Ashburn, Va. — There was a lot on the minds of the Broad Run High School boys basketball team when they took the floor against Tuscarora High School on February 24 in Ashburn. Their 61-50 regular season loss to the Huskies on February 7. Their 93-83 overtime loss to the Huskies in a 2024 VHSL Region 4C semifinal. A chance to punch their ticket to the VHSL State playoffs for the first time in program history.
“We’ve been looking forward to this game ever since we lost to them,” Broad Run senior forward Ryan Brzezanski said. “That last game was a big disappointment and we felt like we left a lot out there, so it was great to get the opportunity to see them again.”
Despite all the noise, the Spartans showed up.
A tremendous rebounding effort by Brzezanski and fellow senior forward Brady Pollard, the defensive tenacity of sophomore guard Brandyn Edmonds, and the cool composure of senior guards Ben Bolle and Adam Perdue as well as junior guard Rish Chandramouli helped the Spartans erase a halftime deficit before holding off the Huskies, 64-54, to advance to the VHSL Region 4C championship and secure their spot in the program’s first-ever state tournament.
“This was a lot of revenge, so obviously, this was a big win for the boys, not only to beat that team, but also to punch our tickets to the region championship and state playoffs,” Broad Run head coach Jacob Krogh said. “I believe it’s the first time in school history [our boys basketball team]is going to the state playoffs since the school opened in 1969.”
57 years—and 32 minutes—stood between the Spartans and history.
After a solid first defensive possession, it didn’t take Broad Run long to get on the scoreboard as Bolle (7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) cleaned up the glass and scored on the putback to crack open the scoring.
The teams went back and forth before the Huskies took their first lead of the game when Tuscarora senior guard Colin Byrd (23 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal) made a backdoor pass to fellow senior guard Chas Battaglia (15 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks) to put the Huskies up 10-9.
On the other end, Brzezanski (27 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks) had an immediate answer as he buried a three from the top of the arc.
“Ryan was in attack mode from the start,” Krogh said. “He’s carrying the weight of the team on his shoulders, so to see him come out and play free and play fast like that was great.”
A triple by Tuscarora senior forward Hayden Collins (12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal) followed by a Battaglia layup gave the Huskies a 15-12 advantage late in the first quarter.
Looking to energize his team, Perdue (12 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 4 steals) knocked down a three from the wing to even the score at 15-15. A block and rebound by Brzezanski put the Spartans into transition, where Perdue—who missed the regular season matchup with the Huskies due to an injury—got to the same familiar spot and connected on another triple to give Broad Run an 18-15 lead after the first quarter.
Both teams started slow in the second quarter, before Bolle once again opened the scoring to increase the Broad Run lead to 20-15.
Out of a Tuscarora timeout, Byrd scored his first points of the game, when he hit a three from the wing. But Edmonds (3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist) answered with his only points of the game to re-extend the lead to 5.
A basket by Collins followed by two buckets by Byrd evened the score at 24-24. Perdue knocked down a pair of free throws before Battaglia scored while getting fouled to re-even the score at 26-26.
After trading empty possessions, Collins knocked down another three to put Tuscarora up 29-26, but the quick hands of Perdue led to a steal and transition two to cut the deficit to 29-28.
As the first half wound down, Battaglia found Byrd open for two as the Huskies went to the locker room up 31-28.
“We did a great job of responding to adversity and elevating to the pressure,” Krogh said. “I could not be more proud of them.”
Coming out of the half, Battaglia connected from distance to increase the Tuscarora lead to 34-28.
That lead, however, was short-lived as the Spartans turned their focus to the glass, where they out-rebounded the Huskies 18-7 in the third quarter, allowing them to go on a 14-0 run to take a 42-34 lead late in the third.
“In games when we have low rebounding numbers, we don’t score as much,” said Brzezanski, who finished with a game-high 15 rebounds. “So we really focused on just getting boards.”
During the third frame, Pollard (11 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) added 6 points and 5 rebounds to his double-double effort, shaking off some earlier missed opportunities.
“We just battled back all night,” Krogh said. “Brady missed a few easy ones, but he never put his head down; he was just onto the next one. From an 18-year-old kid, that’s big time.”
Byrd ended the Broad Run run with a bucket late in the fourth before connecting on the first half of a trip to the free throw line. But before the third quarter ended, Bolle grabbed a defensive rebound and found Chandramouli (4 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) for two to give the Spartans a 44-37 lead heading into the fourth.
A big blocked shot by Battaglia seemed to re-energize the Tuscarora faithful, but Brzezanski responded by getting to the basket to increase the Broad Run lead to 9. Bolle then once again found Chandramouli to make it an 11-point game.
Byrd, Battaglia, and the Broad Run bigs traded baskets throughout the fourth quarter with Tuscarora cutting the deficit to as few as 8, but the Spartans had built enough cushion and had enough answers to hold off the Huskies, 64-54.
“In a lot of ways this is the most special boys basketball team Broad Run has ever had,” Krogh said. “To see the hard work validated, to see the talent validated, I’m over the moon for these guys.”
With their ticket to states punched, Broad Run will now look to avenge a regular season loss to Heritage in hopes of securing the region title and home court advantage in their state quarterfinal. In their last two meetings, the Pride have bested the Spartans 81-53 on January 23 and 58-56 in a 2025 VHSL Region 4C semifinal.
“We have to focus on the details, stay patient, and play how we know we can play,” Brzezanski said.
“We need to find 28 points. We went to the film often and repeatedly, and hopefully, we found our 28 points,” Krogh said. “The boys are playing at a different level, so it’s going to be a show.”
Derrick Jerry captured 150+ photos at the game!
Broad Run Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Ryan Brzezanski | 27 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5-for-10 |
| Adam Perdue | 12 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Brady Pollard | 11 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3-for-6 |
| Ben Bolle | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Rish Chandramouli | 4 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brandyn Edmonds | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kaden Foreman | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Total | 64 | 42 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 10-for-20 |
Tuscarora Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Colin Byrd | 23 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5-for-6 |
| Chas Battaglia | 15 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2-for-3 |
| Hayden Collins | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-2 |
| Drew Dickersheid | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kevin Worley | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jack Bailey | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Shane Cotton | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Total | 54 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 9-for-13 |