Marshall Boys Hoops
The Marshall Statesmen boys varsity basketball team played a thriller on Friday, Feb. 1, and came up just short against the Colonials of Thomas Jefferson High, losing 51-49.
Senior guard Nate Whittington paced the Statesmen with 13 points, including three three-pointers, but the Statesmen were pounded on the inside all night by junior center Spencer de Mars, who scored 23 points on eight baskets and seven foul shots. The loss dropped the Statesmen to 5-13 overall, and again robbed them of their chance for a second conference win.
The Statesmen would not have to wait long to pick up that elusive second win however, as they faced Stone Bridge at home on Monday night, the only team that they had beaten in the Liberty Conference this season. Monday's script told a similar story and the Statesmen rolled, 61-40. The Whittington brothers proved to be the difference in this game; junior guard Bryan Whittington scored 17, while his older brother Nate finished with 13 points, hitting all eight free throws he attempted.
The Statesmen will not have much time to celebrate, as they face a tough road swing this week, traveling to South Lakes on Thursday and the hostile environment of McLean on Tuesday night.
McLean Boys Hoops
The McLean Highlanders had a tough last week, falling to two top Liberty Conference opponents to drop their overall conference record below .500, to 5-6. On Friday, the Highlanders traveled to W.T. Woodson, the top team in the Liberty Conference pack, looking to pull off an upset. At halftime, the score was locked up at 29 a piece, however Woodson came out firing in the second half and McLean could not conjure up the defense to stop them. Despite the best efforts of senior guard/forward Tarek Ammoury, who scored 30 points, the rest of the Highlanders could not find their stroke, and could not give Ammoury the offensive support he needed to pull off the upset.
On Monday, the Highlanders came back home to face another tough test in the form of Madison. With their leading scorer inactive for the game, the Highlanders looked for other offensive weapons, finding two in junior guard Peter Brosnan, who scored a game-high 13, and senior guard Peter Kenallias, who dropped 12 on Madison. However, without Ammoury, the Highlanders could only sit and watch as Madison junior guard, Omi Ogolo, scored his last two of his team-high 11 points on a running shot from the lane as time expired. The heart-breaking loss dropped Madison’s overall record to 10-9.
This week, the Highlanders will be looking to draw upon home support in their effort to get above .500 again, with home games against Stone Bridge on Thursday night and Marshall on Tuesday.
McLean Girls Hoops
The McLean Lady Highlanders faced a near impossible week last week, first traveling to W.T. Woodson on Friday night before playing host to No. 12 Madison on Monday.
On Friday night, McLean’s undoing came at the free throw line, as the Lady Highlanders could only convert 13 of 28 free throws, less than 50 percent overall from the line. Conversely, Woodson earned five more points on their free throws despite one less attempt, going 18 for 27 and shooting at an impressive 67-percent clip. The balance of Woodson’s scoring proved too much for McLean, as Woodson featured two double-digit scorers. Coming off a double-digit performance last week against Langley, freshman guard Andie Romness exploded for 16 points, providing nearly half of McLean’s overall scoring output. However, the free throw differential proved too great, and McLean lost 53-42.
Monday night, No.12 Madison came into McLean’s gym and, despite the home crowd support, the Lady Highlanders had no answers for the ranked Lady Warhawks of Madison. Madison simply dominated the first half, going into halftime with a 36-10 lead and putting all thoughts of an upset to rest quickly. The Lady Highlanders scored only nine baskets overall. Jessica Stillman was the team’s leading scorer with eight points.
The Lady Highlanders head to the road this week, traveling to Stone Bridge on Thursday night and Marshall on Tuesday.
Falls Church Boys Hoops
The Falls Church Jaguars faced a huge challenge on Friday night, as the Mount Vernon Majors and their 7-1 conference record came to Falls Church to battle the 1-7 Jaguars. Paced by balanced scoring and three double-digit scorers, Mount Vernon rolled to a 62-39 victory over the Jags.
Junior forward/center Evan Hansen was one of the few positives for the Jags, scoring 20 points on eight baskets and four free throws.
Tuesday night featured a game between two teams with 1-17 overall records and 1-8 conference records, when Falls Church traveled to Washington-Lee. Adding to the drama of this matchup: Washington-Lee had been Falls Church’s only victory this season after the Generals forfeited their previous game after using an ineligible player.
Looking to avenge that “loss,” even the Generals doubtfully could have predicted the final score of Tuesday’s matchup. Behind points from 11 different players, the Generals rolled over the Jaguars, 71-38. Three Generals players scored in double figures and the team drained five three-pointers as a whole. Falls Church was paced by junior guard Kyle Gotcher, but could not keep up with the offensive salvo of Washington-Lee, dropping them to 1-18 overall and 1-9 in the National District.
The road gets no easier for the Jaguars this week, with an away game against Wakefield on Friday night and a home matchup against Edison on Monday.
Falls Church Girls
The Falls Church Lady Jaguars, in the midst of a rough season, dropped two more games last week to fall to 2-16 overall, 1-8 in conference.
On Friday, the girls traveled to Mount Vernon and despite the best efforts of senior Almarys Ortiz, who scored 16, and 18 combined points from the senior Gibbons sisters, Falls Church was more or less done by halftime, as Mount Vernon jumped to a 39-16 lead. Mount Vernon was paced by three-double digit scorers, including senior forward Kaycie Day, who led the team with 20 points.
Next up for the Lady Jaguars is a Friday home game against Wakefield at 7:45 p.m.
J.E.B. Stuart Boys
The Raiders ran their winning streak to four with a 58-52 home victory over the Edison Eagles, Feb. 1. With the win, Stuart upped its record to 6-3 in the National District and climbed ahead of the Eagles into sole possession of third place.
The road gets no easier for the Raiders (12-6 overall), as they travel to face first-place Mt. Vernon (13-6, 9-1) for a Feb. 8 contest. The two teams met in a heated, double-overtime affair in mid-January that the Majors claimed by a 72-66 final tally.
Stuart returns home on Feb. 11 to face second-place Yorktown (10-9, 7-3) before closing out its season against Washington-Lee (4-12, 3-6) on Feb. 14.
J.E.B. Stuart Girls
On Friday, Feb.1, the J.E.B. Stuart Raiders had to travel to No. 4 Edison’s home gym for what turned out to be their most lopsided defeat of the season, as Edison rolled, 86-23. The halftime score of 51-3 sums up how the night went for the Lady Raiders pretty succinctly. Edison, undefeated in the district and with only one loss on the entire year, featured five girls in double-digits, while J.E.B. Stuart could not produce a single double-digit scorer. Jayme Harris, a senior guard, led the team with nine points on three baskets and three foul shots.
The loss dropped Stuart to 5-13 overall, 4-5 in conference. The Lady Raiders have Mount Vernon at home on Thursday and travel to National Conference rival Yorktown on Monday night, looking to avenge an earlier 62-20 loss.
