By Phil Murphy
DigitalSports.com
**Re-live the entire game in 6 min., 24 sec with the video player below. Interviews added.**
No. 1 T.C. Williams 26, Lake Braddock 20
Dating back to a 2005 District Championship loss to Lake Braddock, top-ranked T.C. Williams entered its Patriot District semifinal against the Bruins with 49 consecutive wins in district play. But the fan response to the game was more entertaining than the action itself.
Lake Braddock employed its infamous stall technique from beginning-to-end Wednesday, but it was the Titans who would left the Bruins’ gym victorious — at a diminutive count of 26-20.
“I know [Coach Brian] Metress and I knew it was coming,” T.C. Williams Coach Ivan Thomas said. “He wants to win. I have respect for him. He thinks of creative ways to help his team to get the most out of them. He doesn’t care. He’ll make it 6-2. He wants to win.
“We had to be mentally ready and my guys were.”
The games’ first shot attempt did not come until 1 minute, 53 seconds of play had passed. And Titan junior Gavin Peterson did not hit the games’ first field goal until the 3:17 mark of the first quarter. Lake Braddock’s only field goal of the opening period came at the buzzer, courtesy of senior Ian Asinugo (game-high 10 points, half of the team total).
T.C. Williams senior Ed Jenkins finished tied for the team-high with six points.
“We already knew they were going to hold the ball for the whole game, that’s the style they play,” Jenkins said. “We were ready for it.”
The entire contest lasted just 1 hour, 16 minutes — and that includes the 10-minute, half time break. Neither team scored more than nine points in any single quarter. There was even a stretch of nearly three minutes in the fourth that senior Haben Petros held with the ball without dribbling.
“You all need a shot clock in high school basketball,” said Thomas, in his third season at T.C. Williams. “All jokes aside, you guys are here and the press covers these games to see these guys get to the next level. If that’s how they play at the next level, why not prepare them for it?”
The Titans, having won their 50th consecutive district game counting the postseason, look to earn their third consecutive Patriot District championship on Friday against West Potomac. Lake Braddock will face the winner of the Concorde District tournament in the first round of the Northern Region tournament next week.
“We have beaten the front-runner in the Concorde District,” said junior Dominic Morra, one of three Bruins to make the box score. “And we have scrimmaged Chantilly, the second one. I feel confident going [against] the Concorde District. I’m looking forward to that game.
“The road doesn’t mean anything to us.”
Morra finished with four points, third best on the Bruins’ team.
Lake Braddock 7 7 7 5 — 20
No. 1 T.C. Williams 3 5 9 3 — 26
Lake Braddock — Asinugo 4 2-3 10; McLucas 1 4-4 6; Morra 1 1-3 4. Team totals: 6 7-10 20. T.C. Williams — Jenkins 3 0-1 6; Winbush 2 2-3 6; Berry 1 2-2 5; Jordan 1 1-2 3; Peterson 1 1-2 3; Copeland 1 0-0 2; Yates 0 1-2 1. Team totals: 9 7-12 26. Three-pointers — Lake Braddock 1 (Morra); T.C. Williams 1 (Berry).
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