Leesburg, Va. — Just five weeks ago, the Heritage High School boys basketball team traveled to Ashburn to play a regular season game with Region 4C foe Broad Run. The Pride dominated the game from start to finish—but, more importantly, earned home court advantage if the teams were to meet again in the region championship game.
After Broad Run dispatched Tuscarora in their region semifinal and Heritage ran away from Loudoun County in the second half of their region semifinal, the much anticipated rematch was set, this time in Leesburg.
“We knew coming in that we couldn’t be complacent because we knew how good Broad Run was,” Heritage senior forward Becks Hetzel said. “We knew we needed to go hard on every possession and win on the defensive end.”
In front of a packed crowd at Heritage High School—and coming off the heels of an overtime region championship win for the Heritage girls—the VHSL Region 4C championship boys game featured 14 ties, 20 lead changes, and extra time to determine the region champion.
“We knew it was going to be loud, so we just got together during timeouts and free throws to settle each other down,” Heritage junior point guard Dylan Williams said. “Makes or misses, we continued to encourage each other, which kept us playing together.”
Heritage junior forward Jordan Garland (9 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks) drew a foul late in regulation, splitting his free throws to give the Pride their largest lead of the night at 56-52.
On the other end, Broad Run senior guard Adam Perdue (13 points) drew a foul shooting a three, going 1-for-3 from the line, cutting the deficit to 56-53.
However, Broad Run sophomore guard Brandyn Edmonds (5 points, 6 rebounds) grabbed an offensive rebound on the last of Perdue’s free throw attempts, and Broad Run used a timeout to draw up a play. The Spartans inbounded to Perdue, who spun around and took a three from well beyond the arc, scoring as time expired to force overtime, 56-56.
Despite a quick bucket by Perdue in overtime, followed by an offensive rebound and putback by junior guard Rish Chandramouli (14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 steals), Heritage was relentless.
Garland knocked down a pair of free throws before junior guard Masyn Miller (14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) found Hetzel (19 points, 4 rebounds) for two. Then, Williams (3 points, 10 assists) found senior forward Ryan Conley (16 points, 3 rebounds) for a tough basket underneath before Hetzel scored off a Broad Run turnover to give Heritage a 64-62 lead.
Heritage and Broad Run both split their ensuing trips to the free throw lines before the Pride made a stop on defense to hold off the Spartans in overtime, 65-63, claiming the program’s first ever VHSL Region 4C title on February 26 in Leesburg.
“We’ve been talking all season about having home playoff games because last year we were on the road for a lot of the playoffs,” Heritage head coach Ben Farquhar said. “If this game was anywhere else, I don’t think we win, so getting that No. 1 seed was obviously huge for us. The crowd was incredible; that’s what high school basketball is supposed to be.”
Miller—who led all scorers with 27 points in their regular season matchup—opened the scoring in the region championship when he buried a three from the top of the key.
Perdue responded with two off an assist from Edmonds before Broad Run senior guard Ben Bolle (6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) found senior forward Brady Pollard (8 points, 3 rebounds) down low for two to give Broad Run their first lead of the night, 4-3.
Williams then found Hetzel for two before Chandramouli completed an old-fashioned three-point play to fire up the Broad Run faithful.
A corner three by Conley re-ignited the Heritage crowd, but a putback tip by Broad Run senior forward Ryan Brzezanski (16 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks) gave the Spartans a 9-8 lead.
A block by Brzezanski on the defensive end landed in the hands of Conley, who finished to give the Pride the 10-9 lead.
“Ryan Conley is the heartbeat of our team,” Farquhar said. “He’s so bought-in defensively, he does everything we ask him to do. Every day at practice he’s flying out right from the jump. For him to step up and have a game like that is just incredible.”
Then, Hetzel scored off a Broad Run turnover, extending the Heritage lead to 12-9, but Perdue had an answer as he drilled a deep three to even the score at 12-12. Heritage and Broad Run traded two baskets each to end the first quarter tied at 16-16.
“We knew [Perdue and Brzezanski] were going to score, so we tried to limit them as best as possible and make other people beat us,” Hetzel said. “But that’s hard because they’re two of the best players in the county.”
The teams continued to battle for momentum to start the second quarter as Miller answered a layup by Pollard with a three to put the Pride up 19-18.
Brzezanski and Heritage junior forward Liam Roane (4 points) traded buckets before Brzezanski scored a tough and-one, putting the Spartans up 23-21.
On the very next possession, Williams found Conley to even the score at 23-23. A few possessions later, Williams got to the basket himself, putting the Pride up 25-23. A steal by Garland then led to a quick give-and-go as Williams dished a pass to Garland, who finished to give the Pride their largest lead of the night at 27-23.
“We all trust each other to score, which has helped with our chemistry,” Williams said. “We can score from all five positions, so the defense can’t sag in the middle. Then I just try to find my open teammate and do what’s best for the team to win.”
Buckets by both teams along with a few missed free throws sent the teams into the locker room with the Pride leading 30-28.
Midway through the third, Hetzel started to heat up as he scored on two of three Heritage trips to give the Pride a 37-36 lead. A Miller two extended the lead to 39-36, before Edmonds splashed in a big three to tie the game at 39-39.
Following a Broad Run timeout, Miller split a pair of free throws before Williams found Hetzel for two more to give Heritage a 42-39 lead.
“I told Dylan in the first half that he was going to have to call the offense because I was losing my voice and that’s the loudest gym we’ve played in all year,” Farquhar said. “Just his ability to calm everybody down, even in those tense end of game situations. His steadiness, his ability to facilitate, and his ability to see the game is second to none.”
On the other end, Chandramouli went coast-to-coast after a steal to make it a 1-point game heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, the Spartans continued to spread the ball around on offense as baskets by Brzezanski, Bolle, Chandramouli, and Edmonds gave Broad Run their largest lead of the night at 52-48 midway through the final quarter of regulation.
“We knew they were going to go on a run and that we just needed to stay together as a group. It just speaks to our maturity level,” Farquhar said. “That’s a super highly talented basketball team, but we’ve preached all year about defense and staying together.”
The Pride answered with an immediate three by Miller to start an 8-0 run which swung momentum and the lead back towards Heritage, 56-52.
Perdue stopped that run when he was fouled on the three that eventually set up his game-tying three to end regulation and force overtime, where the Pride held off the Spartans, 65-63, to complete the boys-girls region sweep.
“I think Heritage is a basketball school now,” Farquhar said. “We learned a lot watching our girls team win the state championship last year and how they conducted themselves.”
With the win, Heritage (8-0, 24-1) will host Region 4D runner-up E.C. Glass in a VHSL Class 4 State quarterfinal on March 3 in Leesburg as part of a girls-boys doubleheader. Meanwhile, Broad Run (6-0, 23-3) will travel to Region 4D champion Handley on the same night.
“This is the first [boys basketball region title]in school history. It feels so great to be a part of this team. Everyone plays a part on this team, and that’s what makes us so great,” Hetzel said. “Making it to the state tournament is such a great accomplishment, but to be able to host a state playoff game with the girls team, it’s going to be such a great time.”
Derrick Jerry and Kiko Dudley captured 250+ photos at the game!
Heritage Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Becks Hetzel | 19 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1-for-4 |
| Ryan Conley | 16 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-6 |
| Masyn Miller | 14 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Jordan Garland | 9 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5-for-7 |
| Liam Roane | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Dylan Williams | 3 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Tyler Burns | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Total | 65 | 27 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 8-for-21 |
Broad Run Stats
| Player Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Ryan Brzezanski | 16 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6-for-7 |
| Rish Chandramouli | 14 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| Adam Perdue | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-5 |
| Brady Pollard | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Ben Bolle | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brandyn Edmonds | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jackson Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Kaden Foreman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Total | 63 | 31 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 9-for-15 |