Purcellville, Va. — Coming off back-to-back losses to Dominion and Stone Bridge earlier in the week, the Loudoun Valley High School boys basketball team was looking to respond in a big way when they hosted rival Woodgrove High School in Purcellville on January 16.
When the teams met to open their seasons on December 5, the Vikings came away with a 55-52 road win over the Wolverines. Wanting to defend their home court in the rematch, Loudoun Valley knew they would have a target on their backs; however, the Vikings got contributions from nine different scorers and a go-ahead three-pointer by senior guard Mack Gaffney with just 2 seconds left to complete the regular season sweep of the Wolverines, 45-43.
“We’re very, very excited,” Gaffney said. “We’re coming off a shaky week, so coming back and winning this game definitely helps the team morale.”
A back-and-forth first quarter skewed towards Woodgrove, who used a triple by sophomore point guard Ben Wilson and a layup by senior forward Will Twetten to close the first frame on a 5-0 run with an 11-10 lead.
Loudoun Valley junior guard Aidan O’Connor knocked down a three early in the second quarter before Gaffney split a pair of free throws to put the Vikings up 14-11.
The Wolverines quickly responded as senior guard Caleb Roach got to the line, splitting a pair of free throws before Twetten knocked down a three to jumpstart an 11-0 Woodgrove run to go up 22-14.
Baskets by junior forward Zaid Amro and freshman guard Hugh Lee ended the scoreless run and allowed the Vikings to cut the lead to 22-18 heading into the half.
Loudoun Valley spread their offense around to five different scorers in the third quarter, but every time the Vikings scored, the Wolverines had an answer—including a dime from Wilson to Twetten late in the third quarter to put the Wolverines up 33-30.
Loudoun Valley junior guard Jack Hendricks gave the Vikings their first lead of the second half when he scored midway through the fourth quarter to put his team up 37-35.
On the other end, Roach connected on a pair of free throws to even the game at 37-37 before Loudoun Valley junior forward Noah Barnett cleaned up an offensive board and scored on the putback to retake the lead 39-37.
“I’m so proud of Noah. If you had seen him in seventh or eighth grade, I would have never thought he would have become that guy,” Loudoun Valley head coach Chad Dawson said. “He’s as athletic as any kid and he’s grown so fast and he’s so strong. The sky’s the limit for him as he continues to mature as a basketball player.”
Following a Woodgrove timeout, Twetten found Roach open for three as the Wolverines retook control 40-39.
“Caleb’s definitely tough. He gets open, he creates space,” O’Connor said. “We just needed to stay focused, stay with him, and know where he was at all times.”
With a late fourth quarter lead, Woodgrove looked to eat clock. But Loudoun Valley junior guard Brock Till had other plans as he forced a steal then scored a tough, wrong-handed basket in transition while getting fouled to put the Vikings up 41-40. The junior completed the three-point play to make it a 2-point game.
“The clock was running down, so we asked them to be aggressive but smart because we couldn’t give up an easy one,” Dawson said. “Brock made a great defensive play. Then to take it down in heavy traffic on the left-hand side and finish it, that was huge. Then to finish the three-point play, I was very proud of him.”
Trailing 42-40, the Wolverines needed an answer and got a second chance opportunity after a big offensive rebound by Twetten. With the new life, Woodgrove eventually found Roach open at the wing as the senior captain knocked down a three to give the Wolverines a 43-42 lead with less than 20 seconds to play.
Loudoun Valley quickly got the ball into the hands of Gaffney, who rushed down court and was fouled to stop the clock, as Woodgrove took a timeout to regroup defensively.
Coming out of the timeout, Woodgrove once again fouled, stopping the clock with about 12 seconds left while Loudoun Valley took their final timeout to draw up a play.
The Vikings inbounded the ball and eventually got it to O’Connor, who was open at the top of the arc. However, rather than shooting the three, he looked to drive. As he reached the left elbow, he spun and was immediately met by a swarm of Wolverines. However, the experienced junior didn’t waver as he turned and found Gaffney open at the right wing.
“I had an open shot, but I’ve been a little off so I tried to get to the rim,” O’Connor said. “When I started to drive, they collapsed on me and I saw Mack’s guy was helping over, so I turned around and saw Mack was open, and I trust him a lot, so I just dished it to him.”
Gaffney didn’t hesitate as he buried the three to put the Vikings up 45-43 as the clock expired.
“It was a great pass by Aidan. He set me up perfectly,” Gaffney said. “I was right there at the three-point line. It was a catch-and-shoot three that we shoot hundreds of times at practice. I just took a smooth shot and made it.”
After a brief discussion, the referees added 2.0 seconds back on the clock, but Woodgrove’s long inbound pass was deflected by Barnett then stolen by O’Connor to put the game on ice, 45-43.
After completing the regular season sweep of their rival, Loudoun Valley (1-2, 8-4) will look to use this momentum when they travel to region foe Loudoun County on January 21. Woodgrove (0-0, 4-6) has a quick turnaround as they look to get back in the win column against George C. Marshall on January 17 in Fairfax.
“We’re still young and inexperienced, but we’re halfway through the season so we told them we need to be coming into our stride,” Dawson said. “Tonight, we got a little careless with the ball early, but we got better as the night went on. Our leadership really helped pull us together down the stretch.”
Katey Jackson captured 200+ photos at the game!
Loudoun Valley Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Aidan O’Connor | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Mack Gaffney | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Noah Barnett | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4-for-4 |
| Jack Hendricks | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brodie Bascom | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Brock Till | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| Zaid Amro | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Colin Ameen | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Hugh Lee | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Aanan Bolden | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Lyon Lussier | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Total | 45 | 32 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 10-for-13 |
Woodgrove Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Caleb Roach | 16 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4-for-5 |
| Will Twetten | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Santiago Holsing | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Ben Wilson | 6 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Marc Sayou Fosso | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Nolan Hamilton | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Evan Ciaburri | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Leo Walker | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| James Grady | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Total | 43 | 26 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 4-for-5 |