Leesburg, Va. — Coming off the 50-45 loss to Tuscarora on February 15, the Heritage High School boys basketball team didn’t have any time to contemplate the loss. The Pride only had four days until their showdown against Loudoun Valley in a Dulles District semifinal. The pair split both matchups this season, with the Vikings winning the game played in Leesburg, 54-44.
“We actually had our worst practice of the year last night,” Heritage head coach Ben Farquhar said. “We watched a ton of film, we talked about defensive strategy, and we shot, then we ended practice probably 45 minutes early because it was such a bad practice.”
Despite trailing at the half, Heritage was able to come from behind then eventually hold off Loudoun Valley, 53-48, on February 19 in Leesburg.
Four consecutive free throws by Heritage sophomore forward Alex Cox (14 points, 6 rebounds) helped seal the win for the Pride.
“We knew that [this game]was going to be a fight from the very start,” Farquhar said. “I was really proud of this group. Came out really well, then [Loudoun Valley] went on a run in the second quarter. We talked about at halftime, this is what it’s going to be in playoff basketball. We go on a run, they go on a run, we needed to fight.”
Along with Cox, Heritage junior forward Becks Hetzel (10 points, 2 rebounds) and sophomore guard Masyn Miller (10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists) were the only other Pride players with double-digit points. Sophomore guard Dylan Williams (4 points, 8 assists, 2 rebounds) dished out 8 assists, and sophomore forward Jordan Garland (3 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks) chipped in an impressive effort on the defensive end, collecting 6 defensive rebounds and 3 blocks.
“Last year there were a lot of games where we were starting five freshmen,” Farquhar said. “We were probably the youngest high school team in the entire country. There’s not a lot of teams that were starting five freshmen. It’s more time that they get to spend together playing hoops, learning about each other, and growing together.”
Loudoun Valley junior forward Tal Rose (16 points, 4 rebounds) opened the scoring with a layup after forcing a turnover. It didn’t take long for Heritage to respond as Miller knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Pride a 3-2 lead.
A jumper by Cox and a layup by Heritage sophomore forward Liam Roane (7 points, 4 rebounds) helped extend the lead to 7-4 for Heritage. After a hook shot from Loudoun Valley senior forward John Hasle (4 points, 6 rebounds), the Pride went on a 6-0 scoring run to close out the first quarter leading 13-6.
A layup by Hetzel after a nice assist from Williams pushed Heritage’s lead to 15-6 to open up the second quarter. The lead increased to 20-10 just over two minutes into the second frame after Heritage sophomore forward Tyler Burns (5 points, 2 rebounds) put in a three-pointer and Williams made a layup.
“We spent all year talking about defense,” Farquhar said. “At times we struggle to score the ball, sometimes we don’t shoot it well from three or on free throws. We’ve been trying to get [the team]to buy in on the defensive end. In the regular season, we held district opponents to 47 points. It’s what we’ve been preaching for the last year is the defensive side of the ball.”
However, Loudoun Valley was not out of the game. A quick 9-0 scoring run by the Vikings decreased the Heritage lead to 20-19 with less than three minutes remaining before halftime. Loudoun Valley finally took a 24-22 lead right before halftime as Loudoun Valley junior guard Mack Gaffney’s (11 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists) three-pointer found the bottom of the basket.
Two consecutive layups by Loudoun Valley junior guard Tristen Conrad (8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and Rose to begin the third quarter increased the Vikings’ lead to 28-22. Both teams were making shots throughout the middle of the third quarter, but Heritage couldn’t close the gap.
A free throw by Loudoun Valley senior center Will Saba put the Vikings up 34-30 with two minutes left in the third frame. Heritage then went on a 12-0 run that was prolonged into the start of the fourth quarter, as the Pride took a 42-34 lead.
“We try to get the defense tired out,” Cox said. “[Ball movement] especially makes them tired, gets us more points, and also builds chemistry. We kept fighting, kept battling, and stuck together throughout.”
Four consecutive free throws by Rose tightened the deficit to 42-38, however, Heritage was able to go up 47-40 a couple of minutes later. A layup by Rose made it a 47-44 lead for the Pride with only 43 seconds left in the game. Clutch free throws by Cox and missed shots from Loudoun Valley in the closing seconds gave Heritage a 53-48 win to advance to the Dulles District championship.
No. 2 Heritage (6-2, 18-6) will travel to No. 1 Tuscarora on February 21 for the Dulles District championship after the Huskies defeated Dominion 76-43.
“We played a really close game on Saturday at [Loudoun] County,” Farquhar said. “If the ball bounces a different way we’re going to overtime. I tried to tell them before the game, don’t focus too much on Tuscarora, we don’t get a chance on Friday if we don’t focus on today. We’re all pretty excited to see them again on Friday.”