Leesburg, Va. — Coming off a convincing win against Woodgrove, the John Champe High School basketball team had their sights set on a tournament championship. Led by junior guards Jalen and James Jasper – who combined for 37 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 steals – the Knights dispatched host Loudoun County High School, 64-46, to claim the inaugural LoCoSports Tip-Off Tournament crown on December 6 in Leesburg.
“It’s a great start, and you always want to get off to a great start,” John Champe head coach Walter Webb said. “Talk is cheap, so you got to play and you got to be successful.”
[adrotate group=”5″]Entering the second half with a 25-21 lead, John Champe let that lead slip as the Raiders climbed back into the game early in the third quarter. Then, trailing 28-27, John Champe senior forward Tyler Savage kicked the ball out to James Jasper, who buried a three-pointer to go up 30-28.
I was going with the flow, passing to the open guy, kicking to where it needed to be kicked to. Overall, it was just a great team win, and I’m just happy to have all our guys here to make it happen.
—John Champe senior forward Tyler Savage
“[James and Jalen are] really talented guys. They’re able to focus on their skillset, because people have to pay attention to our other players, and they recognize and understand that,” Webb said. “They know there’s a time when they need to get everybody else involved, and there’s a time where they need to do what they need to do.”
A couple possessions later, Jasper kicked a pass out to senior forward Robbie Zschoche, who knocked down a three to extend their lead to 33-29. On the Knights’ next possession, Jalen Jasper got in on the three-point parade, drilling a shot from downtown. After a pair of Loudoun County free throws, John Champe senior forward Sameh Mahfooz again found Jalen Jasper on the perimeter, who knocked down another three as the Knights’ went up 39-31.
“It’s next man up. When someone’s struggling, we have to pick the burden up and just keep going,” Jalen Jasper said. “Me, James, Sameh, and Robbie knocked down some crucial shots that helped us extend the lead in the third quarter.”
If you stop one, you got to deal with the other one, and if you stop both, you got to deal with Tyler.
—John Champe head coach Walter Webb on James and Jalen Jasper
Trailing 39-31 heading into the fourth, the Raiders quickly got to the line as senior point guard Matt Anderson drew a foul in the paint. Loudoun County junior forward Nathan Brown corralled an offensive rebound before senior forward Mark Siegel closed the gap to 39-34 with a three-pointer.
“[Loudoun County] can flat out shoot the basketball, so we had to defend,” Webb said. “We put them in a situation where they had to play more defense than offense which allowed us to be who we needed to be in order to pull that game off.”
On the opposite end, Zschoche swung the ball into the corner where Mahfooz drilled a three. Then the Jasper twins connected again as James found Jalen open in front of the Loudoun County student section for yet another three-pointer.
“Every team we’re playing against, especially when you’re playing at a team’s home place, it’s tough with the crowd,” Jalen Jasper said. “We just have to drown that out and do what coach tells us to do, and most of the time, we’ll be set up for victory.”
In the end, the electricity of the Jasper twins and John Champe’s three-point weapons were too much for the Raiders to overcome as the Knights claimed the inaugural LoCoSports Tip-Off Tournament crown.
“It comes from hard work, but we got to keep doing it,” Jalen Jasper said. “We can’t be happy about two games. We have to act like we’ve been here before and keep it up.”
Mike Ferrara captured 130+ photos at the game…
John Champe Stats
| John Champe | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| James Jasper | 21 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6-for-6 |
| Jalen Jasper | 16 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Tyler Savage | 7 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| Ishmael Carter | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Sameh Mahfooz | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Robert Zschoche | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Ryan Grzesiak | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Jared Goodson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Knights Totals | 64 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 9-for-9 |
Loudoun County Stats
| Loudoun County | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Augie Brody | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3-for-4 |
| Caleb Rexroad | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4-for-4 |
| Luke Brenner | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Mark Siegel | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Matthew Anderson | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Nathan Brown | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-4 |
| Jason Green | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jared Briscoe | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brendan Boyers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kiefer Cummings | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Raiders Totals | 46 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 12-for-17 |
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