By Angela Watts
Senior Content Editor, DigitalSports.com
**Look below the story to find two separate video players — one with interviews and highlights from each championship game.
If top-ranked T.C. Williams needed proof that Saturday night was going to be its night, it came just before half time of its Northern Region championship game against No. 5 Langley. Senior left-hander Anthony Winbush heaved an off-balance, three-point shot with his right that sailed cleanly through the net as the buzzer sounded at George Mason University’s Patriot Center.
And if the Saxons needed similar proof that Saturday was not their night, they got it at the conclusion of their 66-54 loss to the Titans. Senior standout Ryan Davenport stumbled after posing for a team picture, accidentally stepped on the regional runner-up trophy and cracked the silver man right off the top.
That was the theme of Saturday’s girls’ and boys’ championship games — the have’s and the have-not’s.
No. 5 Lee got things started with what proved a lopsided, 66-40 victory over eighth-ranked W.T. Woodson that secured the Lancers’ first regional girls’ basketball title in school history.
“My staff and I talked about it from the beginning of the year, and we told them there was an opportunity for them to leave their legacy,” said Lee Coach Rudy Coffield, who has announced he will retire at seasons’ end to spend more time with his grandchild. “They can come back 20 years from now and say, ‘Hey, we put that banner up there.’ “
The Lancers’ pressure defense led to a whopping 18 steals against the Cavaliers, nearly all of which were converted into easy, fast-break scoring opportunities. As a result, Lee built a 20-point lead at half time and pushed that margin to as many as 30 with 3 minutes, 10 seconds remaining on a one of four three-point buckets by senior sharp-shooter Brittany Gropp (12 points).
The Lancers also got a game-high 22 points from tournament MVP Kristine Mial, a junior, and 16 more from senior J’Quita Babineaux, who also did a stellar job defensively against Cavalier standout senior center Sarah Schoof (team-high 12 points).
“All year long we knew we had six or seven girls who could put the ball in the hole,” Coffield said. “We knew that if we could get up and make them play a fast-paced game that some things would open up, like shots for Brittany … and Brittany can flat shoot the ball.”
The second-half of the championship double-header initially appeared to be a similarly one-sided, as the Titans stretched their 13-point half time lead into an 18-point advantage early in the fourth quarter on a Travis Berry three-pointer from the baseline with 7:02 to play.
But the Saxons made things interesting, going on a 15-4 run over the next five minutes, 12 seconds to close within 59-52 with 1:50 remaining on a putback by junior Derek Baker.
The Titans, though, quickly re-inserted tournament MVP Anthony Winbush — who had scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half — to regain control. The last play of the game was a steal, and a thunderous dunk, by the Titans’ soft-spoken senior.
“We were down 18 and you could have rolled over and taken one on the chin,” Langley Coach Travis Hess said to his players immediately following the loss. “But you stayed in it and you gave yourself a chance to win. That’s nothing to hang your head about.”
The win marks the second consecutive regional championship for the Titans, who became the first team to successfully repeat since South Lakes won back-to-back-to-back titles from 1992-1994. T.C. Williams also has the distinction of being the only team in history to go undefeated in Patriot-District play over three consecutive seasons, going 52-0 against district teams in that span.
“We just had to pick the momentum back up,” Winbush said. “It was important to us because we wanted to make a statement. We had something to prove to all the doubters. Now we just want to carry this out and bring a state title back to Northern Virginia.”
All four of Saturday’s participants will be back in action next weekend when the Virginia AAA tournament begins. Regional runners-up W.T. Woodson and Langley will travel to face the respective Eastern Region champions, while Northern Region champions Lee and T.C. Williams will host the Eastern Region runners-up at 2 and 4 p.m., respectively, on March 8 at Robinson High School.
The last Northern Region team to win a state title was West
Springfield’s girls in 1999. No Northern Region boys’ team has won a
state championship since Lee did it in 1981.
“We just want to continue to play well,” Coffield said. “We know that the biggest thing we talked about all year was winning a state championship, so that’s their eye on the prize … and we’ll keep working toward it.”
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
GAME 1
No. 4 Lee 18 20 16 12 — 66
No. 8 W.T. Woodson 10 8 8 14 — 40
Lee — Hopkins 3 2-2 8; Williams 2 0-2 5; Babineaux 6 4-4 16; Moseh 0 3-4 3; Gropp 4 0-0 12; Bayoumi 0 0-2 0; Mial 10 2-2 22. Team totals: 25 11-16 66. W.T. Woodson — Gallo 3 4-4 11; Bonuccelli 2 0-0 4; Thompson 4 0-0 9; Schoof 4 4-4 12; Griffin 2 0-0- 4. Team totals: 15 8-8 40. Three-pointers — Lee 5 (Gropp 4, Williams); W.T. Woodson 2 (Gallo, Thompson).
GAME 2
No. 5 Langley 16 8 11 19 — 54
No. 1 T.C. Williams 20 17 15 14 — 66
Langley — Hunter 2 4-4 8; Baker 4 0-0 10; Davenport 6 2-4 14; Popps 0 0-1 0; Malik 5 3-4 14; Kody 3 2-2 8. Team totals: 20 11-15 54. T.C. Williams — Winbush 11 1-2 24; Berry 3 4-6 11; Jenkins 4 5-6 13; Jordan 3 2-2 8; Yates 1 0-0 2; Camara 4 0-0 8. Team totals: 26 12-16 66. Three-pointers — Langley 3 (Baker 2, Malik); T.C. Williams 2 (Berry, Winbush).
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