Purcellville, Va. — After watching their girls team upset their rival Wolverines, the Loudoun Valley High School boys basketball team set their eyes on completing the sweep of Woodgrove in front of a rowdy home crowd on North Maple Ave. The Vikings did just that, stealing the momentum with a 12-2 run to start the game before using four different double-digit scorers to hold off their rival Wolverines, 73-60, on February 7 in Purcellville.
“We thought we could be pretty good this season, and we’re starting to gel and play well together,” Loudoun Valley head coach Chad Dawson said. “Lots of guys stepped up tonight to score which really helps. It’s definitely a luxury when you can share the ball and score at that clip.”
Loudoun Valley junior point guard Tristen Conrad (15 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists) opened the scoring when he knocked down a three off a pass from junior guard Mack Gaffney (2 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals).
Then, following a layup by Woodgrove junior forward Will Twetten (7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals), Loudoun Valley sophomore shooting guard Aidan O’Connor (24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) got on the board to give the Vikings an early 5-2 advantage.
That lead quickly ballooned when Gaffney stole a pass before finding senior forward John Hasle (12 points) in transition for two. On the very next possession, the Vikings forced another Woodgrove turnover, and this time O’Connor found Hasle open for three to increase the Loudoun Valley lead to 8.
Then, after another solid defensive series, O’Connor grabbed a rebound and found Hasle on the other end for another bucket as the Vikings opened the game on a 12-2 run.
“We play really well together,” Hasle said. “We were swinging the ball well and finding the open shooter, and we were hitting those open shots.”
In an effort to stay in the game, Woodgrove junior guard Caleb Roach (21 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) scored on the next Woodgrove trip, then forced a steal and drew a foul, knocking down both free throws to cut the lead to 12-6. Following a Conrad bucket, Roach buried a three to cut the deficit to just 5.
Despite the short run, Loudoun Valley had another answer as senior center Will Saba (3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 charges taken) corralled an offensive rebound and scored on a putback while getting fouled to re-extend the Viking lead to 17-9.
After Woodgrove senior point guard Kenny Chicas (13 points, 6 assists) scored on back-to-back trips to cut the lead to 17-12, O’Connor knocked down a triple at the buzzer to give Loudoun Valley a 20-12 lead after the first quarter.
On the first possession of the second quarter, Conrad picked a pocket and found O’Connor in transition for two. Chicas answered with an and-one, but Conrad once again found O’Connor—this time for three—to give the Vikings a 25-15 lead.
Loudoun Valley junior forward Tal Rose (17 points, 3 rebounds) got to the hole to give the Vikings a 12-point lead before the Vikings faced their first real test of the night when Chicas found senior shooting guard Benjamin Zuczek (9 points) for three.
After trading baskets, Zuczek knocked down triples on two of the next three Woodgrove possessions as the Wolverines used an 11-2 run to cut the Loudoun Valley lead to 29-26.
An O’Connor to Conrad find cancelled out a pair of Woodgrove free throws, before Hasle drilled a three at the buzzer to steal the momentum back heading to the half up 34-28.
“Hasle helps because he can pull their big away from the basket because they have to respect his outside shot,” Dawson said. “That frees up a lot when you can get him out of the paint.”
Gaffney found Rose on the first possession of the second half to increase the Loudoun Valley lead to 36-28, but on the ensuing possession, Rose picked up his fourth foul and headed to the bench with more than seven minutes to play in the third.
The Vikings remained calm given Rose’s foul trouble as O’Connor scored on four straight possessions midway through the third to increase the Loudoun Valley lead to 50-38.
With the ball and the opportunity to take the last shot in the quarter, the Vikings re-entered Rose who hit Loudoun Valley’s third buzzer-beating three of the game, giving his squad a 55-42 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
“They went on a few runs at the ends of quarters,” O’Connor said. “So those threes were huge for us to keep us going and give us some energy.”
Early in the last frame, Twetten scored on an and-one to give the Wolverines some life. After an O’Connor two, Roach found Chicas for three to make it a 9-point game. Woodgrove forced a turnover on the next Loudoun Valley possession before Chicas scored again to cut the deficit to 7.
Off a Rose missed three, Woodgrove cut the lead to 5 when senior guard Carnell Pendleton (2 rebounds) grabbed the rebound and found Roach in transition for two.
Leading 59-54 with less than four minutes to play, the Vikings started to slow things down, forcing Woodgrove to extend its defense, leaving Rose open in the far corner for three.
On the very next possession, Woodgrove once again lost track of Rose, who drilled a triple right in front of the Loudoun Valley bench to extend the Vikings’ lead to 65-54.
“Tal has worked really, really hard. The growth he’s shown from his sophomore to junior year is very impressive,” Dawson said. “[We were trying to slow things down, so] I was telling him not to shoot it, but he kept shooting it. He has a shooting license so he knows he has the green light.”
Woodgrove would cut the lead down to as low as 8 late in the fourth, but clutch free throw shooting by Conrad, O’Connor, and Rose allowed the Vikings to run away, 73-60.
Loudoun Valley (5-1, 13-8) will look to ride this high into their two final games of the season when they travel to Dominion on February 11 and Tuscarora on February 13. Woodgrove (5-1, 9-10) will look to bounce back when they travel to Park View before hosting Broad Run on the same nights.
“We want to be playing well at this point of the season, heading into tournament play,” Dawson said. “I feel like we’re hitting our stride and just want to keep moving forward.”
Sam Mesecar captured 250+ photos at the game!
Loudoun Valley Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Aidan O’Connor | 24 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3-for-3 |
| Tal Rose | 17 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Tristen Conrad | 15 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2-for-3 |
| John Hasle | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Will Saba | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| Macklin Gaffney | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jack Hendricks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 73 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 8-for-9 |
Woodgrove Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Caleb Roach | 21 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2-for-2 |
| Kenny Chicas | 13 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4-for-7 |
| Dane Marsh | 10 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4-for-6 |
| Benjamin Zuczek | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| William Twetten | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3-for-3 |
| Carnell Pendleton | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Matthew Rafert | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Santiago Holsing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Leo Walker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 60 | 21 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 13-for-18 |