GW Danville at John Handley
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Halftime GW 33-23, 3ptr at the buzzer
Coach Parson has Handley all out of sorts. Masterful job mixing up the defenses.
2/2/1 half
Half man
2/3 zone
Constantly changing
Coach Parson has Handley all out of sorts. Masterful job mixing up the defenses.
2/2/1 half
Half man
2/3 zone
Constantly changing
It's not over to the fat lady sings. I'm hoping my Danville guys can hang on. It would mean the world to the city of Danville for these guys to pull it off this year.
Expected that if they didn't put Handley away in the second half. If you want to beat GW then make the game close at the end.
I will say this not to take anything from John Handly but 7 fouls called on them for a whole game is just crazy. You could go out there and mug a GW player and the whistle was not even blown.
But ya did take away from Handley .. your 3rd post bashes the officials and home team .. give me a break
I called it. GW got housed when we played up there in 14. Jamarcus and Thug fouled out in like the 3rd quarter. I knew it would be 5 vs 8 but credit to Handley. GW will bounce back.
@Really, I will take away from the officials they were terrible. Both teams are aggressive first half second half the officiating changed and they called it one way. At one point the foul count was 11 to 2 for the game.
Handley didn't play well tonight, lucky to get out with a win. Come states , if they play well. This game wouldnt be close.
Lol that's funny Hamspear. They needed the refs to beat GW AGAIN. This is why games need to be played on neutral territory. Again I called it earlier. It was gonna be 5 vs. 8. Why else do you think Handley has a .900+ win percentage at home over the past 5 years. Like I said, GW will bounce back.
@hamspear you are right it was a reason they didnt play well maybe because the other team was better. Like I said earlier when the officiating was the same GW was up. In the second half the officials let Handly be agressive but the other team was called for touch fouls. It no way possible that two driving teams playing and one team is only called for 7 fouls for a game.
Come on man, you know I'm not a Handley fan! I was just getting you jacked up Hawse! Handleys good but they are not that good. It will be a great state tournament.
Hey we been putting up with Handley stuff for thirty years, , kick there butt ! They are pretty good, very athletic, but next year they will be better.
lol oh yeah I know! The best team will definitely win it all! No cupcakes this postseason.
I haven't seen those officials all year so that theory goes out the window. Wise was fouled on a 3 point shot but they said he was on the ground....btw it was a made 3 point shot. most of the fouls called on GW WAS CHARGING FOULS beating the guy off the dribble and going to the hoop. I think fatigue played a big part in the 4th with the long bus ride. Handley missed a lot of easy layups in the first that's why GW pulled away. I'm going to be real here the refs let the kids play on almost every Handley layup they were on the floor. I thought GW was more physical and intense in the 1st half but the 2nd Handley was more aggressive and matched the intensity. In the end it was two good teams playing their hearts out....Handley didn't play a senior in the game 5 Juniors and 3 Sophomores they had to shorten their bench...I was impressed with GW they play their asses off.
If GW wanted this game played somewhere else they could have taken care of business earlier in the season and EARNED it. They were/are good, but not good enough tonight. The Handley fans were upset at the officiating, too - GW was hooking and pushing under the boards all night and their point guard (who is really good) is also really good at pushing off to create distance between him and the defender. Also might not have been a good idea for one of the players to guarantee in the newspaper they would not lose another game - I know it motivated the Handley players. You could also see the cockiness drain out of GW as Handley came back - they got flustered and frustrated when things weren't going their way and Handley didn't, they just kept plugging. This game came down to one team keeping at it and not giving up and one team getting away from what had been successful for them earlier. Number 11 disappeared in the second half, 1 stopped driving in the half court set, and they stopped pushing the ball inside to 3. That was a great high school basketball game - you guys cheapen it by whining about the officials.
Handley is a good team fellas, for the northwest area I will root for them to win. Go judges , don't forget this Handley fans lol
Handley storms back in fourth quarter to edge GW-Danville
WINCHESTER — The nine-point deficit the Handley boys’ basketball team faced in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night was definitely an unusual situation for a team that had won 24 of 25 games coming into the 4A West Region semifinals.
But when you emphasize the importance of dealing with adversity enough, sometimes a positive mental state is all it takes to get everything rolling.
The Judges outscored George Washington-Danville 17-4 over the last five minutes and 30 seconds of the game to earn a thrilling 62-58 win at Maddex-Omps Gymnasium.
When GW-Danville’s last shot attempt settled into Handley sophomore Kevin Curry’s hands at the buzzer, the Handley fans exploded one final time following a fourth quarter in which they fervently rooted for a comeback.
“We talk about resilience a lot, and being a resilient team,” said Handley junior forward Gus Wise, who went scoreless in Monday’s regional quarterfinal win but gave the Judges the lead at 60-58 with 2:11 left on a 3-pointer. “Towards the end of the game when [Handley head coach Jason Toton] decided to go to that zone, it was a great call. We just did the work, and we pulled it out at the end.”
Down 60-58, GW-Danville had two chances to tie the game. But with loud chants of “DE — FENSE’” ringing through the gym, Amardius Jones (14 points) missed a layup with 1:45 left, and Camryn Lewis (15 points) missed a mid-range jumper with 26 seconds left. The Judges’ Michael Brown (16 points) hit two free throws with 20.6 seconds left for the final scoring.
After winning its 21st straight game, Handley (25-1) will travel to Loudoun Valley for a 7 p.m. game Friday in Purcellville for the 4A West Region championship. The Vikings defeated William Fleming 74-57 in the other semifinal. GW (21-5) will host William Fleming in the third-place game on Friday night. All four teams will advance to the state quarterfinals, which will take place on March 3 at the Salem Civic Center.
The Eagles’ Devonte’ Grasty scored on a layup following an offensive rebound by Jones (14 points) with 5:54 left in the game to give GW a 54-45 lead, its largest lead since its 33-23 advantage at halftime.
Down 54-47 following an Eagles timeout with 5:07 left, the Judges went to a zone defense after playing most of the game in man-to-man, and down 54-49 with 4:04 left, they picked up the intensity of their zone with more aggressive trapping.
GW had burned Handley in transition all night, but the Eagles had trouble getting into an offensive the flow in the fourth quarter in part because of Handley’s defense. The Judges forced eight turnovers in the fourth quarter, and GW made only 2 of 9 shots in the last 5:30.
“We switched it up defensively at the right time,” Toton said. “It threw them off, because we hadn’t pressed all night. Normally we get after people and we trap, but I didn’t know if we could do that tonight because of their quickness and how they attacked the basket.
“We dropped back and tried to pack it in. They hit some shots and didn’t miss hardly at all in the first half. Down seven (at 54-47), we knew we had to change things up, and we thought maybe they wouldn’t know how to make adjustments to it.”
Kobe Tigney (16 points) scored on a layup and hit a free-throw with 3:54 left to cut the Eagles’ lead to 54-52 following a GW turnover, then Kevin Curry scored on a putback following another turnover to tie the game at 54-54.
Jones scored on a putback of a miss by Patrick Robinson (17 points) with 2:23 to go to make it 58-57 GW, but Wise put the Judges up 60-58 with his 3-pointer with 2:11 left from the right side of the floor.
Brown dished the ball to Wise (12 points) after drawing an extra defender with his dribble penetration, and Wise let loose from well beyond the arc to send the Handley fans into a frenzy.
Wise (12 points) — who was 3 of 10 from the floor prior to that shot — said he had just had to put Monday’s game behind him on Wednesday, and he gave credit to Brown for creating such a good look for him.
“You just have to think the next [shot’s] falling,” Wise said. “Michael did a great job of driving and then drawing a defender, and made a great pass to me. I just did my job I guess. It was all [Brown]. He made that play happen.”
After GW missed a couple of potential-tying shots, Brown — who said he knew Wise was going to make his 3-pointer because “he’s clutch” — wasn’t done making big plays.
After the rebound of Lewis’ missed jumper went out of bounds to Handley with 26 seconds left, Brown was fouled with 20.6 seconds left. Brown hit the first free throw, then after a timeout, he hit the second to give Handley a critical 62-58 lead.
The cool that Brown showed in the moment was all part of a collective desire.
“We were hungry, and we wanted to win,” Brown said. “We had intensity, we got some stops, we attacked the basket, and we got it done.”
Down 62-58, the Eagles missed four shots in the final 20 seconds, including two 3-pointers.
GW coach Ron Parson said he felt his team lost its aggressiveness in the fourth because of fouls. He noted that GW had 22 called on them compared to Handley’s six. Grasty periodically had to sit with fouls and fouled out with 20 seconds left.
“We quit going to the hole,” Parson said. “We got called for charging twice [in the fourth] and we just backed off a little bit. You can’t back off from a good team and I think that was the biggest thing in the game.
“[Handley] got the momentum, and they outplayed us for the last four minutes. I was pleased with our guys’ effort, but you’ve got to make your shots and not make some of the mistakes we made.”
Toton and the Judges couldn’t be happier they made the plays they needed to down the stretch.
“We did what we had to do to close the game,” Toton said. “The atmosphere was great, the crowd was great. That’s probably the loudest I’ve ever heard that gym.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1
- By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI THE WINCHESTER STAR | The Winchester Star
- Scott Mason/The Winchester Star
- Scott Mason/The Winchester Star
WINCHESTER — The nine-point deficit the Handley boys’ basketball team faced in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night was definitely an unusual situation for a team that had won 24 of 25 games coming into the 4A West Region semifinals.
But when you emphasize the importance of dealing with adversity enough, sometimes a positive mental state is all it takes to get everything rolling.
The Judges outscored George Washington-Danville 17-4 over the last five minutes and 30 seconds of the game to earn a thrilling 62-58 win at Maddex-Omps Gymnasium.
When GW-Danville’s last shot attempt settled into Handley sophomore Kevin Curry’s hands at the buzzer, the Handley fans exploded one final time following a fourth quarter in which they fervently rooted for a comeback.
“We talk about resilience a lot, and being a resilient team,” said Handley junior forward Gus Wise, who went scoreless in Monday’s regional quarterfinal win but gave the Judges the lead at 60-58 with 2:11 left on a 3-pointer. “Towards the end of the game when [Handley head coach Jason Toton] decided to go to that zone, it was a great call. We just did the work, and we pulled it out at the end.”
Down 60-58, GW-Danville had two chances to tie the game. But with loud chants of “DE — FENSE’” ringing through the gym, Amardius Jones (14 points) missed a layup with 1:45 left, and Camryn Lewis (15 points) missed a mid-range jumper with 26 seconds left. The Judges’ Michael Brown (16 points) hit two free throws with 20.6 seconds left for the final scoring.
After winning its 21st straight game, Handley (25-1) will travel to Loudoun Valley for a 7 p.m. game Friday in Purcellville for the 4A West Region championship. The Vikings defeated William Fleming 74-57 in the other semifinal. GW (21-5) will host William Fleming in the third-place game on Friday night. All four teams will advance to the state quarterfinals, which will take place on March 3 at the Salem Civic Center.
The Eagles’ Devonte’ Grasty scored on a layup following an offensive rebound by Jones (14 points) with 5:54 left in the game to give GW a 54-45 lead, its largest lead since its 33-23 advantage at halftime.
Down 54-47 following an Eagles timeout with 5:07 left, the Judges went to a zone defense after playing most of the game in man-to-man, and down 54-49 with 4:04 left, they picked up the intensity of their zone with more aggressive trapping.
GW had burned Handley in transition all night, but the Eagles had trouble getting into an offensive the flow in the fourth quarter in part because of Handley’s defense. The Judges forced eight turnovers in the fourth quarter, and GW made only 2 of 9 shots in the last 5:30.
“We switched it up defensively at the right time,” Toton said. “It threw them off, because we hadn’t pressed all night. Normally we get after people and we trap, but I didn’t know if we could do that tonight because of their quickness and how they attacked the basket.
“We dropped back and tried to pack it in. They hit some shots and didn’t miss hardly at all in the first half. Down seven (at 54-47), we knew we had to change things up, and we thought maybe they wouldn’t know how to make adjustments to it.”
Kobe Tigney (16 points) scored on a layup and hit a free-throw with 3:54 left to cut the Eagles’ lead to 54-52 following a GW turnover, then Kevin Curry scored on a putback following another turnover to tie the game at 54-54.
Jones scored on a putback of a miss by Patrick Robinson (17 points) with 2:23 to go to make it 58-57 GW, but Wise put the Judges up 60-58 with his 3-pointer with 2:11 left from the right side of the floor.
Brown dished the ball to Wise (12 points) after drawing an extra defender with his dribble penetration, and Wise let loose from well beyond the arc to send the Handley fans into a frenzy.
Wise (12 points) — who was 3 of 10 from the floor prior to that shot — said he had just had to put Monday’s game behind him on Wednesday, and he gave credit to Brown for creating such a good look for him.
“You just have to think the next [shot’s] falling,” Wise said. “Michael did a great job of driving and then drawing a defender, and made a great pass to me. I just did my job I guess. It was all [Brown]. He made that play happen.”
After GW missed a couple of potential-tying shots, Brown — who said he knew Wise was going to make his 3-pointer because “he’s clutch” — wasn’t done making big plays.
After the rebound of Lewis’ missed jumper went out of bounds to Handley with 26 seconds left, Brown was fouled with 20.6 seconds left. Brown hit the first free throw, then after a timeout, he hit the second to give Handley a critical 62-58 lead.
The cool that Brown showed in the moment was all part of a collective desire.
“We were hungry, and we wanted to win,” Brown said. “We had intensity, we got some stops, we attacked the basket, and we got it done.”
Down 62-58, the Eagles missed four shots in the final 20 seconds, including two 3-pointers.
GW coach Ron Parson said he felt his team lost its aggressiveness in the fourth because of fouls. He noted that GW had 22 called on them compared to Handley’s six. Grasty periodically had to sit with fouls and fouled out with 20 seconds left.
“We quit going to the hole,” Parson said. “We got called for charging twice [in the fourth] and we just backed off a little bit. You can’t back off from a good team and I think that was the biggest thing in the game.
“[Handley] got the momentum, and they outplayed us for the last four minutes. I was pleased with our guys’ effort, but you’ve got to make your shots and not make some of the mistakes we made.”
Toton and the Judges couldn’t be happier they made the plays they needed to down the stretch.
“We did what we had to do to close the game,” Toton said. “The atmosphere was great, the crowd was great. That’s probably the loudest I’ve ever heard that gym.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1
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