Mason High Boys Fall to Manassas Park in Overtime

It was another case of so close and yet so far, as the Mustangs suffered yet another close loss, falling 77-76 in overtime to Manassas Park last Thursday night.

Both Colin Molano and Travis Greene turned in sterling performances in the loss, each cracking the 20-point barrier, but it wasn’t enough to be their athletic opponents.

“We fought hard until the end of the game,” Mason Head Coach William Broderick said. “We had some opportunities to win the game both in regulation and in overtime, but we just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities.” Molano hit six shots from behind the three-point line en route to a 23-point, seven assist performance. Greene meanwhile dropped in 22 points, including an impressive slam dunk, to go along with 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks. Josiah Larson chipped in with nine points and 11 rebounds, while Steve Williams added seven points and seven boards.

Mason failed to rebound from the narrow loss against Manassas on Tuesday night when the team traveled to Madison County. Again the team played tough, but the Mustangs couldn’t keep up when Madison began to hit some critical three-pointers in the third quarter and fell 58-45. “The three pointers forced us to come out of our 2-3 zone and we went to a scrambling zone trap that was ineffective,” Broderick said. Larson led the Mustangs in the scoring column with 15 points to go with his eight boards. Greene continued his solid all around play posting 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. Sean Dawson also figured in prominently with 11 points, nine of them coming from beyond the three-point arc.

The pair of losses leaves Mason in fifth place in the district, likely setting up a first-round battle against Strasburg. “As the season comes to a close we are looking to continue to get better each night and learn from our mistakes,” Broderick said. “The good thing about basketball is that you have a chance to make it to the region playoffs no matter what your record is during the season. So, I’m hoping that we can put together a run at the end of the year and see if we can sneak into the playoffs. I will remain optimistic until the final buzzer of our last game of the year and then I will start looking forward to and preparing for next year.

Mike Hume may be emailed at mhume@fcnp.com