Ashburn, Va. — In one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the season, the Heritage High Schools boys basketball team made the trip to Broad Run High School to face the Spartans in a VHSL Region 4C battle just before a major snow storm hit Loudoun County.
In the lead-up to the game, many onlookers felt the Spartans—who came in averaging nearly 80 points per game—had the upper hand; however, the Pride’s defense—which came in allowing just 46 points per game—proved stout.
Led offensively by junior guards Masyn Miller and Dylan Williams as well as junior forward Jordan Garland, Heritage quickly jumped out to a double-digit lead, and their defense never let up as the Pride dominated the Spartans, 81-53, on January 23 in Ashburn.
“We knew this game was going to come down to the defensive side of the ball,” Heritage head coach Ben Farquhar said. “Obviously, they’re a super high-powered offense, and we’re averaging giving up 46, so we knew something was going to have to give.”
While Heritage’s junior class accounted for 63 of their 81 points in the win, it was the defensive effort of senior forward Ryan Conley that shined most. The 6-foot-4 big man had the task of defending 6-foot-9 first team All-LoCo senior forward Ryan Brzezanski.
“He’s got that chippiness to him. He wanted that matchup [on Brzezanski]. He was foaming at the mouth when the tip went up,” Farquhar said. “Brzezanski is a fantastic player, but we felt like Conley’s physicality was going to bother him a little bit.”
While Brzezanski finished with a team-high 13 points, he took a while to get going and never really seemed to get comfortable as Conley continued to showcase his physicality, not giving his adversary any room to operate.
“It’s a great feeling. We guarded well, and we came into their house on a Friday night and did what we needed to do to get the job done,” Conley said. “We’re all one family and we trust each other, so I just did what I could for my team to help win the game.”
Midway through the first quarter, Miller (27 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) knocked down a three from the corner to put the Pride up 6-3. Williams (11 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals) then grabbed a defensive rebound and scored in transition to put the Pride up 8-3.
On the ensuing Broad Run possession, Miller stole a pass then went coast-to-coast, scoring a layup to create a 7-point cushion.
The Spartans then split a pair of free throws before Miller made another basket to go up 8. Broad Run senior forward Brady Pollard (6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) knocked down a pair of free throws of his own, but Heritage had an immediate response as Garland (17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) found Miller alone in the corner as the sharpshooter buried another triple to round out his quarter-high 10 points.
“We had perfect chemistry, and we were all locked in,” Miller said. “Everyone was dishing the ball around; I just happened to be the one that scored.”
Late in the first quarter, Heritage senior forward Becks Hetzel (10 points, 3 rebounds) scored to extend the Pride lead to 17-6 after one frame.
The Pride did not show any signs of slowing down to open the second quarter as junior forward Tyler Burns made a backdoor cut and finished at the rim on the dime from Williams. Then, Williams scored on his own before Miller knocked down a pair of free throws as the Heritage lead ballooned to 16.
After Brzezankski (13 points, 7 rebounds) found sophomore forward Corey Sanders (4 points, 2 rebounds) for two, Garland made a pair of free throws to re-extend the lead to 25-9 and open a 10-0 Heritage run that culminated with the Pride leading 33-9.
Brzezanski made his first and only three-pointer of the night to end the Pride’s run; however, the Heritage defense—led by Conley (2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists)—continued to impress, holding Brzezanski to just 6 first-half points. Meanwhile, Broad Run senior guard Adam Perdue was held scoreless through the first two quarters as the Pride took a 39-16 lead into the locker room.
Perdue (11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals) made his presence known early in the second half as he scored off the dribble on the first play of the third. However, that momentum was short-lived as Miller hit another three from the corner then scored off a Garland steal to increase the Heritage lead to 44-18.
“He’s a shooter, and this year, it just hasn’t gone in for him,” Farquhar said. “He spends a lot of time working on his craft, and he’s such a momentum-based player that once he sees the first one go in, he really gets going. “
Then, the Pride—who assisted on more than half of their field goals—answered a couple Broad Run free throws with buckets by Garland and Miller, before Miller scored off another dime from Williams to go up 50-20, their largest lead of the night.
“We rely so much on the calm leadership of Dylan Williams on the floor,” Farquhar said. “He really is a coach on the court. It was so loud, I wasn’t really calling anything but he just picked it up and ran the show.”
Broad Run found some life going on a 17-4 run—highlighted by a pair of three pointers by sophomore guard Brandyn Edmonds (7 points)—to cut the lead to 54-37.
“We knew they were going to go on a run at some point, and we just wanted to stay together and play as a group,” Farquhar said. “It was really great to see a test like this. We came in with a lot of confidence. Having matured together since this core group was freshmen, it was nice to see that confidence in an environment like this.”
However, Heritage once again responded as Miller—who recorded 11 of his game-high 27 in the third—scored on a layup and then a putback before Garland—who scored 9 of his 17 in the third—was fouled and completed the and-one to re-extend the Pride lead to 61-39.
Perdue then forced a steal and scored in transition before Williams found Garland once again as the Pride ended the third quarter up 63-41.
“After the third quarter ended, it felt like the momentum might be sliding their way,” Farquhar said. “I told our guys, ‘look, we only lost that quarter by 1 point.’ It just shows our resiliency.”
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Williams found junior forward Liam Roane (6 points, 8 rebounds) open for two as the Pride continued to spread the ball around in the fourth. Both teams emptied their benches near the midway point of the final frame before the Pride went on to win, 81-53.
This win puts Heritage (3-0, 15-1) in the position to control their own fate: if they continue to win and lock up the Dulles District title, they’ll control home court advantage throughout the region tournament.
“We spent a lot of time at the beginning of the season talking about when we go on our playoff run, we want home games,” Farquhar said. “Last year, our only home playoff game was against Loudoun Valley in the district semifinal. So we really wanted to focus on securing the No. 1 seed so we can play at home down the stretch.”
Aimee Vincent captured 250+ photos at the game!
Heritage Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Masyn Miller | 27 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Jordan Garland | 17 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3-for-3 |
| Dylan Williams | 11 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1-for-3 |
| Becks Hetzel | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Liam Roane | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Ethan Stuntz | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Davin Crain | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Ryan Conley | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-1 |
| Tyler Burns | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-3 |
| Adam Sandau | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jaden Glozer | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Nathan Sandau | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Alex Cox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Total | 81 | 31 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 6-for-14 |
Broad Run Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Ryan Brzezanski | 13 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Adam Perdue | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5-for-6 |
| Brandyn Edmonds | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Brady Pollard | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4-for-6 |
| Rish Chandramouli | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Corey Sanders | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Ben Bolle | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3-for-4 |
| Jackson Smith | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kaden Foreman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Total | 53 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 17-for-23 |