By Angela Watts
Senior Content Editor, DigitalSports.com
(Look below the story for dozens of video highlights from both the boys’ and girls’ basketball games.)
The sign on the back of the wall at Hayfield High Friday night read: “Forget the Titans — Remember the Hawks.”
But after victories by the top-ranked, visiting boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball teams, that sign came tumbling down at the hands of the exuberant Titans’ fans.
No. 1 T.C. Williams‘ girls pulled away from what was an unexpectedly close first half en route to a 69-31 victory over host Hayfield. Junior standout Tierra Ruffin-Pratt battled the flu throughout the game — and still finished with a game-high 25 points.
The boys’ game was much closer but ended in a similar, 57-52, Titan victory.
Both the Titans boys’ and girls’ teams finished their Patriot District regular-season schedule unbeaten; T.C. Williams’ girls fared even better with a perfect, 19-0 record. They were rewarded with long-sleeve, black T-shirts in the post-game locker room that read “Perfect! 19-0 … 12 strong!”
“It means a lot to us,” Titan girls’ Coach Jim Lewis said of the perfect finish. “Not too many people can run the table. So this is a special group. It’s 12 outstanding women led by a superstar, and we play and work hard. We always talk about the season being three different seasons — the five non-district games, 14 district and then the tournament.
“We definitely got some turnovers there tonight that helped us break things open. We still didn’t convert as many open-floor buckets there, but we’re a pretty good defensive team and we have to maximize those runs when we get them.”
The top-ranked T.C. Williams’ boys’ team trailed 17-13 at the end of one quarter, but held No. 9 Hayfield to single-digits scoring in both the second and third periods to open up a 44-32 lead entering the game’s final frame.
“It’s hard for me to explain,” Hawks’ Coach Ron Palmer said. “We started well but still we weren’t really running our offense. And when they upped the tempo of the game, we couldn’t execute our offense. And that kind of spilled out to the defensive side. But they had something to do with that; that wasn’t just us.
“Fortunately, though, we’re still good enough to hang around even when we’re not playing like we want to play. We didn’t execute or prove that we can execute under extreme pressure … but that’s what I’m looking forward to. Because we’re good enough athletically to hang with any team.”
The Titans, who were led by senior Anthony Winbush’s game-high 19 points, saw the Hawks stay close, but did not allow them to pull any closer than four points the entire fourth quarter.
“I’ll be honest, that didn’t really surprise me,” Titans’ Coach Ivan Thomas said of his team going undefeated in Patriot District play for the third consecutive season. “The work that they put in is incredible. So they may have shocked the rest of Northern Virginia and the state as to how well they’ve been playing, but it didn’t shock me.
“None of these guys were returning starters from last year, but this was the group that made us so deep a year ago. So they’re used to these kinds of ballgames … and we’re not finished yet.”
Both teams open the first round of the Patriot District tournament at home on Tuesday, but by virtue of winning the regular-season championship both have already locked up berths into the upcoming Northern Region tournament as well.
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
Boys’ Box Score
No. 1 T.C. Williams 13 18 13 13 — 57
No. 9 Hayfield 17 8 7 20 — 52
T.C. Williams — Via 2 0-0 4; Winbush 8 3-4 19; Berry 4 1-2 11; Peterson 1 0-0 3; Jenkins 2 8-8 12; Yates 2 0-0 4; Camara 1 2-3 4. Team totals: 20 14-17 57. Hayfield — Winbush 1 3-5 6; Wilson 3 4-5 10; Gibson 2 2-2 7; Atkins 3 7-7 13; Rigans 4 0-1 8; Canady 1 0-0 2; Laryea 2 0-0 4; Newsome 1 0-0 2. Team totals: 17 10-21 52. Three-pointers — T.C. Williams 3 (Berry 2, Peterson); Hayfield 2 (Gibson, Winbush).
Girls’ Box Score
No. 1 T.C. Williams 11 17 19 22 — 69
Hayfield 12 9 6 4 — 31
T.C. Williams — Barber 2 1-2 7; Ruffin-Pratt 9 7-10 25; K. Boston 7 0-1 1; Fikes 1 0-2 2; J. Boston 0 0-2 0; Burts 6 2-3 14; Jeffers 1 0-0 2; James 2 1-4 5; Horton 0 0-2 0. Team totals: 28 11-26 67. Hayfield — Parks 0 2-2 2; Thornton 5 1-4 11; Weatherford 1 0-2 2; Atkins 3 2-4 9; Cochraham 2 0-0 4; Goins 1 0-0 4; Reives 0 1-2 1. Three-pointers — Hayfield 1 (Atkins).
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