RICHMOND — For the second straight year, both the boys and girls teams from George Mason High School will head to the Virginia High School League Final Four next week. The girls crushed Sussex Central, 66-36, with a well-tooled fast break, tenacious defense and balanced scoring after the boys jumped out fast and held to defeat Essex, 56-52. In both cases, the Mason teams were the presumed underdogs, both having lost in their regional finals and paired against schools that had won theirs

Stephanie Cheney led the Mason girls’ charge in a game that was never in doubt after the second quarter. Leah Roth, Lauren Kane, Ashley Alexander and Katie Goodwin all also made significant contributions to the scoring.