By Angela Watts
Senior Content Editor, DigitalSports.com
** Look below the story to re-live both games with highlights on two separate video players. Complete, post-game footage will be posted in the early afternoon.
When Langley senior Ryan Davenport went up for a rebound with just over a minute left in its Northern Region semifinal against Madison and not only scored on the putback but also drew the foul, Saxons’ Coach Travis Hess had seen enough. Hess tilted his head back, threw open his arms and let out a blood-curdling scream that was a result of sheer exuberance.
Davenport’s bucket, and subsequent successful free throw, put No. 5 Langley ahead by nine points with 1 minute, 9 seconds remaining to secure what proved a 46-38 Saxon victory. It marks the first time in Langley’s 43-year history that its boys’ basketball team will make an appearance in the Virginia AAA state tournament.
But first Langley must square off with top-ranked T.C. Williams, which likewise earned a state tournament berth with its 50-37 victory over Lake Braddock in the second half of the semifinal double-header. The two teams will meet at 9 p.m. Saturday at George Mason University’s Patriot Center to decide the Northern Region championship.
“It’s really, really exciting,” Hess said of advancing to Saturday’s title game. “It’s a special feeling. The fact that we get to play in the regional championship tomorrow, and if it is T.C. Williams I don’t know how many people are going to give us a whole lot of chance … but anything can happen in one night and we’ll see.”
Said Titan senior guard Travis Berry: “It’s a big step and a big accomplishment to make it to states, but we want to show that we’re the No. 1 team and to do that we have to keep progressing. We know [Langley] is a pretty good team, too, if they made it this far, but I don’t think any team in this region can stick with us. If they’re going to try to run with us they’re going to be in trouble.”
Both Madison and Lake Braddock tried to slow their opponents in the semifinals, but the tactic proved unsuccessful on both accounts. The Warhawks were able to limit the Saxons’ offense in the first half — holding their opponent to just 16 first-half points — but Langley went on a 16-2 run to start the third period to turn what had been a five-point deficit into an 11-point lead.
Madison scored the first basket of the third quarter but did not score again until just 1:48 remained in the period when junior Gavin Hilburn hit a three-pointer to halt Langley’s run.
“The last two games we played we were 4-for-9 in both games from three’s, and that’s how we play,” Warhawks’ Coach Chris Kuhblank said. “Tonight I think our stats had us 2-for-14 from three’s, and that’s not how we play. We scored the first two, I think, in the third quarter and we felt we could go ahead and beat them. But then we stopped doing what we do. Now we still played good [defense] — our defensive goal was 45 and what did they get? Forty-six? … We played defense the way we wanted to, but we didn’t manage the game on offense the way we wanted to in the second half. That’s what lost it.”
Langley, meanwhile, was led offensively by senior Ahmed Malik (11 points) and junior Thomas Kody (10) during that pivotal third-quarter stretch, and also got three big blocks by junior Derek Baker that led to fast-break opportunities.
“The big difference was the first half was their pace,” Hess said. “They wanted to be deliberate and wanted it to be slow. The second half we came out and ran our pace, up-and-down the floor. We got some easy baskets, stopped settling for jump shots like we did in the first half, got out to a little bit of a lead and then were able to protect it.”
The Bruins used their now infamous stall tactic early in its game against the Titans — drawing back-and-forth chants of “Shoot the ball!” and “Hold that ball!” from the two student cheering sections — but a quick spurt by T.C. Williams at the end of the second quarter turned a four-point Titan advantage into a 20-11 lead at the break.
“We wanted to keep it within striking distance,” Lake Braddock Coach Brian Metress said. “I thought the key point of the game was with about three minutes to go in the second quarter we kind of pulled the trigger on two deep three’s that really weren’t part of what we were trying to do. And we missed them both and they came roaring down and made a couple of easy buckets … and that’s my fault.
“We should have been a little bit better there but we weren’t. But a lot of credit goes to them. They’re very, very active.”
T.C. Williams was led by junior guard Edward Jenkins, who scored a game-high 18 points, but its three other scorers also reached double-figures as well. Senior forward Anthony Winbush scored 11 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, while Berry and senior center Joshua Jordan added 10 points a piece.
Junior guard Dominic Morra paced Lake Braddock with 16.
“We wanted to see what was the plan,” T.C. Williams Coach Ivan Thomas said. “We knew if we were up they couldn’t continue to [stall], so we got up. But then the guys, some of them called the half-court traps that we had. I just said, ‘Okay, run it.’ I was content with 12-6 to be honest. I wasn’t’ going to let them tire us out. But we ran a couple of half-court traps and we got some steals out of it, and so it helped.”
It’s that same kind of defensive pressure that Thomas said he hopes will lead the Titans to victory in Saturday’s regional finale against the Saxons.
“Langley, I think they’re a tough team,” Thomas said. “We’ve never faced them before. But I think they run extremely good offensive sets. I’m hoping that our pressure will do the same thing to them. I don’t think they’ve seen the type of pressure that we’re capable of putting on them.”
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
GAME 1
No. 7 Madison 12 7 5 14 — 38
No. 5 Langley 7 9 16 14 — 46
Madison — Moyer 1 0-0 2; Ogolo 3 0-0 7; Flaherty 5 0-0 10; Smerdinski 3 2-2 8; Hilburn 1 0-0 3; Forde 1 0-0 2; Crissey 1 2-2 4; LeDuc 1 0-0 2. Team totals: 17 4-4 38. Langley — Hunter 3 2-2 8; Baker 3 3-5 10; Davenport 3 1-1 7; Malik 3 5-6 11; Kody 3 3-3 10. Team totals: 15 14-17 46. Three-pointers — Madison 2 (Hilburn, Ogolo); Langley — 2 (Baker, Kody).
GAME 2
Lake Braddock 6 5 13 13 — 37
No. 1 T.C. Williams 12 8 11 19 — 50
Lake Braddock — Asinugo 4 0-0 8; Watson 1 0-0 2; McLucas 1 2-2 5; Morra 6 3-6 16; Curtis 1 0-2 2; Petros 1 2-4 4. Team totals: 14 7-14 37. T.C. Williams — Winbush 4 3-4 12; Berry 4 1-2 10; Jenkins 7 2-5 18; Jordan 4 2-5 10. Team totals: 19 8-16 50. Three-pointers — Lake Braddock 2 (McLucas, Morra); T.C. Williams 4 (Jenkins 2, Berry, Winbush).
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