Leesburg, Va. — Just a week removed from falling in the Dulles District championship game, the Loudoun County High School boys basketball team was out for revenge. Unfortunately for Loudoun County, rival Loudoun Valley had other plans as they looked to upset the top-seeded Captains for the second time in seven days.
Trailing by 13 points heading into the fourth quarter, it looked as though the Captains’ fates were sealed until juniors Nick Alexander, Joey Fitzpatrick, and Jack West rose to the occasion, helped the Captains get into striking distance, and, ultimately, take the lead with less than a minute to play in regulation.
After quickly falling into a hole in overtime, Loudoun County turned up the defensive intensity—forcing four Loudoun Valley turnovers on four steals, finishing in transition—and eventually held off the Vikings, 61-57, to claim the VHSL Region 4C title on February 25 in Leesburg.
“These kids play with passion, and they have heart. They never really got panicked but they were getting emotional,” Loudoun County head coach Mark Alexander said. “Eventually, they bought into being calm; there’s no 12-point play, so we were just going to have to chip away.”
[adrotate banner=”53″]Taking a 46-33 deficit into the final period of regulation, Loudoun County knocked down a pair of threes in the first two minutes of the fourth to cut the Loudoun Valley lead to just 46-41.
Then the Captains started to attack the hole as senior point guard Jimmy Daughtrey got to the bucket to cut the lead to four before West cut the lead to 48-45 with three minutes to play.
“That was a big thing at halftime. Stop being punks and show some character,” Coach Alexander said. “We adjusted some things on offense and started getting to the rack a little more, and the tide turned for us.”
West continued to get hot as he drilled a three with 2:30 left as the Loudoun Valley lead had shrunk to just 2. Just over a minute later, West took his man off the dribble, got to the basket, and tied things up at 50-50 with 1:20 to play.
“Jack hits crazy shots time and time again,” Daughtrey said. “I don’t even know how they go in, but he gets them to go in. He always shines in big moments.”
Loudoun County got the ball back with a minute to play in regulation in a tie game and were set up to hold for the last shot before Alexander took his man off the dribble and finished at the rim to give the Captains a 52-50 lead—their first lead since the 3:25 mark in the first quarter.
Loudoun Valley sophomore guard Jayden Johnson wouldn’t let the Vikings go down without a fight as he hit a tough jumper with 22 seconds left to force overtime.
Off the opening tip in overtime, Loudoun Valley sophomore point guard Landen Conrad hit a three to put the Vikings up 55-52.
“They stepped up and made shots. They made things more difficult on us because we were still focused on Jayden,” Daughtrey said. “He made everything last week and made some tough shots tonight, but having those other guys step up around him definitely made it more difficult for us.”
On the ensuing possession, Loudoun County senior shooting guard Brendan Boyers went baseline to cut the lead to 55-54.
Down the stretch, Loudoun County turned up the defensive intensity as Fitzpatrick forced a turnover and West took the resulting steal coast-to-coast to take the lead 56-55. On the next Loudoun Valley possession, Boyers jumped a pass and was fouled before getting to the basket, knocking down the first of his bonus free throws to increase the Captains’ lead to 57-55.
Over the next 90 seconds, both teams exchanged fouls before setting up a 59-57 game with a minute left, when Fitzpatrick once again stole a pass and found West on the other end, who finished with ease to increase the lead to 61-57 with :36 left as the Captains had completed the comeback to avenge their Dulles District championship loss and claim the VHSL Region 4D crown.
“That’s probably the loudest game I’ve ever played in, and I’ve played in some pretty high intensity games,” Daughtrey said. “This one definitely tops the list emotionally.”
Both Loudoun County and Loudoun Valley will advance to the VHSL Class 4 State playoffs where the Captains will host VHSL Region 4D runner up E.C. Glass and the Vikings will travel to Region 4D champion Western Albemarle on March 4.
Mike Ferrara captured 175+ photos at the game!
Loudoun County Stats
| Loudoun County | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Jack West | 20 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Nicholas Alexander | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Brendan Boyers | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5-for-6 |
| Joseph Fitzpatrick | 7 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2-for-3 |
| Jimmy Daughtrey | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-4 |
| Braxton Griffin | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| Zachary Hensch | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 61 | 21 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 13-for-20 |
Loudoun Valley Stats
| Loudoun Valley | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Jayden Johnson | 17 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Ben Hall | 15 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3-for-4 |
| Landen Conrad | 12 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Nathan Boner | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Cole Kielhorn | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Brett Zimmet | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Aaron Babu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 57 | 39 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7-for-13 |