Patriots
had enough offense depth to keep pace. Simon Kilday (24 points) and David Grebb (20
points) sparked a 19-2 run that spanned six minutes of the late-first
and early-second quarters to give Yorktown a 17-point lead at half
time.
“Tonight, Marshall was trying to push the pace,” Kilday
said. “They were firing off some shots and we were doing the same thing
as retaliation. We have the talent on this team to be able to do that
— to be able to run-and-gun. I think, tonight, that was the key to our
win.”
The margin never dipped below 10 points until Marshall’s final — and very nearly successful — push in the waning seconds.
“We
started to push the panic button a little bit,” Kilday said. “We saw
them hit the threes and we thought we might lose the game for a second.
We just stuck with it. Our guys didn’t give up.
“That’s why we came out with the victory.”
** For interviews and highlights from the game, click here **
McLean 68, Fairfax 52
Just when first-year Coach Kevin Roller thought McLean’s (4-3) injury blues were over, senior starting guard — and second leading scorer — Peter Kanellias
rolled his ankle in practice the day before the Highlanders were to
open the third annual McLean Holiday Tournament. This comes only days
after he finally was able to stop wearing the protective mask he was
forced to sport after breaking his nose on the second day of tryouts.
Kanellias, along with bench contributors senior Greg Love (illness) and sophomore Phil Bouchard (hamstring), were in street clothes for the first-round game of the tournament against Fairfax (1-5).
“We’re
not going to change what we do,” Roller said. “It may mean that we get
the shot we want after six passes instead of four passes. It may mean
that, instead of getting Peter’s athleticism he had in some drives
against Langley, we run our offense and end up with a different look.”
Roller, though, did find some silver lining to this cloud.
“Every
player has to know that an injury as an opportunity,” he said. “Good
teams overcome injuries; every team is going to have injuries somewhere
in the season.
“It’s nice that Tarek’s [Ammoury] happened in
November and this is in December and it’s not the second week of
February. Good teams have people step up and you find a way to win.”
McLean’s leading scorer, the aforementioned senior Tarek Ammoury, does not feel the Highlanders can simply lean on their depleted lineup to excuse, or accept, losses.
“We won the tournament last year and we’re trying to win it again this year,” he said.
Ammoury
took it upon himself to do so. He shot 14-for-16 from the free throw
line en route to a game — and career — high 28 points as McLean
defeated Fairfax, 68-52, in the nightcap of the tournament’s opening
round.
“Man, I knew I had a mismatch down low,” he said. “He was
pushing me the whole game, but I knew I could take him down low. I was
like, ‘Coach, post me up down low.’ I was able to hit some shots and I
had a good game.”
The Highlanders face Yorktown in semifinals of
the McLean Holiday Tournament at 8:15 p.m tonight, while the Rebels
draw Marshall in a consolation game at 4:45 p.m.
** For interviews and highlights from the game, click here **
Oakton 56, Stuart 49
Under first year Coach Chuck McDaniel, a former Stone Bridge assistant, Oakton (1-6) has been desperate to earn its first win of the season. The Cougars, however, did not do themselves any favors with early season scheduling.
“We’ve played some really good teams in our first five games,” McDaniel said. “I think our first five opponents are a combined 25-and-2, or something like that.
“We made a conscious effort today to hold back on [three-point shooting] a little bit. We want to get it inside a little more, we wanted be patient and work hard for good shots. I think the guys did that.”
But Oakton, thanks to that more conservative style, scored two easy baskets to start the game against Stuart (4-3) and held on for its first victory of the season, 56-49. The Cougars even reverted back to their free-firing style on the third possession — a three-point shot by senior guard Bart Reese (20 points) — but that vaulted the Cougars in front by an even wider, 7-0 margin.
Oakton never trailed and only allowed to Stuart to tie the score twice early in the fourth quarter. But that’s when the Cougars went on a second, decisive 7-0 run sparked by the sharp-shooting of senior Greg Westcott.
“I was just open, hot and wanted to win,” he said.
Westcott scored nine of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter.
In that final period, Oakton also shot 13-for-15 from the line as a team to maintain a safe margin over Stuart.
“We end practice, a lot of times, with free throws and running,” McDaniel said. “A lot of these guys get tired of running, so they learn to make their free throws.”
The Cougars advance to face a familiar foe in Centreville tonight at 6:30 p.m. in a game with more meaning to it than just a berth in the McLean Holiday Tournament final. On last year’s senior night, Oakton led the Wildcats by as many as 28 points in the second quarter before allowing Centreville to go on a 39-8 run.
The Cougars scored 20 points in the first four minutes of the game, but just 17 in the second half. Oakton — inexplicably — went on to lose 72-71 and their season was ended four days later in the first round of the Concorde District tournament.
When asked if he’d like an opportunity to redeem that bitter defeat, Westcott responded with one word: “Definitely.”
** For interviews and highlights from the game, click here **
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