Leesburg, Va. — The Tuscarora and Heritage High School boys basketball teams became very familiar with each other over the course of this season. The teams played each other four times coming into their February 27 matchup, with them splitting the season-long series. The stakes grew for their fifth game as the winner received the VHSL Region 4C tournament title. In front of a large home crowd in Leesburg, the Huskies held off a third-quarter comeback attempt by the Pride for a 59-45 victory.
“It was round five of just two great teams,” Tuscarora head coach Michael Newkirk said. “I told my team back in mid-January, we were the only team built for the path that we are currently on, and they trusted it. They remained coachable through the good and bad, and they leaned on each other. The region championship voided us last year, and it’s definitely something that we covet.”
Tuscarora junior guard Colin Byrd (25 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) led the way for the Huskies, scoring a game-high 25 points. Junior guard Chas Battaglia (16 points, 4 rebounds) chipped in 16 points, while senior forward Joshua Feagin (9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks) had 9 points and 5 blocks.
“Iron sharpens iron,” Newkirk said. “In practice, they understand that we’re the only ones that can make each other better. We try to make practices more difficult, so when they come into games and they’re faced with certain adversities, we can overcome them.”
Battaglia opened the scoring with a made two-pointer, before Byrd knocked down a three to give Tuscarora an early 5-0 lead. However, Heritage sophomore forward Jordan Garland (14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists) responded with five points by himself to tie the game at 5-5.
Tuscarora then couldn’t miss a shot, as the Huskies went on a quick 6-0 scoring run to take the lead back, 11-5. A couple of possessions later, Byrd got an and-one to fire up the home fans. Tuscarora junior guard Hayden Collins (6 points, 2 rebounds) closed out the first quarter with a made three-pointer to put the Huskies up 19-10.
The 70% shooting from the field in the first quarter from Tuscarora carried over into the second frame. A 9-0 scoring run pushed the Huskies’ advantage to 28-10. Heritage answered with two consecutive made shots by Garland and a two-pointer by sophomore forward Alex Cox (3 points, 3 rebounds) to trim the deficit to 28-16.
Collins responded with his second three of the game, and Byrd made a two right before halftime. Tuscarora headed into the locker room up 33-17 after making 52% of their field goal attempts and forcing 7 turnovers.
“You’re finding the smallest, most minute details in the game plan,” Newkirk said. “They don’t shoot the three ball particularly well, so we felt like we really exploited that. We stuck to our three-two defense, and we’re not really a zone-oriented team this year. Last week, we crumbled under certain circumstances, but tonight you saw growth.”
Feagin started the third quarter with a layup while drawing a defensive foul. Heritage sophomore forward Liam Roane (12 points, 3 rebounds) made four consecutive shots for the Pride, then, a Garland two-pointer trimmed the Tuscarora lead down to 37-27. A couple possessions later, Heritage sophomore guard Masyn Miller (8 points, 3 rebounds) made a three, but Tuscarora still led 39-30.
Battaglia made two layups to help stop Heritage’s quick scoring. However, Roane closed out the third quarter with a two-pointer to cut the Pride’s deficit to 43-37 with eight minutes left in the game.
Byrd made two three-pointers in the early portion of the quarter, but Heritage sophomore guard Dylan Williams (6 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists) kept the Pride in the game with two shots. Roane and Williams knocked down their free throws a couple of minutes later to reduce the Tuscarora advantage to 50-45.
Byrd responded with a two-pointer before Feagin had a block on the other end of the court. Battaglia made a two off of the fastbreak, and Heritage missed their shots late in the fourth quarter. A Feagin two-pointer and a dunk by Battaglia capped off a 9-0 scoring run and gave Tuscarora a 59-45 victory for the VHSL Region 4C championship.
“We definitely had a chip on our shoulder,” Battaglia said. “We knew we had to get it done, because we wanted the home game next week. We know that we win games by defense and the offense is going to come. No one can compete with us when we’re playing together.”
With the win, Tuscarora (6-2, 22-6) advances to the VHSL Class 4 state tournament. The Huskies stay at home on March 4 for a state quarterfinal matchup against Lynchburg’s E.C. Glass. Heritage (6-2, 20-7) also advances to a VHSL Class 4 quarterfinal but has to travel to Winchester to play VHSL Region 4D champion Handley on the same night.
“At this point, every team is there for a reason,” Newkirk said. “We have history with both teams in the last three-year run that we’ve been on. We’re looking for the challenge. We’ll practice tomorrow and sit down as a team and start preparing for our opponent.”