wednesday, march 11 , 2020. the washington post eZ M2 D7
will newton for the washington Post
led by seven seniors, south County (26-3) will return to the virginia state championship game for the second time in three seasons.BY JAKE LOURIMPostseason basketball turns
ordinary seasons into memora-
ble ones, but it’s possible that the
semifinal matchup that this Vir-
ginia Class 6 boys’ tournament
bracket produced Tuesday was,
in fact, a mismatch.
In the beginning and in the
end, South C ounty did what great
teams do and turned a mismatch
into a win. The Stallions will play
in a state championship game for
the second time in three seasons
after their 61-42 win against
m assaponax at robinson High in
fairfax County.
South County reached the pin-
nacle b y winning the title in 2018,
and now look what the program
has assembled: a 26-3 power-
house led by seven seniors, most
of whom were on that 2017-18team, three of them starters.
Asked where he notices that
experience, Coach mike robin-
son said, “You see it with the
passing, that —” and then he
stopped himself.
“No, actually,” he continued,
“you see it with the chemistry off
the floor. T hese guys truly believe
they’re brothers. I see them i n the
hallways, every one of them to-
gether. I’m in the classroom; ev-
ery one of them comes in: ‘Coach,
I need a Gatorade’ or whatever.
So you can tell. T hese guys actual-
ly love each other.”
They h ad to play Tuesday with-
out one of those stalwarts: junior
Andre Speight, perhaps their best
shooter. Speight was e jected from
friday’s quarterfinal for retaliat-
ing against a Washington-Liberty
player after a hard foul, so he
couldn’t play Tuesday.
But the Stallions are far too
deep to be rattled by the loss of
one player. They came out firing
in the semifinal, the same round
in which their season ended lastmarch, and took an 18-5 lead.
Then they lost a step defensively
and let massaponax draw back
within three at halftime as a
small visiting contingent grew
louder.
“We turn off the pedal,” said
senior Xavian myles, who scored
15 points. “We always talk about
rebounding and how we need to
get in and hit the glass hard.”
To complete the circle, South
County landed the knockout
blow with another 18-5 run in the
second half, pulling ahead 48-32.
When the Stallions needed a bas-
ket, they did what great teams
also do and turned to their best
player, William Wilson, who
scored 18.
South County will play Cent-
reville for the state title Saturday
at VCU’s Siegel Center in rich-
mond. As for what that means,
Wilson couldn’t quite put his
finger on it.
“I don’t know.... It’s like, we
just want it,” Wilson said. “our
guys come into the locker room,prepare in the offseason, always
preparing for this moment. So we
know we can get back to it every
year.”
[email protected]Wildcats to play for first title
When his Centreville boys won
just six games in 2015-16, his first
season at the Clifton school,
Coach Kevin Harris couldn’t en-
vision them playing for the state
championship just four years
l ater.
But Centreville will do just that
after beating Western Branch,
62-55, in a Class 6 semifinal
Tuesday night at Westfield in
Chantilly.
The Wildcats (22-5) will p lay in
their first state championship
game Saturday afternoon against
South County.
“We’ve been consistent with
our efforts in the offseason,”
H arris said, “whether we won six
games, like my first year, or this
year, when we won 22.”
— Kyle Melnickvirginia high school boys’ basketball class 6 semifinalsExperience, chemistry give Stallions horsepower
south county 61,
massaponax 42BY JAKE LOURIMA group of girls itching to get
back to the state championship
game waited all night Tuesday for
a moment that came about two
minutes into the second half. Edi-
son spent four months honing its
full-court press, and then, in a
tight Virginia Class 6 semifinal
against Western Branch, waited
18 more minutes to deploy it.
“A re we pressing? Are we press-
ing?” the Eagles asked Coach
D ianne Lewis over and over.
once Lewis finally turned them
loose, they unleashed a thunder-
storm on Western Branch, sealing
a bid to their third straight state
title game with a 53-35 win at
robinson in fairfax County.
over the past two weeks, the
Eagles (23-5) have shown an envi-able strength: At any point, they
are liable to crank up the intensity
and suck the life out of another
team’s s eason. With 5:16 left i n the
third quarter Tuesday, they
trailed 25-23. from that moment
until a meaningless three-pointer
by the school from Chesapeake
with 13 seconds left, Edison went
on a 30-7 r un.
“Everybody’s mood just lifted,”
Lewis said.
“I don’t k now why,” s enior Kait-
lyn Lee added with a smile, “but it
gives us a lot of energy.”
The full-court press, which the
Eagles call “diamond,” was an im-
mediate game-changer, generat-
ing turnovers on the first two
possessions. Western Branch en-
tered Tuesday averaging 63. 3
points. over those crucial 13 min-
utes, Western Branch (21-5) was
0 for 4 from outside the arc and
2 for 9 inside — and had seven
turnovers.
Also over those 13 minutes, the
Eagles kept building momentum,and soon their next trip to the
state title was in sight.
“We kind of speak it into exis-
tence,” s aid senior Bri Johns, who
scored 14 points. “We don’t really
say, ‘If we get there... ’ We say,
‘When we get there.’ ”
Unlike in its previous two title-
game berths, Edison won’t h ave to
go through the Princess Anne dy-
nasty that has won six straight
championships. The Eagles
moved up to Class 6 this year, and
their return trip to VCU’s Siegel
Center to face madison on Satur-
day is a testament to the pro-
gram’s consistency. The Eagles
lost star Carole miller to the Uni-
versity of Virginia, but they never
stopped believing they would
have another chance.
“I’ve seen in the last few weeks
a team that’s dedicated and fo-
cused,” Lewis said. “Even in prac-
tice, it’s h ard to go f rom November
to march and keep young kids
engaged. They’re ready. They
b elieve they belong here.”Madison forges ahead
These could have been reasons
to worry about the madison ma-
chine entering the state semifi-
nals: The Warhawks finally lost,
to marshall in the region final
feb. 28. They traveled 120 miles to
play a virtual road game. And
their opponent was the No. 2 team
in Class 6, James river.
But at the end of the first quar-
ter, they led by 23. They went on to
win, 62-42, in midlothian.
“our shots were on,” madison
Coach Kirsten Stone said by
phone, “and when they’re on, you
know, it’s t ough.”
Consider madison (28-1) back
on a roll entering Saturday’s s tate
final.
“Undefeated was fun, and it
was great,” S tone said. “They were
pretty sad about the marshall
game. But I think that the old
quote, ‘You learn more from a loss
than you do a win,’ is very true. I
think they dug deep.”
[email protected]virginia high school girls’ basketball class 6 semifinals
Stifling defense springs Eagles to another state championship appearance
edison 53,
Western Branch 35will newton for the washington PostEdison’s bench had reason to be excited as its defense shut down
Western Branch to help the Eagles advance to saturday’s title game.
BY MIKE HOLTZCLAWNORFOLK — megan Stevenson
stood outside the l ocker room a nd
tried to weigh the good and the
bad a fter her Loudoun Valley girls’
basketball team lost, 54-49, to
Hampton in the Virginia Class 4
state semifinals Tuesday after-
noon.
The tears on the senior for-
ward’s face made it clear which
one she was feeling more at the
moment.
“right now, it’s hard,” she said.
“Hard to lose at this point when
you’re so close to the state final.
But we’ll keep our heads up. We
had a great season. It was a fun
run.”
The Vikings (23-1), champions
of the Dulles District, had enjoyed
what Coach Bill reynolds charac-
terized before the game as a “fairy-
tale season,” but the story ended
Tuesday at E chols Hall o n the cam-
pus of Norfolk State University.
Loudoun Valley led 18-6 after the
first quarter a nd 23-22 at h alftime,
but the Crabbers’ athleticism
proved to be too much in the sec-
ond half.
The Vikings trailed 34-33 l ate in
the third quarter, but Hampton
took control with Stevenson in
foul trouble and led 43-35 enter-
ing the f ourth.
“We knew coming in they were
the m ore physical team,” reynolds
said. “But they also sometimes
play out of control, and we hoped
to beat them as the stronger fun-
damental team. But they’re long
and strong, and maybe we got
tired a s the game went on.”
Stevenson s cored all nine o f her
points i n the first half b efore g oing
0 for 5 from the field i n the second.
She finished with 13 rebounds,
four blocks and four assists in her
final h igh school game.
Junior point guard Jordan
Campbell had a team-high 14
points, and freshman L ouis Volker
added 13 to go w ith 12 rebounds.
Hampton (24-1) will face
m onacan i n friday’s final.
Powerhouse tops Woodgrove
The Woodgrove Wolverines
knew what they were getting into
when they faced six-time defend-
ing state champion Princess Anne
in the Class 5 semifinals.
When they walked off the floor
after a 107-45 loss, they held their
heads h igh.
“We scored 45 against them,”
senior Sophia Coates said with a
grin. “That’s an accomplishment.”
That’s true. only five teams
from Virginia have scored that
many against the Cavaliers (26-1)
this season — and seven times
their opponents couldn’t get half
that many. The Virginia Beach
power’s lone loss was over Christ-
mas break against Washington
Catholic Athletic Conference
champion B ishop mcNamara.
Princess Anne played physical,
aggressive basketball from start to
finish, forcing 46 turnovers, com-
piling 31 steals a nd making Wood-
grove (18-8) work to get shots off.
“They’re the most athletic team
we’ve seen,” Woodgrove Coach
Travis Coon said. “We watched
film and tried to prepare the girls
mentally. C oming off a region title,
I feel l ike we know how t o prepare
them — but there’s only so much
you can do against them physical-
ly. They’ve got multiple playmak-
ers a t every position.”
Coates, who will play at mary
Washington, scored 16 points in
her final high school game, and
sophomore Tara mullen added 12.
Junior Aziaha James, whose
older brother died last week in
what police have called an acci-
dental shooting, led Princess
Anne with 32 points.
The Cavaliers will play High-
land Springs on Saturday in the
final.
[email protected]Potomac Falls boys tumble
A year ago, the Potomac falls
boys experienced little trouble
during their season until the Vir-
ginia C lass 5 semifinals. There, the
Panthers lost to freedom-South
riding.
Potomac falls graduated a tal-
ented senior class but returned to
the state semifinals this year. Its
run ended there again, though,
when the Panthers (20-7) fell to
Virginia Beach’s Green run, 72-48,
on Tuesday i n Norfolk.
“Tournament basketball is
hard,” Potomac falls Coach Jeff
Hawes said. “We never got to e njoy
it. It was always preparing for the
next one. I told them, ‘We’re going
to sit back now and watch films
and laugh and finally get to enjoy
all the big wins we’ve had in the
last two months.’ ”
— K yle Melnickvirginia high school basketball semifinals
Loudoun Valley, Woodgrove,
Potomac Falls come up short
hampton 54,
Loudoun VaLLey 49because you don’t want to say,
‘He can’t replicate it,’ because it
sounds like, ‘Well, man, he’s
going to have a downturn.’ I
think he’s going to have a hell of
a season this year. He’s going to
be a Cy Young candidate for the
next two years. And after that, I
don’t think his career is over.”
So the better question is: How
can Scherzer continue to be the
elite pitcher the Nationals need
him to be to contend e ven as he
approaches an advanced age?
The answer lies in some
combination of personality and
preparation.
“The guy’s crazy,” fellow
starter Stephen Strasburg said.
“He really is.”
Like a fox. Take something as
simple as playing catch, which
Scherzer does between starts on
the outfield grass. This is typical
fare for a starting pitcher, whose
four days off between
appearances are carefully
mapped out. Scherzer doubles
down on any map, charting new
courses as though he’s magellan.
With each simple toss in a game
of catch, he signals to his partnerwhat pitch he’s going to mimic.
“You kind of see these things,
and guys might say, ‘oh, that’s
silly,’ ” Strasburg said. “But then
the more you think about it, it’s
like: ‘Huh. okay. T hat makes
sense.’ He’s reinforcing positive
behavior. He’s reinforcing good
execution. from afar, it’s like:
‘What’s he doing? Is he just
messing around out there?’ No.
He’s literally training his mind:
Boom, c urveball.”
Such detailed preparation has
long been the backbone of
Scherzer’s success and remains
the reason teammates believe he
won’t slow down now. Justin
Verlander, Scherzer’s former
teammate in Detroit who’s now
with Houston, just placed
second and first in the two most
recent American League Cy
Young votes, a period in which
he posted a 2.55 ErA and a 0.85
WHIP. Verlander just turned 37.
randy Johnson, Curt Schilling,
Greg maddux, To m Glavine — all
had elite seasons well after
tuning 35.
“It takes a special person to do
it,” Zimmerman said. “A lot ofguys would break down. But he
is so calculated. It’s almost like,
‘A re you kidding me?’ And then
you’re like: ‘Well, wait a minute.
He literally practices and does
everything harder and more
calculated than other people do,
and he’s just a little bit better at
it than everyone else. maybe he’s
got it figured out.’
“That also takes commitment.
It takes sacrifices. You can’t be
like, ‘I’m going to do what he
does,’ and then do it five days out
of the week instead of seven.
He’s all-in. It’s why he’s going to
be in the Hall of fame.”
How much will the next two,
or more, years enhance that Hall
of fame résumé? Despite the
slight setback to his side muscles
this week — “This is purely just a
fatigue, endurance thing,”
Scherzer told reporters in West
Palm Beach on Tuesday —
Scherzer is adamant that he
knows how to prepare an aging
body coming off an extended
season.
“I understand the process,” he
said last week.
And the truth is, even with the30 extra postseason innings, he
ended with 202^2 / 3 in all for the
2019 season, a total he has
exceeded five times in the
regular season. He made just 27
regular season starts because of
back issues, but he adjusted his
offseason workout plan to
account for them. rizzo called
him “a definite outlier who takes
as good a care of his body as
anybody I’ve ever seen.”
“He knows who he is,”
manager Dave martinez said.
“He knows what he wants to be.... for him, age is just a number.
He feels just about as young as
anybody.”
He is not as young as anybody.
The beginning of the end for
max Scherzer has to come at
some point. maybe it was
Tuesday, when he played catch
rather than pitched. But no one
with the Nationals is willing to
make that bet. The end will
happen sometime, but the end is
not near.
[email protected]
for more by Barry svrluga, visit
washingtonpost.com/svrluga.average against, first in
strikeouts, second in walks and
hits per inning pitched, third in
ErA.
And yet, everybody — and
every body — has limits. forget
the stitch in his side Tuesday
that limited Scherzer to long-
tossing as the Washington
Nationals march toward their
march 26 opener. Step back and
ask the big-picture question that
matters most: How long can he
keep this up?
“I don’t know,” Scherzer said
last week. “I feel great. my body
feels great. I try to do as much as
I possibly can to continue to
build strength and get ready for
the season. There’s days where I
definitely need a day here and
svrluga from D1 there to let the body recover, and
I give it to it. I take rest when I
can get it. But if I feel good, I go
hard.”
That last part rings so true: If
he feels good, he goes hard. That
thought kind of defines max
Scherzer. But does that
commitment, that effort, mean
the first five years of his contract
can be replicated over the final
two? maybe that’s not a fair
question.
“I don’t see how his first five
years could be replicable,”
General manager mike rizzo
said. “You have to really pick and
choose who could replicate that
at any age, any team, any era.
You’re talking about some of the
most elite performance in
history.
“It’s a loaded question,
barry svrluga
At 35, Scherzer is proving
that age is just a number