By Jeffery Gibert
West Potomac Senior, DigitalSports Intern
Mount Vernon’s had to wait and extra frame to celebrate, but the Major faithful were rewarded for their patience Friday night at Stuart.
After the Majors’ miraculous, 63-62 comeback overtime victory against the Raiders the fans stormed the court to rejoice in Mount Vernon’s National District regular-season championship.
“I never doubt my teammates,” said Mount Vernon junior forward Skylar Jones, who led the Majors with a game-high 24 points. “And I thought we would overcome anything.”
Turns out, they did.
Mount Vernon trailed nearly the entire game and also had to contend with Stuart’s loud student-cheering section after the host Raiders jumped to a quick, 7-0 lead.
Stuart senior Raymond Watson (17 points) came up huge in the opening quarter, scoring seven points. But Major senior Brian Green’s basket at the end of the quarter put his squad ahead, 14-13, headed into the second period.
“We don’t have any fear,” said Major senior forward Robert Coleman, who finished with 10 points. “[We] just keep our composure, play through it and know that we’re going to come out with the ‘W’ at the end.”
But the Raiders did not trail for long. Junior guard Antonio Harris nailed a three-pointer that sent the home crowd into a frenzy and capped a short run by Stuart that had been started by a monster dunk by senior Mahamed Ibrahim. The run got the Raiders back in the lead.
And after the Majors closed within three, Raider senior William Ford (20 points) hit an incredible layup as time expired in the half to once-again energize the fans.
The Majors answered with a 7-0 run of their own to begin the second half and re-claimed the lead. Jones and Ford went back-and-forth throughout the quarter, and the Raiders ended up taking a three-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Stuart appeared to have the game locked up with just under 3 minutes to play. The Raiders held a three-point lead and were passing the ball around in an attempt to run out the clock. It worked — for a bit. Mount Vernon did not get the ball back for more than a minute.
But eventually, with about :15 left and the Raiders up one, Coleman was fouled and headed to the free-throw line for a one-and-one opportunity. Coleman made the front end to tie the game, but miss the second shot.
Stuart had one last chance to seal the game in regulation, but failed to convert.
“We knew we were going to get the ball back,” Coleman said. “No way that they were going to keep the ball for three minutes without us getting it back.”
In the extra period it again looked as though Stuart would win the game. Ford hit two clutch free throws to put the Raiders up three with about :20 left.
This time, though, it was Major sophomore Jesse Konadu (14 points) who swished two huge free throws to bring Mount Vernon within one point with :13 left.
Then came the real dramatics: The Majors then stole the inbounds pass, and five seconds later Jones converted a layup to give Mount Vernon the lead with just :08 showing on the clock.
“It was a loose ball and my teammate caught it and he dished it to me,” Jones said. “And I just put it in the basket.”
Stuart had one last possession, but its last-second shot was off-center — prompting the Majors’ fans to storm the court in celebration.
What a fitting way to clinch a district championship.
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