Ashburn, Va. — After leading by 13 points at the half, the Loudoun County High school boys basketball team saw Broad Run cut their lead to just 6 points after the third quarter. But a tremendous defensive effort and a balanced scoring attack was the difference in the fourth quarter as all five Loudoun County starters finished with 9+ points, and the Captains rolled past the Spartans, 60-42, on January 21 in Ashburn.
“After that first loss to Loudoun Valley, we can’t afford to lose anymore district games,” Loudoun County senior point guard Jimmy Daughtrey said. “So it feels good to beat them on their court, especially after losing to them in the football playoffs.”
[adrotate banner=”53″]As they watched their lead start to slip in the third quarter, the Captains knew they needed to turn up the defensive intensity in the fourth quarter, and they executed as well as anyone could, holding the Spartans to just 3 points in the final eight minutes.
“We just had to take pride in our defense,” Daughtrey said. “Earlier in the season, we weren’t taking enough pride in it and a couple teams put up more points than they should have, so we really focused on locking up, communicating, and playing together as a team.”
Switching back and forth between their ideal man-to-man defense and a more conservative 2-3 zone, the Captains kept the Spartans out of rhythm and held leading scorer Eli Will scoreless in the final quarter after he led Broad Run back with 11 in the third.
“Eli Will is an offensive guy, and he turned it up a little bit, so we were trying to find ways to slow him down. I think switching between man and zone helped us a little bit,” Loudoun County head coach Mark Alexander said. “We’re a man team, and I’m not going to go away from that, but if there’s some time to play some zone to give us some rest and take them out of their offensive rhythm, we’ll switch it up.”
In addition to keeping Broad Run off balance, the zone allowed Loudoun County to get their starters some rest to keep their legs fresh late. The strategy paid off as the Captains outscored the Spartans 15-3 in the fourth.
Broad Run is a very good team; they’re going to beat some guys and be a very good tourney team. It’s tough going on the road right now and winning in the Dulles District.
—Loudoun County head coach Mark Alexander
On the offensive side of the ball, the Captains’ were unselfish, passing all around the court until they found the best shot possible. An emphatic dunk by junior forward Nick Alexander put an exclamation point on the win, but it was the scoring ability of all five Loudoun County starters that gave the Captains the advantage.
“It’s great being able to distribute the ball all around the court with everyone being able to score,” Daughtrey said. “Not having one guy scoring 35, but being able to share the ball around shows how connected we are as a team.”
As in sync as the Captains are, Daughtrey is the engine that keeps the train moving as the senior dished out a game-high seven dimes. As a team, Loudoun County assisted on 18 of its 24 field goals.
“With the offense we run, guys get looks, but we have to understand the difference between a good look and a great look, and we did that tonight,” Coach Alexander said. “I can’t say enough about how we’ve executed and how Jimmy’s taking ownership of that. It came together tonight, and I couldn’t be prouder of our guys.”
The win is the fifth in a row for the Captains (8-1, 12-4), who are currently sitting in the No. 1 spot in the Dulles District standings with six games to play. And as long as they continue to put the team first and execute the small things, they are confident they’ll be able to compete at the top of the district down the stretch.
“We’ve had some ups and downs personnel wise, but we have that next man up mentality. You hear it all the time in sports, but this is real for us,” Coach Alexander said. “We want guys to make a positive impact in all aspects, whether it’s an assist, a charge, playing defense. I love these guys. We’re a family; we support each other and play together.”
Mike Ferrara captured 175+ photos at the game!
Loudoun County Stats
| Loudoun County | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Nick Alexander | 13 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0-for-0 |
| Brendan Boyers | 12 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1-for-1 |
| Joey Fitzpatrick | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Jimmy Daughtrey | 9 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Jack West | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Johnny Penberthy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Wesley Celentano | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Zach Hensch | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jamison Maddox | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Caiden Bonamassa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 60 | 27 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 5-for-6 |
Broad Run Stats
| Broad Run | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Eli Will | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1-for-1 |
| Arnav Thornhill | 11 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5-for-5 |
| Kyle Love | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jaylan Alvarez | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Samsher Malhi | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Benjamin Nketia | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1-for-2 |
| Ahan Bhatia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 42 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 7-for-8 |