Basketball Briefs

Marshall Boys

The Statesmen were able to top the Lee Lancers, but could not best rival Madison on its home court to move into second place in the Liberty District. Marshall prevailed 49-39 in its low-scoring game against Lee last Friday, led by the efforts of Bilal Ahmad. Ahmad scored 13 points, but more significant were the school record five charges he drew from the opposition. He has already broken the single-season record for charges according to Marshall Head Coach Kevin Weeren.

Alex Shek (15 points and five rebounds) and Daniel Dixon (14 points, four assists) also led the offensive efforts for the Statesmen. Tuesday night, Marshall’s primary rival Madison exacted a measure of revenge for a defeat suffered at the hands of the Statesmen earlier this season, prevailing 67-60.

Shek led the Statesmen with 19 points, while Dixon dropped 14 points. Qaiser Ahmed 10 points, while going a perfect four for four from the foul line. The 1-1 split leaves Marshall’s record at 11-8 and 7-4 in the Liberty District. That mark leaves the Statesmen in a tie for third place with Fairfax.

Falls Church Boys

The Jags suffered two setbacks last week, falling in a heartbreaking one-point loss to Mt. Vernon 67-66 Friday, and 52-42 to rival J.E.B. Stuart Tuesday night.

Torrean Alexander led three players in double digits for Falls Church with 13 points. Teammates Chris Edwards and Max Hurrkamp added 11 points each in the loss, while James Gannon scored nine, including two three-pointers. Tuesday the point differential was greater, but the loss no less painful as the Jags fell to their chief rival. Alexander again led the team with 12 points. Gannon and Edwards scored eight points each, while Chris Jerro added seven.

The one-point loss to Mt. Vernon was the ninth game this season decided by five points or less for the Jaguars. Their record stands at 6-3 in those games. Overall Falls Church stands at 6-12, and 4-6 in the district. That places the Jaguars fourth overall, one game behind 5-5 J.E.B. Stuart.

Falls Church Girls

The Mt. Vernon Majors handed the Jaguars a devastating defeat, 82-33 on Friday, and then the J.E.B. Stuart Raiders threw salt on the wound on Tuesday, winning a thriller 43-41. Whitney Stan continued her impressive senior campaign for the Jaguars, leading the team with 12 points, while Karla Cortez contributed six. Stan continued her hot shooting against Stuart, pouring in 13 points, while sophomore Marie Mansaray scored eight points. Cortez and Bebe Kim scored six points each in the loss.

The pair of defeats drops the Lady Jaguars’ record to 1-18 overall and 1-9 in the District. Their lone victory came against the Raiders on Jan. 7. Falls Church will look to a better outcome Feb. 3 against Washington and Lee.

J.E.B. Stuart Boys

The Raiders let a potential win against rival Falls Church get away earlier this season when a three-pointer went down at the buzzer, but on its home court, Stuart made sure that the Jaguars would not escape the season with a series sweep. One game after hitting the game-winning three-pointer in overtime against Yorktown, Derrick Bowman exploded for 24 points, including four threes against the Jaguars to power the Raiders to the 52-42 victory Tuesday night. Junior Johnny Wang also chipped in with an impressive 15-point performance.

Last Friday against Yorktown, Wang was one of four Raiders in double figures posting 14 points in the overtime win. Dionte Beatty led the team with 15 points, while Bowman scored 13 and Nader Shehadeh added 10 points. The two wins vaulted Stuart to 7-11 overall and 5-5 in the National District and moved them into third place. The Raiders next face Mt. Vernon tonight at 7:45 p.m.

J.E.B. Stuart Girls

The Lady Raiders fell against Yorktown last Friday, but they snatched their first National District win of the season against rival Falls Church Tuesday.

Sophomore Betty Appiah led her team with 11 points in Stuart’s 46-31 loss to the Patriots last week, while Jennifer Phan chipped in with seven of her own.

Appiah’s 11-point performance was a mere pittance compared to the dominating effort she turned in against Falls Church. Appiah simply could not be stopped, scoring 23 points, while pulling down 15 rebounds and blocking four shots. No other Raider made it into double figures in the scoring column, but Phan added six more points.

The win raised the Raiders’ record to 2-14 overall and 1-9 in the National District. Stuart will try to build on its success against Annandale on Friday night at 7:45 p.m.

McLean Boys

Fairfax and Woodson dealt McLean a pair of losses last week, leaving the Highlanders’ record at 2-16 overall and 1-10 in the Liberty District. The Rebels soundly topped the Highlanders 75-49 Friday, with Basem Ammoury leading McLean’s scoring efforts with 12 points while pulling down five rebounds.

Given the scoring disparity from Friday’s game, Tuesday night’s contest against first-place W.T. Woodson High School figured to be a significant mismatch, however the Highlanders fought well and held Woodson to just 45 points. Unfortunately McLean could only muster 33 points of its own, led by Brendan McCook’s 10. Josh Shapiro had nine points and six rebounds in the loss. McLean squares off at home against rival Langley Friday at 7:30 p.m.

McLean Girls

The Lady Highlanders won a low-scoring affair against Fairfax last Thursday 37-27, while results from the team’s Tuesday night game against W.T. Woodson were not available at press time. McLean takes on Langley at home Friday at 5:45 p.m.

Mike Hume may be emailed at mhume@fcnp.com