Published Feb 25, 2015
Wythe Gets Redemption, Eliminates JM
Josiah Turner
VirginiaPreps.com Staff Writer
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style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;background:yellow;
mso-highlight:yellow'>Final - - #3 George Wythe 80, #2 John Marshall 66
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Last
year, John Marshall celebrated a Group 3A state championship by defeating
George Wythe at VCU's Siegel Center to win the title.
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They
beat the Bulldogs in dominating fashion, en route to their first championship
since 1954. George Wythe remembered the feeling of losing that game, and they
came into the 2014-15 season seeking revenge.
 
With
that bitter taste still in their mouths, George Wythe returned the favor to the
Justices Tuesday night at Hopewell High School. They cruised to an 80-66
victory, clinching a berth into regionals and eliminating John Marshall for the
season.
 
"It's
unfortunate that we had to play so early in this," George Wythe head coach
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Willard Coker said. "It's kind of
bittersweet, I hate to see a top team like that go out so early."
 
The
Bulldogs controlled the entire game, and jumped out to a 26-12 lead to end the
first quarter.  They led 42-32 at
halftime, as John Marshall made a small run to end the second. But eight points
is as close as the Justices would get to cutting into George Wythe's deficit.
 
After
a 10-0 run to end the third quarter, the Bulldogs took a 64-46 lead into the
fourth. They were just minutes away from advancing.
 
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Maliek
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"Verdana",sans-serif'> White
"Verdana",sans-serif'> led the charge for George Wythe, as he finished the
night with 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds. He set the tone for his
team early on, scoring 12 points in the first quarter.
 
"It
feels good to beat them when it matters," White said. "We beat them earlier in
the season, but to beat them when it counts is a good feeling -
class=GramE>it's redemption."
 
Senior
guard Brandon Holley also did what
he does best; shoot the lights out the gym. He made four 3-pointers on the
night, and scored 17 points for the Bulldogs. Maurice Coleman shot 88 percent from the free throw line (15 of 17),
and finished with 19 points of his own.
 
"I
don't think anybody can beat us," Holley said when responding to how well his
team played Tuesday. "Everybody was passing the ball, swinging the ball and we
was playing as a team."
 
It
was the second consecutive meeting where George Wythe's backcourt completely
outplayed John Marshall's guards. Jeremy
Carter-Sheppard, who is one of the most talented junior guards in Virginia,
finished the night with only seven points on 1-of-8 shooting.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Jer'quante
class=SpellE>Broaduss scored 10 points, but shot only 2-of-10 from
the field himself. Tre Patterson was
one bright spot for the Justices throughout the night, as he finished with 13
points on 6-of-9 shooting.
 
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Taqqi
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
"Verdana",sans-serif'> Muhammad
font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> scored 12 points and Xavier Trent added 11 for the Justices.
 
Sophomore
forward Greg Jones, who has shown
the ability to dominate games this season, was limited to just seven points and
six rebounds. As a whole, the Justices didn't shoot the ball well -- which
could largely be in part to George Wythe's pressure defense. John Marshall shot
just 39 percent from the field (23-of-59), 58 percent from the free throw line
(18-of-31) and nine percent from beyond the arc (2-of-23).
 
It
was the complete opposite for the Bulldogs, as they shot 49 percent from the
field (21-of-43), 85 percent from the charity stripe (33-of-39) and 36 percent
from behind the 3-point line (5-of-14) - which also indicates how one-sided the
game was.
 
All
of George Wythe's points came from the starting unit, as Eric Crews had 16 points -- as well as eight rebounds -- and
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Richard Sanders had eight,
respectively.
 
Now
that they've defeated their archrival, the Bulldogs will enter the regional
tournament with a boatload of confidence.
 
"[It
does give us confidence] knowing that you're able to beat a top team in the
conference, but if you don't seal the deal then it doesn't matter," Coker said.
"We came here to win the state, and we started Monday night."
 
But
they'll first focus on their matchup with No. 1 Hopewell Wednesday night for
the Conference 26 Championship, which takes place on the Blue Devils' home
floor.
 
"It's
not a cakewalk," said Coker. "We have to continue to play basketball in order
to win. It's going to be tough, Hopewell is tough, and they're at home."
 
 
 
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Stats:
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font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>***Courtesy of StatVA.com ***
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style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>George Wythe 80:
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  (20-6 Overall)
"Verdana",sans-serif'>Maliek
font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> White - 20 pts, 7 asst,
5 reb, 1 stl
Maurice
Coleman - 19 pts, 7 asst, 4 reb,
2 stl
Brandon
Holley - 17 pts, 2 stl
Eric
Crews - 16 pts, 8 reb, 1 stl
Richard
Sanders - 8 pts, 4 reb, 2 blk,
1 stl
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style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>John Marshall 66:
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  (18-5 Overall)
Tre
Patterson - 13 pts, 5 reb, 4 asst,
3 stl
"Verdana",sans-serif'>Taqqi
font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> Muhammad - 12 pts, 4 reb,
2 stl
Xavier
Trent - 11 pts, 5 reb
"Verdana",sans-serif'>Jer'quante
font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'> Broaddus - 10 pts, 5 reb,
3 asst, 1 stl
Greg
Jones - 7 pts, 6 reb, 1 blk
Jeremy
Sheppard - 7 pts, 3 reb, 2 asst,
1 stl
David
Meador - 3 pts
Nathan
Williams - 2 pts, 2 reb
Isaiah
Anderson - 1 pt, 1 blk, 1
class=SpellE>stl
 
 
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:#1A1A1A'>Josiah Turner joined VirginiaPreps.com in 2015. He is the
Founder & Editor of Sideline Sports. In addition, he is a frequent
contributor for StatVA.
Follow him on Twitter @ JsiahSports.
You can also reach Josiah via e-mail at
href="mailto:turnerjosiah5@gmail.com">
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:#00008C;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>turnerjosiah5@gmail.com
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
"Verdana",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#1A1A1A'>.
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