Leesburg, Va. — A strong defensive effort helped the Loudoun County Raiders boys basketball team dominate the Tuscarora Huskies, 54-41, in a crosstown matchup on January 24 to stay undefeated in the Dulles District.
“This win feels good, although I thought we were a little sloppy,” Loudoun County head coach Mark Alexander said. “What I told my guys is that any win on the road is a good win.”
Coming into the game, Loudoun County had held teams to an average of 50 points per game this winter. It showed in their contest against Tuscarora, as the Raiders held the Huskies to 41 points, including four in the waning seconds.
“We grind out on defense, and our defense is what we are proud of,” Alexander said. “We always try to improve on defense in practice, and it shows in the game.”
On the offensive end, Loudoun County junior guard Caleb Rexroad looked sharp and seemed to not skip a beat in his return from a head injury. Rexroad played a good amount of minutes, dropping a team-high 17 points while adding 6 rebounds and 4 assists in his first game back after suffering a concussion.
“Caleb is a gamer and has a lot of experience for a junior. He is a very tough and smart player,” Alexander said. “He was a tad rusty with some of our defensive rotations, but he was a major spark in our offensive scheme.”
Loudoun County senior guard Matt Anderson got Rexorad involved right from the opening tip, and the rest of the Raiders team worked to distribute the ball to their hot scorer. Loudoun County found Rexroad on the court, and it seemed like he couldn’t miss. Rexroad also took the game into his own hands with his excellent ability to attack the rim.
“If got to the corner or if I was open, Matt was going to find me which made the game a lot easier,” Rexroad said. “That’s where I credit most of my points coming from.”
Our defense is what we are proud of, and it shows in the game.
—Loudoun County head coach Mark Alexander
Rexroad’s performance definitely didn’t overshadow Loudoun County senior forward Mark Siegel’s efforts as he put up a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
“Going into the game my mindset was to crash the boards knowing that this Tuscarora team was undersized,” Siegel said. “Getting my teammates involved helped out a lot in the scoring category.”
Tuscarora was led by senior guard Jadon White, who scored a game-high 19 points, and junior guard Jack Clark, who added 12, including four three-pointers.
With Rexroad back in action and Siegel cleaning up on the boards, the Raiders (5-0, 10-4) will look to stay in the win column when they host Broad Run (2-5, 4-10) on January 28. The Huskies (3-3, 6-9) will look to get back in the win column when they host Park View (0-7, 1-14) on the same night.
Loudoun County Stats
| Loudoun County | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Caleb Rexroad | 17 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4-for-4 |
| Mark Siegel | 13 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Luke Brenner | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Nathan Brown | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1-for-4 |
| Kiefer Cummings | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Matt Anderson | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Jared Briscoe | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-4 |
| Augie Brody | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brendan Boyers | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Jimmy Daughtrey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 54 | 40 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 10-for-18 |
Tuscarora Stats
| Tuscarora | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Free Throws |
| Jadon White | 19 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5-for-9 |
| Jack Clark | 12 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jalen Smith | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Markel Dillard | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Jaden Smith | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Sonny Mannino | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Tayvon Smith | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Aiden O’Malley | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 41 | 26 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 5-for-10 |
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