Following a tough loss to first place Herndon, the Chantilly High boys' basketball team got back into the win column last Saturday night, Jan. 29 with a 65-47 Concorde District win at Robinson.
The game with the Rams was originally set for Thursday night, Jan. 27, but the snowy weather conditions forced the two-day postponement.
A week prior to playing Robinson, Chantilly, with first place on the line, had lost a district home game to Herndon, 55-53, on Jan. 21. The Chargers had eight days to reflect on that hard setback before coming back strong against Robinson.
Chantilly, going into this week, stood at 14-4 overall and 5-1 in district play. The Chargers were scheduled to play games this week at Oakton on Tuesday (Feb. 1) and against visiting Centreville this Friday night at 7:30.
Next week, Chantilly will wrap up the regular season schedule with games on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at home versus Westfield, and on Friday, Feb. 11 at first place Herndon. The Concorde District tournament is set to begin on Tuesday, Feb. 15.
In the meeting against Herndon two weeks ago, Chantilly played the Hornets well most of the game. The Chargers jumped out to a 10-5 lead after one quarter and held a 24-22 lead at halftime. Through three quarters, the contest was tied at 41 before Herndon edged out the two-point win. It was mostly a methodical, half court affair between two of the Northern Region's better defensive teams.
"We led the whole way but let it slip away," said Chantilly head coach Jim Smith.
Chantilly had a balanced scoring attack, led by senior forward Jake Weigand's 12 points. Charger center John Manning (9 rebounds) added 11 points while senior guards Devin Ballam and Jamie Danehower both scored nine points. Brian Sydnor, a sophomore wing, added seven for Chantilly.
For Herndon, Jon Beltran scored a game-high 21 points. Point guard Austin Hamilton contributed 11 points and senior forward Raleigh McKenzie and Dorian Johnson both scored eight. Pat McLaughlin chipped in six points for the Hornets (16-2, 7-0).
In Saturday's bounce-back victory over Robinson, Manning and Weigand scored 17 and 16 points, respectively, to lead the Chargers. Trey Huelskamp, a senior wing, tallied 13 points and Sydnor scored eight.
Chantilly led the Rams 12-8 after one quarter and 31-24 at the half before outscoring Robinson 18-9 in the third quarter to all but put the contest away.
Chantilly's statistical leaders this season have been Wiegand (17 points per game), Manning (12 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks) and Huelskamp ( 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists).
<b>CENTREVILLE HIGH</b>, earlier this week, lost a Concorde District game at Herndon, 71-59. The Wildcats (5-13 overall, 1-6 district) played the Hornets toe-to-toe throughout the game, trailing 15-12 after one quarter, 31-27 at halftime and 50-42 after three quarters.
Senior forward Cameron Owens played a terrific game for Centreville, scoring a game-high 26 points. Will Doyle, also a senior forward, scored 11 points for the Wildcats while teammates Travis Whitney and Rahji Johnson scored seven and six points, respectively. Herndon's top scorers were Austin Hamilton (22 points), Marques Berry (15), Jon Beltran (15) and Pat McLaughlin (11).
Last Saturday night, Centreville and cross-town /district rival Westfield played a close, low-scoring contest won by visiting Westfield, 42-40.
Westfield (11-7, 4-3) led 30-26 after three quarters and went on to win by a basket. Quentin Basil, a junior forward, scored 18 points to lead the Bulldogs. Sophomore guard C.J. Hill added six points while Mark Gibson and Julius Rosa, both juniors, scored five points each in the defensive contest. Centreville's leading scorer was Owens with 12 points.
Whitney, a 6-foot-3 inch senior, contributed eight points and both Evan Fuller and Drakkar Sanders scored five.
Westfield followed the win over Centreville with a victory over visiting Robinson, 69-55, earlier this week on Monday, Jan. 31. The Bulldogs dominated the middle portion of the ball game, outscoring the Rams by eight points in the second quarter and six points in the third, to gain the district victory. Zach Elcano, Westfield's 6-10 junior forward, scored a game-high 19 points to pace Westfield, while Basil and Rosa both finished with 15. Senior guard David Aurora scored nine points in the Bulldogs' balanced scoring attack. Robinson's Mike Rice led his team with 16 points.