Springers Win TDIT in OT
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style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>TDIT Championship Final (OT) - - Highland
Springs 74, John Marshall 66:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The Highland Springs Springers
knew it would have to do a lot right to beat the John Marshall Justices, ranked
#1 in the state in Group 3A, in Tuesday night's Championship of the 20th Annual
Richmond Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament at VCU.
style=> Playing a John Marshall team that has already
beaten defending 6A State Champ Colonial Forge and reigning 4A State Champ
class=SpellE>Norcom was quite a daunting task for the
class=SpellE>Springers, especially since they were without their tallest
starter, 6-foot-4 junior Marvin Cannon,
missing his fourth straight game with a broken bone in his wrist.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>[rl]After blowing a 10-point fourth quarter lead, Highland
Springs recovered in overtime, outscoring the Justices 15-7 in the extra frame
to come away with a hard-fought 74-66 victory.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Moving to 7-0 overall, the Springers
used a mixture of defenses in an effort to throw off a John Marshall team full
of height, athleticism and experience.
For the most part, it worked as the Justices committed 10 turnovers in
the first quarter and 21 for the game, enough for the Springers
to capitalize on to stay undefeated.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The main focus of Highland Springs' defensive gimmicks
was junior guard Jeremy Sheppard, 3A
State Player of the Year a season ago who made over 100 three-pointers.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We're playing a lot of matchup zone and we're pleased
with our progress. We played the 'Bottle
Defense,' an alternate defense against Benedictine.
style=> Today we played a matchup 3-2, trying to trap
Sheppard," noted Highland Springs Head Basketball Coach George Lancaster after recording win #680 in his career.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Sheppard was held to 11 points.
style=> His first three-point make didn't come until
6:06 remaining in regulation. That
ignited a 16-6 spurt by John Marshall as they forced overtime when guard
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jay Broaddus made 2-of-3 free-throws
with 7.6 seconds left after being fouled on a three-point try.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We wanted to try to contain Jeremy Sheppard, get
rebounds and don't commit any dumb fouls, which we did at times, but I don't
think it was as many as we've had. And
of course, make free-throws. We've still
got to practice on that, but we're getting there," remarked Highland Springs
guard A.J. Gaston, named the TDIT
Tournament MVP.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Even though Gaston shook off a slow start where he
began 2-of-11 from the field to fill the stat sheet with 15 points, five
rebounds, six assists and four steals, he deflected questions about his
individual play afterwards, rather giving credit to his teammates.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It was a total team effort," he added.
style=> "Victroy Harris
stepped up and hit big shots in the previous games.
style=> People have stepped up off the bench, like
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Chris Jackson getting boards and taking
Marvin's role while he's out. Without my
team doing what they did, I wouldn't have been able to do anything."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In the extra session, Gaston found fellow senior guard Na'Quon Trapp for
a three-pointer that gave them the lead and wrested momentum away from John
Marshall. Another senior guard,
class=SpellE>Mike'l
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Simms, put the exclamation point on it
with a thunderous jam that pushed the deficit to 10 with 1:06 left in OT.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Highland Springs used its bench to its advantage.
style=> They played a pair of reserves in Jackson and
6-foot-3 junior guard Donald Little,
22 and 20 minutes, respectively. Four
different Springers committed four fouls each, but
none fouled out.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Meanwhile, John Marshall saw both Broaddus and
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tre Patterson foul out in OT.
style=> That helped the Springers
gain a cushion.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We've got so many parts that we can come off the
bench," Lancaster said. "We're not
fearful of the reaching foul because that's how you get your hands on the ball,
but if you get in foul trouble you've got to sit them.
style=> We have some other kids who can come in and
play."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Besides playing without Cannon, who they plan to get
back some time in January, the Springers had to play
part of the fourth quarter and all of overtime without Little.
style=> He sustained an ankle injury after scoring nine
points on 4-of-5 shooting.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Some wondered a couple years ago if the demise of
Highland Springs' basketball program was beginning when D-1 guards C.J. Wiggins
and Curtis Jones transferred out of the storied school that won state titles
back in 2003 and 2007. Following a couple of
regional playoff misses, they are back to showing they belong among the elite
in the state.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We don't really like to listen to outsiders and try to
pay attention to what comes from within.
We know it's about keeping our heads and playing with heart," Gaston
commented. "It feels good to be
undefeated, but now it's behind us and we've got plenty more games."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Highland Springs has gone from #8 in the Preseason Top
Ten in Group 5A to #4 entering a showdown with undefeated Potomac, the reigning
State Champs in 5A, on the day after Christmas at L.C. Bird.
style=> Also not far off in the distance is a date
with perennial contender Booker T. Washington on January 3rd at the Seventh
Annual VirginiaPreps.com Classic Presented by Cox Sports and HRSN at Virginia Wesleyan College.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Lancaster will worry about who sits in their way come
playoff time when they get there.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We sort of just want to improve.
style=> There are some things we need to improve on and
I think if we can just do them, they can become fundamentally sound," he
emphasized. "It's not just something
that you're teaching every day, but reviewing every day.
style=> We can review every day and we should be able
to pass the test on most occasions."
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>
Player of the Game:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> Highland Springs G Na'Quon
Trapp - -
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The 5-foot-8 dynamo wowed the crowd with an array of
moves going to the basket. He ended up
with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go with four assists.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>His performance in the Championship of the TDIT raised
his season averages to 10.4PPG and 3.9APG.
It also earned him a spot on the All-Tournament Team, making him the
lone player under 6-feet-tall to accomplish the feat.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
mso-highlight:yellow'>Keys to Victory:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#1
- - Supporting Cast Shines:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Getting
19 points from Trapp was a major lift for the Springers
with Cannon out of the lineup. Gaston
and Simms shot a combined 7-of-23 from the field with no makes from deep, and
Trapp's three-pointer ended up being the team's only connection out of six
attempts from behind the arc.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Picking up the slack along with Trapp were Harris,
Little and 6-foot-3 senior forward Kirvell Alexander,
highlighted in the off-season by Lancaster as the team's potential breakout
player. Aleander
ended up with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds, holding
his own against John Marshall's D-1 twin tower tandem of Greg Jones and Nate Williams.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Kirvell Alexander [was] huge,"
stated Lancaster, who returned nine guys that saw varsity action a season ago.
style=> "They're good people and good
ballplayers. We're seasoned and have
been together for a total year now. We've
got to get better, but we're pretty good right now."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
#2 - - Stay Resilient:
style=> Amazingly, John Marshall lost despite
getting 30 offensive rebounds. They
absolutely pounded the backboards in the second half with 21 offensive
boards. For the night, they had a
decisive 33-7 advantage in second chance points on the Springers.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Most teams would've been done after coughing up a
10-point fourth quarter lead, yet Highland Springs stayed attacking and
finished up outscoring John Marshall 42-36 in the paint, even though they were
the smaller of the two teams in terms of height.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The confidence never wavered.
style=> And Lancaster's bunch refused to back down.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We've got a lot of believers on this team," remarked
the VHSL Hall of Fame Coach. "This is
the advent season, the season of expectancy and certainly we expect to get a
little better. We communicate pretty
well, got a love for each other and that's apart of the game."
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
#3 - - Points off Turnovers:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Sometimes
figuring out the outcome of sports games is not that complicated and instead
very simple. Make fewer mistakes than
your opponent, capitalize on theirs and you will win.
style=> Highland Springs executed that formula
exceedingly well.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Though the Springers ended up
with 13 turnovers, they forced John Marshall into 21 and had a 22-13 edge in
points off turnovers.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We try to minimize our mistakes," Lancaster went on to
say. "We turned the ball over a lot
against Benedictine on Saturday, came in and worked a little bit on that after
Saturday night's game, trying to have some poise and knowing the clock.
style=> If you know the clock, you won't rush."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The quartet of guards that played around Alexander, who
was the only player for either side to play the entire game, managed the
pressurized moments the way a team needs to in order to be successful.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Postgame Audio with Highland
Springs Coach George Lancaster
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Final Stats:
style=> OT
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Highland
Springs Springers 74:
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
(7-0 Overall)
Na'Quon Trapp - - 19Pts. 7-13FG, 4-6FT, 4Reb. 4Ast.
2Stl.
A.J. Gaston - - 15Pts. 6-18FG, 3-5FT, 5Reb. 6Ast. 4Stl.
Kirvel Alexander - - 14Pts. 6-8FG, 2-4FT 8Reb. 2Stl
class=GramE>.
Victroy Harris - - 10Pts. 3-5FG, 4-6FT, 4Reb.
Donald Little - - 9Pts. 4-5FG, 2Reb.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>John
Marshall Justices 66:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> (6-1 Overall)
Greg Jones - - 13Pts. 4-12FG, 5-6FT, 13Reb. (9Off.), 3Ast.
Jay Broaddus - - 13Pts. 4-21FG, 5-7FT, 7Reb. (Fouled
Out)
Jeremy Sheppard - - 11Pts. 3-9FG, 1-6 3's, 4-6Ft, 7Reb. 2Stl.
Taqqi Muhammad - - 11Pts. 4-8FG, 3-5FT, 11Reb.
Tre Patterson - - 10Pts. 4-8FG, 5Reb. (Fouled Out)
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
2014 TDIT All-Tournament Team:
A.J. Gaston, Highland Springs (MVP)
Na'Quon Trapp, Highland Springs
Zane Najdawi, Cosby
Maliek White, George Wythe
Jeremy Sheppard, John Marshall
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