Nine days was a long time to have to think about a tough, lopsided district loss. But that was the case for the Broad Run High boys basketball team, which took it on the chin in a 26-point Dulles District setback to Dominion on Jan. 14. The Spartans did not have another scheduled game for over a week, so they could not quickly erase the bitterness of the defeat to the Titans.
When Broad Run finally did get back on the court last Friday night, it was a different team as the Spartans overwhelmed district host Briar Woods, 70-50. It all clicked for the visitors, who ran the floor well, played heads-up, intense defense and earned numerous high-percentage, close-range shots from inside the paint. It was a sweet win for Broad Run (13-3 overall, 5-3 district), which was finally able to put the Dominion game well behind it.
"I wanted to see how we’d regroup after a tough loss," said first-year Broad Run coach John Costello, who got the answer he was hoping for. "We worked real hard [in practices] after that loss. Our practices are sometimes harder than our games."
<b>BROAD RUN JUNIOR</b> forward Kevin McGaughey, who scored 17 points with five rebounds in the win over the Falcons, said the Dominion loss was not as painful as the Spartans’ 88-84 double overtime loss to Park View several weeks ago Jan. 9.
"[Lopsided] losses like that to Dominion are better than losing the close games or a heartbreaker like Park View," McGaughey said. "That was terrible."
In the loss to Dominion, Broad Run did not rebound well and therefore struggled to run the court as it likes to do. But the Spartans pounded the backboards hard against Briar Woods, out rebounding the Falcons, 29-21. Broad Run scored numerous fast break buckets. And when the Spartans did set up their offense, they were able to work the ball inside to McGaughey among others.
"What I was happy about was our transition," said Costello, whose team ran the court extremely well. "At the varsity level you have to finish [the fast break with baskets] and we were able to do that."
Broad Run senior guard Didier Saidi came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points. Saidi, who also had six rebounds, had success penetrating toward the basket when the Spartans set up their offense and also scored off the break. He even knocked down a 3-pointer in the third quarter to give Broad Run a 36-25 lead.
Another big scoring night for Broad Run came from junior forward Ahmad Zafar, who netted 15 points off the bench.
<b>BROAD RUN</b> led 13-9 after one quarter, 27-18 at halftime and 50-31 after three quarters. For Briar Woods (6-8, 2-6), which was coming off a dramatic 58-57 win over Dominion seven days earlier, the outing against Broad Run was a struggle from beginning to end. The Falcons, who got 13 points from sophomore guard Andre Evans and 12 from freshmen point guard Myles Tate, never could get things going. Briar Woods converted six long range 3-pointers — three of those coming from Evans — to Broad one’s one, but it was not nearly enough to keep the game close.
"We struggled tonight against Broad Run’s athleticism and strength," said Falcons head coach Mike Benson. "McGaughey had a great game. We didn’t have good defensive transition tonight. They scored most of their buckets in the lane."
Benson called Briar Woods’ contrasting outings against Dominion and Broad Run a "tale of two teams." Against the Titans, the Falcons defended standout Dominion guard Deandre Albritton fairly well. He scored 17 points, but did not control the game as he can do.
"We contained Albritton [that night] and we got them out of their game," Benson recalled.
<b>EARLIER THIS season, Briar Woods was much more competitive in a 75-70 loss at Broad Run Dec. 11. Benson said his team shot the ball particularly well that game. The coach, following his team’s loss to the same Spartans’ team on Friday, credited Broad Run.
"Kudos to them, they played well," said Benson, who has just one senior, pivot Carl Etienne, on his roster.
Benson was disappointed in his team’s overall competitiveness against Broad Run.
"We need to come out every night and compete hard," said the second-year Briar Woods coach. "Tonight, we did not compete. With a young team, you’ve got to put an entire game together. We didn’t do that."
Briar Woods was set to play district games this week against visiting Dominion Tuesday, Jan. 27, before going to Freedom this Friday night.
Broad Run is still in the hunt for a share of the regular season district title at 5-3 in the district. Going into this week, Dominion was in first place at 7-1 and Potomac Falls was second at 6-2. This week, the Spartans were scheduled to play at home against Freedom Tuesday and at Heritage this Friday night.
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<pc> Photo by Craig Sterbutzel/The Connection
<cl> Broad Run forward Kevin McGaughey (25) scored 17 points in the Spartans’ win over Briar Woods last Friday. Here, the junior goes up for a shot in a recent game against Potomac Falls. No. 50 for Broad Run is center Will Fieldo.
Pullquote
<ro> "We struggled tonight against Broad Run’s athleticism and strength."
<ro1> — Mike Benson, Briar Woods boys basketball coach
<48hd> Spartans Run Past Falcons
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<36hd> Still in the Hunt
<sh> Win keeps Spartans in the Dulles District hunt.
<1b> By Rich Sanders
<2b> The Connection
<bt> Nine days was a long time to have to think about a tough, lopsided district loss. But that was the case for the Broad Run High boys basketball team, which took it on the chin in a 26-point Dulles District setback to Dominion on Jan. 14. The Spartans did not have another scheduled game for over a week, so they could not quickly erase the bitterness of the defeat to the Titans.
When Broad Run finally did get back on the court last Friday night, it was a different team as the Spartans overwhelmed district host Briar Woods, 70-50. It all clicked for the visitors, who ran the floor well, played heads-up, intense defense and earned numerous high-percentage, close-range shots from inside the paint. It was a sweet win for Broad Run (13-3 overall, 5-3 district), which was finally able to put the Dominion game well behind it.
"I wanted to see how we’d regroup after a tough loss," said first-year Broad Run coach John Costello, who got the answer he was hoping for. "We worked real hard [in practices] after that loss. Our practices are sometimes harder than our games."
BROAD RUN JUNIOR forward Kevin McGaughey, who scored 17 points with five rebounds in the win over the Falcons, said the Dominion loss was not as painful as the Spartans’ 88-84 double overtime loss to Park View several weeks ago Jan. 9.
"[Lopsided] losses like that to Dominion are better than losing the close games or a heartbreaker like Park View," McGaughey said. "That was terrible."
In the loss to Dominion, Broad Run did not rebound well and therefore struggled to run the court as it likes to do. But the Spartans pounded the backboards hard against Briar Woods, out rebounding the Falcons, 29-21. Broad Run scored numerous fast break buckets. And when the Spartans did set up their offense, they were able to work the ball inside to McGaughey among others.
"What I was happy about was our transition," said Costello, whose team ran the court extremely well. "At the varsity level you have to finish [the fast break with baskets] and we were able to do that."
Broad Run senior guard Didier Saidi came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points. Saidi, who also had six rebounds, had success penetrating toward the basket when the Spartans set up their offense and also scored off the break. He even knocked down a 3-pointer in the third quarter to give Broad Run a 36-25 lead.
Another big scoring night for Broad Run came from junior forward Ahmad Zafar, who netted 15 points off the bench.
BROAD RUN led 13-9 after one quarter, 27-18 at halftime and 50-31 after three quarters. For Briar Woods (6-8, 2-6), which was coming off a dramatic 58-57 win over Dominion seven days earlier, the outing against Broad Run was a struggle from beginning to end. The Falcons, who got 13 points from sophomore guard Andre Evans and 12 from freshmen point guard Myles Tate, never could get things going. Briar Woods converted six long range 3-pointers — three of those coming from Evans — to Broad one’s one, but it was not nearly enough to keep the game close.
"We struggled tonight against Broad Run’s athleticism and strength," said Falcons head coach Mike Benson. "McGaughey had a great game. We didn’t have good defensive transition tonight. They scored most of their buckets in the lane."
Benson called Briar Woods’ contrasting outings against Dominion and Broad Run a "tale of two teams." Against the Titans, the Falcons defended standout Dominion guard Deandre Albritton fairly well. He scored 17 points, but did not control the game as he can do.
"We contained Albritton [that night] and we got them out of their game," Benson recalled.
EARLIER THIS season, Briar Woods was much more competitive in a 75-70 loss at Broad Run Dec. 11. Benson said his team shot the ball particularly well that game. The coach, following his team’s loss to the same Spartans’ team on Friday, credited Broad Run.
"Kudos to them, they played well," said Benson, who has just one senior, pivot Carl Etienne, on his roster.
Benson was disappointed in his team’s overall competitiveness against Broad Run.
"We need to come out every night and compete hard," said the second-year Briar Woods coach. "Tonight, we did not compete. With a young team, you’ve got to put an entire game together. We didn’t do that."
Briar Woods was set to play district games this week against visiting Dominion Tuesday, Jan. 27, before going to Freedom this Friday night.
Broad Run is still in the hunt for a share of the regular season district title at 5-3 in the district. Going into this week, Dominion was in first place at 7-1 and Potomac Falls was second at 6-2. This week, the Spartans were scheduled to play at home against Freedom Tuesday and at Heritage this Friday night.