It was a much billed matchup Wednesday night in Virginia Beach between the Green Run Stallions and Landstown Eagles, two Top 10 ranked teams in the state in their respective divisions that strangely enough did not play during the regular season last year.

Due to a scheduling quirk, the city's two most successful programs did not play each other during the 2015-16 campaign, but did square off in a benefit game at Green Run that was played in front of a sellout crowd.

Green Run - ranked #6 in Group 5A - led practically from start to finish in defeating the host Eagles by a count of 50-41 to improve to 4-0 overall on the season.

"Playing Landstown and my mentor [Dwight] Robinson, it's always good, knowing we're going to have to scrap and get after it in order to beat an always very aggressive team," stated Stallions Head Coach Kenneth Harris.

Both programs hang their hat on defense, being able to apply pressure and force the opposition into turnovers, In fact, Green Run caused eight Landstown turnovers after one quarter of play and 22 for the contest, often capitalizing on those steals.

Landstown, which beat Princess Anne in its season opener and began the campaign ranked #4 in Group 6A, dropped to 1-1 overall.

Two tenth graders - 6'2" guard Ashley James for Green Run and 6'5" forward Michael Christmas of Landstown - ended up stealing the show on Wednesday night.

When these two programs met a year ago in the preseason, each was reduced to minor roles. Now, they are leading men in some respects. It shouldn't be too surprising given how well they've played going back to the off-season with Christmas securing an offer from Hampton University and making a strong contribution for the Boo Williams-Chiz 16-Under AAU program, while James got offered by their MEAC rival Norfolk State and was a factor for BWSL-Berry's 15-Under travel team.

Christmas finished with game-highs of 22 points and 11 rebounds along with three blocks. He had two jams and bunched 16 of those points in the first half.

In fact, while he was 5-of-14 from the field before intermission, the rest of the Eagles shot just 2-for-16 through 16 minutes of play. He single handily kept Landstown within striking distance, trailing just 28-24 at the break.

"Christmas is tough. He's going to be tremendous," stated Harris. "In the second half, we had to make sure we knew where Christmas was at all times and put a body on #42 (Tyrone Auzenne). They were killing us on the glass. They taught us a lesson, so hopefully it helps us going into the conference."

Landstown finished with a commanding 33-18 advantage on the backboards, something that wasn't expected coming in with Green Run featuring two of the better front-court players in 5A with Emonni Wood and Shawn Sanders, both of whom were averaging nearly a double-double in points and rebounds coming into the contest. The Eagles grabbed 14 of their 19 offensive rebounds in the first half alone.

But James made several impressive plays to put Green Run in front. The speedy sophomore reserve racked up 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, two rebounds, a couple of assists, a pair blocks and two steals.

"My team was struggling putting the ball in the hole, so I had to play my role off the bench," stated James, who thrives best in the open court he said. "I can create more for myself and my teammates. I needed this game and I think it put me back on track."

That allowed the rest of Green Run's guards - including starters Najon Nobles and last season's Conference 9 Defensive Player of the Year Damon Showers - to settle in and establish a better rhythm in the second half.

"Landstown came out with a lot of energy and a couple tough traps in the beginning,"acknowledged Nobles. "We had to adapt to it, but Ashley came off the bench and boosted us up. He gave us a lot of energy, steals, points and hit some tough jumpers."

Najon Nobles was the hero for Green Run last Friday night when it beat pesky Cox, perhaps the best team that was ranked outside the Top 10 in Group 6A to begin the season, 53-50 on his three-pointer with 50 seconds to play.

Nobles didn't play his best game that night, though rose to the occasion for that huge shot and one earlier in the fourth quarter to turn a slim deficit into a lead against the Falcons.

With 3:37 to play and Landstown trying to make one final run, Nobles helped the distance themselves with a three-point that extended their lead to eight. Nine of his team-high 13 points came in the second half. All three of his assists were handed out over the game's final 16 minutes as well.

"Najon started off a little slow, but he's a leader," Harris commented. "He stepped up and hit a big 3 in this game down the stretch. and he stepped up."

Green Run has now won 45 straight games over Beach District opponents. However, Nobles has his sights on helping the school earn its first State Tournament berth since 1984 after narrow losses to Hampton in the opening round of the 5A-South Region Tournament each of the past two years.

"We still don't look past any teams that we play. But our goal isn't to beat Landstown or any Beach team. Our goal is much higher because we went home the last two years in regionals," Nobles said. "We don't want it to be the third year."

With Green Run's starting point guard from last season, Justin Barnett, having graduated and combo guard DeShaun Wade - a 2nd Team All-State performer his sophomore year - transferring to the Miller School in the off-season, the Stallions needed someone to emerge as their main ball-handler this year.

So far, junior Cortez Johnson has answered the call. Johnson played sparingly as both a freshman and sophomore off the bench, but through four games he's leading the team in assists and not turning the ball over all that much.

Even though Johnson didn't score a single point, Harris was pleased with the fact he finished with a game-best six asssists to go with four steals and without committing a foul.

"I don't think he had a turnover and that's one thing people don't notice about him," the Head Coach noted. "He's a silent assassin and controls our offense."

Green Run Stallions 50: (4-0 Overall)
Najon Nobles - 13Pts. 6-9FG, 1-4 3's, 3Ast.
Ashley James - 12Pts. (all 1st Half), 4-5FG, 3-4FT, 2Reb. 2Ast. 2Blk. 2Stl.
Emonni Wood - 11Pts. 5-9FG, 4Reb. 3Blk.
Damon Showers & Shawn Sanders - 6Pts. apiece

Landstown Eagles 41: (1-1 Overall)
Michael Christmas - 22Pts. 7-18FG, 7-9FT, 11Reb. 3Blk. 2Stl.
Tyrone Auzenne - 8Pts. 2-6FG, 4-4FT, 7Reb. (all offensive)
Aaric Marks - 5Pts. 2-10FG, 4Reb. 4Ast.
Brent Stukes - 4Pts. 2-4FG, 5Ast. 3Stl.

Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher 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.