After two regular season losses to the Grassfield Grizzlies, the Western Branch Bruins were anxious to beat their Chesapeake rival. On Monday night, they made it happen as the #5 seed eliminated the #4 seed by a count of 63-49 in the quarterfinals of the Monitor-Merrimac Conference Tournament.

Even with a double-digit lead for practically the entire way, second-year Western Branch Head Coach Paul Hall knew that the lead wasn't lead playing in the opposition's gym.

"Slow starts and raggedy finishes. That's what has killed us all season. We did better on both of those things tonight," Hall commented.

"We had a fast start, and then late in the game we executed, which we struggled with all season. We had some games that were close, didn't finish, but we finished tonight."

Western Branch began the game with a matchup zone. However, they didn't just sit back in it as the Bruins trapped out of it, creating turnovers and switched to some different looks to prevent Grassfield from getting a handle on what they showed.

"I took a page from my buddy Ed Young," said Hall in reference to the Nansemond River Coach he was an assistant with for 10 years.

"We talked about some things. I thought a matchup would do well. Our man-to-man is good, but they can do some things that can cause some matchup problems in our man-to-man. As long as we kept pressuring the ball and kept the weak-side plugged up, I thought that would give them some problems."

The result was Grassfield beginning the game 0-for-8 from the field with eight turnovers. Western Branch bolted to a 12-0 lead and didn't have to play from behind like they did in the previous two encounters.

"For the most part. we mixed it up," Hall noted. "We just had to be cognizant of where the shooters - [Tristan] Coleman and [Caleb] Dawkins - were."

Both of Western Branch's regular season losses to Grassfield were close; 65-62 back on December 10th and 41-35 on February 2nd. A major difference this time around was the play of senior guard Kishawn Harris.

In the two regular season losses to Grassfield, Harris averaged just nine points. In this meeting, he scored 21 points coming off the bench, converting 13-of-14 from the foul line and 8-of-8 in the first half.

"Kishawn is a part-time starter, part-time sixth man," Hall said. "He actually plays better off the bench. He's usually our closer."

Grassfield, which saw its season close at 10-13 overall, played without John Cover. The senior guard sat out with a knee injury. Cover burned Western Branch for 19 points in the first head-to-head matchup.

Leading the Grizzlies was 6-foot-7 junior center Josh Berman with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting and five rebounds. Grassfield leaned heavily on him on the interior, but went just 3-of-20 on three-point tries.

For Western Branch, they advance to the Monitor-Merrimac Conference Tournament semifinals against Oscar Smith, which is presently ranked #3 in the state in Group 6A. The Bruins are now 10-12 overall and the latest victory should serve as a confidence-booster for a team full of underclassmen.

"This is our first playoff win since we've been here. For a lot of these seniors, this is their first playoff because they were on J.V. their sophomore year. It's big because it shows we're starting to turn that corner. We're a work in progress and we should have eight guys coming back, plus a couple of good kids we've moved up from the J.V. to help us finish the season out," Hall stated.

"It's just a matter of completing the mission and task at hand, then working hard in the off-season and getting better."

The future looks extremely bright for Western Branch for two reasons in particular. They go by the names of BriQuan Harrell and Kendall Bynum. Each is a freshman starting in the backcourt for the Bruins; Harrell listed at 6-foot-2 and Byum at an even 6-feet-tall.

Both Harrell and Bynum have shown promise throughout the season and that continued in Monday's playoff opener.

Harrell filled the stat sheet with 13 points on 50% shooting from the field to go with seven rebounds, six steals and three assists. He had five steals in the first period alone. Athletically, he was a handful in the open court for several Southeastern District opponents this year.

Bynum's numbers weren't quite as noteworthy, though he tallied five points, five boards and four assists. His vision and savvy make him highly regarded and set him apart from many other ninth graders across Tidewater.

Together, this tandem could be make the Bruins a team to be reckoned with for years to come.

"Kendall has a very high IQ, but has to get in the weight room and get stronger. Sometimes he sees things that some other kids don't, so they're not ready for some of the passes he makes. He's a good outside shooter and driver. He did a better job on defense and I get on him about his defense," Hall said.

"BriQuan did a great job on defense, and he's another guy I get on about his defense because that's the key. He got in the passing lanes a couple time and that matchup is tailor made for him because he can roam around on that weak-side wing. He's a great scorer, didn't light it up from outside like he normally does, but got in the lane a couple times and finished. We've been getting on him about driving and not settling for the 3."

Postgame Audio with Western Branch Coach Paul Hall

Western Branch Bruins 63: (10-12 Overall)
Kishawn Harris - 21Pts. 4-9FG, 13-14FT, 2Ast. 2Stl.
BriQuan Harrell - 13Pts. 5-10FG, 7Reb. 3Ast. 6Stl.
Deshaan Dixon - 12Pts. 6-7FG, 8Reb. 3Blk.
Kendall Bynum - 5Pts. 2-5FG, 5Reb. 4Ast.

Grassfield Grizzlies 49: (10-13 Overall)
Josh Berman - 15Pts. 7-8FG, 5Reb.
Kenadre Debrough - 10Pts. 3-5FG, 3-7FT, 2Ast.
Caleb Dawkins - 9Pts. 4-12FG, 3Reb. 2Ast. 2Stl.
Racee Lucas - 7Pts. 2-5FG, 9Reb.

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.