Every Championship has its own special meaning. For Dwight Robinson's Landstown Eagles, their third consecutive Coastal Conference 1 Tournament title was unique for a variety of reasons.

Besides having to replace a pair of First Team All-Conference performers from a season ago, including 6-foot-8 center Darius Bolstad (now playing his College Hoops at Radford), the Eagles this year were in the unfamiliar position of playing for their postseason lives during this tourney.

That's because Kellam won the regular season title, securing an automatic berth to regionals, and then #4 seed Cox upended the Knights in the semifinals of the Conference 1 Tournament. Even after Landstown had a dramatic comeback win over Tallwood during its semifinal to stave off elimination, they had to protect home court against the pesky Falcons in order to keep alive their dream of a state title.

Landstown punched its regional ticket by eliminating Cox, 52-34.

The victory didn't come without some resistance from the Falcons, who only trailed 27-23 midway through the third quarter.

"As the course of the year has gone on, Cox has gotten a lot better. We saw the improvement starting when we played them at the end of January. They were actually up on us at the end of the first half," Robinson pointed out.

"We knew they were going to grind, be patient and it's a very disciplined group. Coach [Bobby] Wolfe did a good job with them, they game-planned and you could tell they practiced for all the presses. We just wore them down a little bit and took over in the third quarter.

Before Keshawn Lewis of Cox closed the third quarter with a driving a lay-up to beat the horn, Landstown went on a 9-0 run to push their lead up to 13. The Falcons were unable to make enough 3's to close the gap, finishing 4-of-22 from beyond the arc and 1-of-7 in the fourth quarter.

Over the game's final eight minutes, the Eagles didn't fall into the trap of taking 3's. They attempted just one shot behind the three-point line in the fourth period and stayed aggressive attacking the basket, resulting in 25-of-35 shooting from the foul line.

"Don't stand out there shooting a bunch of 3's. Let's get to the cup because we wanted to make them play defense, move their feet and expend energy," Robinson reminded his team. "Yeah, we didn't hit the big 3's. We're capable of it and know we are, but I didn't want them just shooting jump shots today."

During the fourth quarter, Landstown was able to salt it away by going 12-of-18. Senior guard Maurice Jones led all scorers with 13 points, going 9-for-10 at the charity stripe. Freshman Michael Christmas also shot a high percentage at the line, converting 7-of-10.

Eventually, fatigue and foul trouble caught up with the upset-minded Falcons.

"Their big man (Kelvin Nicholson) is their key player, so we knew we had to get him out of the game and apply pressure in order to win," Jones said.

"We knew they were going to come out and play hard from the beginning. We just had to play our game and because we have a deep bench we wanted to get them tired in the end."

Also scoring in double-figures for Landstown, now 17-6 overall, was senior wing Darius Wallace with 10 points. He hit their lone three-point shot on the evening.

This was the deepest Cox has gone in the postseason since 1997-98 when the Falcons finished 21-4 overall under Kenny Edwards, currently the Athletic Director at Jamestown. That team won the Beach District Tournament and two of their assistants were Wolfe and Jae Clark, an assistant now at Landstown. Also, a player on that title winning squad was Chuck Robinson, father of Cox freshman guard Tayvion Robinson, who led the Falcons with 10 points and seven rebounds in defeat.

On two separate occasions before half-time, Robinson did something seldom seen in a playoff game. He subbed out the entire starting five and brought in five reserves.

Often coaches will mix in subs with starters so there isn't what is perceived to be a significant drop-off in the team's overall play. However, the sideline boss at Landstown liked what he has seen from his bench in recent games.

"Sometimes it calls for energy. My second five are a more athletic group than the first five. They're fast and about the same size. A lot of them guys attack the basket, too. They changed the complexion of the game for us and made all the hustle plays," Robinson remarked.

The result? Their lead increased at the end of each quarter; 11-8 after one period; 24-21 at the half; 36-25 going to the final eight minutes before pulling away for an 18-point victory.

Headlined by two-sport standouts Noah Boone and Bryson Stukes - both signed to play College Football at Hampton University next year - the Landstown subs produced 12 points, 10 rebounds and a couple of assists. Most of all, they were efficient, going a combined 6-of-11 from the field.

Tisheed Jones, Brent Stukes and Lamont Oliphant also saw time spelling the starting five that consists of Jones, Christmas, Wallace, Aaric Marks and Coastal Conference Player of the Year Daryus Evans.

"I told them all for the last couple weeks we've got two starting five's. As you saw in the fourth quarter, I started the second unit. That's how much I trust them, and we'll roll with whoever's playing best," Robinson added.

Beaten soundly by Norcom back on January 14th, Landstown was just 6-5 overall at one point in the season. The Eagles are now peaking at the right time, having won 11 of the past 12 games with the lone blemish coming on February 8th in the VirginiaPreps.com Classic at Green Run High School to fellow 6A title contender Oscar Smith.

Oscar Smith rallied from eight points down in the third quarter to edge the Eagles 47-45, thanks to Donald Hicks' step-back three-pointer with time winding down. The two teams could meet up again, but it wouldn't be until the 6A-South Region Championship.

"The last three years, we started off bad. Then right after Christmas break, we get rolling," commented Jones, excited in his senior season to pursue a ring after missing the team's State Tournament run due to a scary head injury a year ago.

"I just want to play my heart out for my team because I wasn't able to last year. And it's my last time."

Woodside was able to beat Oscar Smith 65-48 in the Monitor-Merrimac Conference 2 Tournament Championship. That means the Wolverines (16-5) play host to Landstown in Tuesday's opening round of the 6A-South Region Tournament.

Just like two years ago, the game will have a State Playoff berth on the line. In that game, Bolstad made a shot at the buzzer to crush the heart of Woodside, led then by a pair of sophomores in Chris Orlina and Devante Carter that are now seniors.

"They are an extremely talented team. They've got two guys that are definitely next-level, but they also have another kid in [Jordan] Forbes that [is] an outstanding athlete and does all the dirty stuff," Robinson said.

"They've got role players, guys who come off the bench and give great effort. It's going to be a battle. You know they're going to make runs. Hopefully we'll make some runs and see what happens at the end."

Postgame Audio with Landstown Coach Dwight Robinson

Landstown Eagles 52: (17-6 Overall)
Maurice Jones - 13Pts. 2-2FG, 9-10FT, 7Reb. 3Ast. 4Stl.
Darius Wallace - 10Pts. 4-8FG, 3Stl.
Michael Christmas - 9Pts. 1-5FG, 7-10FT, 9Reb. 2Blk.
Bryson Stukes - 6Pts. 1-1FG, 4-6FT, 4Reb. 2Ast.
Aaric Marks - 6Pts. 2-4FG, 2-4FT, 2Reb. 2Ast. 2Stl.

Cox Falcons 34: (8-12 Overall)
Tayvion Robinson - 10Pts. 5-10FG, 7Reb. 3Ast. 2Blk. 3Stl.
Kelvin Nicholson - 9Pts. 4-6FG, 1-5FT, 10Reb. 5Blk.
A.J. Smith - 7Pts. 2-9FG, 2-8 3's, 4Reb. 2Ast.
Kavon James - 6Pts. 2-11 3's

Matthew Hatfield serves as State Basketball Analyst for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10AM on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.