LV wins 64-63
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#1 Loudoun Valley vs #4 Monacan
#2 Smithfield vs #3 George Washington
#1 Jamestown vs #4 William Fleming
#2 John Handley vs #3 Hanover
#2 Smithfield vs #3 George Washington
#1 Jamestown vs #4 William Fleming
#2 John Handley vs #3 Hanover
Can't even lie, as much as I want to see a GW/LV game, I'd love to see GW and Monacan part 2. Anyone know anything about Smithfield??
Jordan Miller lifts Loudoun Valley over Handley for 4A West region title
By Jesse Dougherty February 24 at 10:40 PM
Jordan Miller was watching the ball roll through the net, and no more than five seconds later he was floating above the court atop a sea of court-storming fans.
That is how things fast changed in Purcellville on Friday night, where Miller lifted Loudoun Valley to a 64-63 win over visiting Handley in the Virginia 4A West region championship.
Loudoun Valley led by double-digits in the first quarter, Handley scratched back in the second, the Vikings stretched their lead in the third, and then the Judges went ahead by one with 40 seconds left.
But Miller drew a foul with 3.4 seconds remaining and tied the score before a Handley timeout. Next he buried the second free throw to nudge No. 15 Loudoun Valley (27-1) to its second straight region title. After Kobe Tigney, who scored 13 points for Handley (27-2), launched a three-point attempt that sailed over the rim as the buzzer sounded, Miller was immediately scooped up by the Vikings’ jubilant student section.
“It didn’t feel real,” Miller said. “Then they lifted me up and I thought, ‘Well, then this must be real.’ ”
Miller entered averaging 22.9 points and was closely guarded by the Judges all night. They regularly forced him off his preferred left hand, and ferociously double-teamed him when he did go in that direction. That led to just five first-half points as Miller was deferring to teammates.
“He shot free throws all summer and all fall just for that shot tonight — and he made it,” said guard Dominic Peterson, who finished with 15 points.
By Jesse Dougherty February 24 at 10:40 PM
Jordan Miller was watching the ball roll through the net, and no more than five seconds later he was floating above the court atop a sea of court-storming fans.
That is how things fast changed in Purcellville on Friday night, where Miller lifted Loudoun Valley to a 64-63 win over visiting Handley in the Virginia 4A West region championship.
Loudoun Valley led by double-digits in the first quarter, Handley scratched back in the second, the Vikings stretched their lead in the third, and then the Judges went ahead by one with 40 seconds left.
But Miller drew a foul with 3.4 seconds remaining and tied the score before a Handley timeout. Next he buried the second free throw to nudge No. 15 Loudoun Valley (27-1) to its second straight region title. After Kobe Tigney, who scored 13 points for Handley (27-2), launched a three-point attempt that sailed over the rim as the buzzer sounded, Miller was immediately scooped up by the Vikings’ jubilant student section.
“It didn’t feel real,” Miller said. “Then they lifted me up and I thought, ‘Well, then this must be real.’ ”
Miller entered averaging 22.9 points and was closely guarded by the Judges all night. They regularly forced him off his preferred left hand, and ferociously double-teamed him when he did go in that direction. That led to just five first-half points as Miller was deferring to teammates.
“He shot free throws all summer and all fall just for that shot tonight — and he made it,” said guard Dominic Peterson, who finished with 15 points.
Handley boys fall by a point in 4A West region final
In front of an electric crowd that packed every inch of Loudoun Valley’s 950-person capacity bleachers, the Raiders denied Handley its first regional title since 2014 by pulling out a scintillating 64-63 win Friday in the 4A West Region championship game.
Raiders junior guard Jordan Miller knocked down the tying and go-ahead free throws with 3.4 seconds left moments after it appeared he might have gotten away with a travel to make it 64-63. Handley junior Kobe Tigney’s rushed 3-pointer then went off the mark as the buzzer sounded to keep Loudoun Valley undefeated at home since 2014 and end the Judges’ winning streak at 21.
Handley junior forward Gus Wise — who was as big a reason as any for giving the Judges a chance to win by scoring 13 of his 15 points in the second half — admitted he did contact Miller on his late drive to the basket, which ended with Miller throwing up a wild shot as he fell to the ground.
But Wise and the Handley faithful thought the whistle could have been called before that contact.
“I touched him, but it looked like a travel to me,” said Wise, whose 3-pointer with 4:14 left gave Handley its first lead since the 5:40 mark of the first quarter and set the stage for a back-and-forth affair. “But in that type of situation it could go either way. This game could have gone either way, and it went their way tonight.”
As a result, the Judges (25-2) — who questioned more than just that call in the final two minutes — will take on Hanover in next Friday’s Group 4A state quarterfinals at the Salem Civic Center.
The third seed from the East, Hanover defeated defending state champion Monacan 82-71 Friday night in the 4A East Region third-place game. Loudoun Valley (26-1) will take on Monacan at 6 p.m, in another quarterfinal next Friday.
Regardless of how he got to the line, Miller’s free throws with 3.4 seconds left capped a game in which the Conference 21 East Player of the Year came up huge in the second half.
Miller scored 15 of his game-high 19 points after halftime. The 6-foot-4 Miller made several impressive drives to the basket that resulted in baskets and free-throw opportunities, but the situation he faced with 3.4 seconds could have been suffocating. It was Miller who missed two free throws with two-tenths of a second remaining in last year’s 57-55 Group 4A state quarterfinal loss to Monacan.
“That was going through my mind today,” said Miller, who had to make the second free throw after Handley called timeout following the first. “I was like, I’ve got to make them not just for me, but for my teammates.’”
Loudoun Valley coach Chad Dawson — a Handley assistant coach from 1998-2000 — said Miller told his teammates during the timeout, “I’m not missing this [free throw].”
“That’s kind of been his mission all year, stepping up big in big games,” Dawson said. “He’s a very special player.”
It was almost another special comeback for the Judges, who knocked down 21 of 22 free throws to give themselves a chance.
Handley rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat George-Washington-Danville in Wednesday’s semifinals 62-58. On Friday, Handley (3-of-17 shooting in the first quarter) trailed 22-10 at the 7:31 mark of the second quarter and 54-48 with 5:39 left in the game.
But Handley then went on a 9-0 run to send the sizable Judges’ fan contingent into a frenzy. (There were likely some others who tried to get in. Loudoun Valley shut the doors 40 minutes before game time when there were at least 100 fans in line.)
After Michael Brown (nine points) scored four straight points, Brown fed the ball to Wise in the right corner for a 3-pointer to put Handley up 55-54, then Wise scored again by contorting his body for a bank shot on the left side of the floor to make it 57-54 Judges, prompting a Raiders timeout with 3:29 left.
Loudoun Valley fought back though, and with 1:42 left Miller made both of his free throws to make it 61-61.
With a chance to take the lead, the Judges lost control of the ball, and it went toward the left sideline in the front court. A Raiders’ player slid and grabbed the ball, and then quickly tried to throw the ball off a Judges’ player.
It was hard to say who the ball went off of before it went out-of-bounds, but when the officials came together one determined that Loudoun Valley had actually called timeout while the player on the floor had the ball. The Raiders were given the ball with 1:24 left.
“One official was calling out-of-bounds though he didn’t know who knocked it out of bounds,” Handley coach Jason Toton said. “The other ref overrode him and said [Loudoun Valley] had possession and called timeout. It was a big possession.”
Loudoun Valley’s Duron Norris hit one of two free throws with 51 seconds left to put the Raiders up 62-61, but Kevin Curry put back his own miss after driving to the hoop to make it 63-62 Handley with 40 seconds left.
The Raiders then decided to hold for the final shot. Miller almost turned the ball over when he tried to pass inside with 9.7 seconds left, with the ball being batted around twice before going out-of-bounds to the Raiders. But Miller got the ball back on the inbounds, and the refs called a foul after he started his drive from the top of the key.
After Miller made his free throws, Wise inbounded to Brown, who was able to get the ball to Tigney about 10 feet beyond the arc on the left of the floor. But with a Raider player flying at him, Tigney could only hit the left side of the backboard.
Toton said the Judges had plenty to feel good about despite the loss, though he added they have things to work on, too.
“I told the guys to keep your head high,” Toton said. “We live for another day.
“But we can’t let it get to a one-possession game. We didn’t do some things throughout the game, especially the first quarter. We gave them too many second-chance opportunities. Against good teams, if you want to win championships, you can’t do that. We’ve got to learn from our mistakes, box out, and do things right early on so it’s not that close at the end.”
The Judges’ efforts were also hurt by foul trouble. Ra’Shaad Morris — who had a strong first half and finished with eight points and four rebounds — wound up sitting the last 13:22 of the game with four fouls. After picking up his third foul with 5:22 left in the third quarter, he fouled Miller as soon as Miller caught the inbounds pass, denying Handley a key post player.
Tigney said the Judges have reason to feel good about themselves going forward.
“We knew that we were the underdogs,” Tigney said. “There were some people in our hometown that didn’t think we’d do as good as we did. We proved them wrong.
“Even though we lost, I think we competed well. I still think we should have come out with the win, but coming from this game I think that we’re a team that other teams should be scared of.”
“We’re a resilient group,” Wise added. “It’s not bad that we lost. It’s just going to give us more fire and motivation to win.”
Dominic Peterson added 15 points for the Raiders, and Nick Ball had 10. Loudoun Valley made 23 of 42 field goals while Handley made 18 of 44.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1
- By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI | The Winchester Star
In front of an electric crowd that packed every inch of Loudoun Valley’s 950-person capacity bleachers, the Raiders denied Handley its first regional title since 2014 by pulling out a scintillating 64-63 win Friday in the 4A West Region championship game.
Raiders junior guard Jordan Miller knocked down the tying and go-ahead free throws with 3.4 seconds left moments after it appeared he might have gotten away with a travel to make it 64-63. Handley junior Kobe Tigney’s rushed 3-pointer then went off the mark as the buzzer sounded to keep Loudoun Valley undefeated at home since 2014 and end the Judges’ winning streak at 21.
Handley junior forward Gus Wise — who was as big a reason as any for giving the Judges a chance to win by scoring 13 of his 15 points in the second half — admitted he did contact Miller on his late drive to the basket, which ended with Miller throwing up a wild shot as he fell to the ground.
But Wise and the Handley faithful thought the whistle could have been called before that contact.
“I touched him, but it looked like a travel to me,” said Wise, whose 3-pointer with 4:14 left gave Handley its first lead since the 5:40 mark of the first quarter and set the stage for a back-and-forth affair. “But in that type of situation it could go either way. This game could have gone either way, and it went their way tonight.”
As a result, the Judges (25-2) — who questioned more than just that call in the final two minutes — will take on Hanover in next Friday’s Group 4A state quarterfinals at the Salem Civic Center.
The third seed from the East, Hanover defeated defending state champion Monacan 82-71 Friday night in the 4A East Region third-place game. Loudoun Valley (26-1) will take on Monacan at 6 p.m, in another quarterfinal next Friday.
Regardless of how he got to the line, Miller’s free throws with 3.4 seconds left capped a game in which the Conference 21 East Player of the Year came up huge in the second half.
Miller scored 15 of his game-high 19 points after halftime. The 6-foot-4 Miller made several impressive drives to the basket that resulted in baskets and free-throw opportunities, but the situation he faced with 3.4 seconds could have been suffocating. It was Miller who missed two free throws with two-tenths of a second remaining in last year’s 57-55 Group 4A state quarterfinal loss to Monacan.
“That was going through my mind today,” said Miller, who had to make the second free throw after Handley called timeout following the first. “I was like, I’ve got to make them not just for me, but for my teammates.’”
Loudoun Valley coach Chad Dawson — a Handley assistant coach from 1998-2000 — said Miller told his teammates during the timeout, “I’m not missing this [free throw].”
“That’s kind of been his mission all year, stepping up big in big games,” Dawson said. “He’s a very special player.”
It was almost another special comeback for the Judges, who knocked down 21 of 22 free throws to give themselves a chance.
Handley rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat George-Washington-Danville in Wednesday’s semifinals 62-58. On Friday, Handley (3-of-17 shooting in the first quarter) trailed 22-10 at the 7:31 mark of the second quarter and 54-48 with 5:39 left in the game.
But Handley then went on a 9-0 run to send the sizable Judges’ fan contingent into a frenzy. (There were likely some others who tried to get in. Loudoun Valley shut the doors 40 minutes before game time when there were at least 100 fans in line.)
After Michael Brown (nine points) scored four straight points, Brown fed the ball to Wise in the right corner for a 3-pointer to put Handley up 55-54, then Wise scored again by contorting his body for a bank shot on the left side of the floor to make it 57-54 Judges, prompting a Raiders timeout with 3:29 left.
Loudoun Valley fought back though, and with 1:42 left Miller made both of his free throws to make it 61-61.
With a chance to take the lead, the Judges lost control of the ball, and it went toward the left sideline in the front court. A Raiders’ player slid and grabbed the ball, and then quickly tried to throw the ball off a Judges’ player.
It was hard to say who the ball went off of before it went out-of-bounds, but when the officials came together one determined that Loudoun Valley had actually called timeout while the player on the floor had the ball. The Raiders were given the ball with 1:24 left.
“One official was calling out-of-bounds though he didn’t know who knocked it out of bounds,” Handley coach Jason Toton said. “The other ref overrode him and said [Loudoun Valley] had possession and called timeout. It was a big possession.”
Loudoun Valley’s Duron Norris hit one of two free throws with 51 seconds left to put the Raiders up 62-61, but Kevin Curry put back his own miss after driving to the hoop to make it 63-62 Handley with 40 seconds left.
The Raiders then decided to hold for the final shot. Miller almost turned the ball over when he tried to pass inside with 9.7 seconds left, with the ball being batted around twice before going out-of-bounds to the Raiders. But Miller got the ball back on the inbounds, and the refs called a foul after he started his drive from the top of the key.
After Miller made his free throws, Wise inbounded to Brown, who was able to get the ball to Tigney about 10 feet beyond the arc on the left of the floor. But with a Raider player flying at him, Tigney could only hit the left side of the backboard.
Toton said the Judges had plenty to feel good about despite the loss, though he added they have things to work on, too.
“I told the guys to keep your head high,” Toton said. “We live for another day.
“But we can’t let it get to a one-possession game. We didn’t do some things throughout the game, especially the first quarter. We gave them too many second-chance opportunities. Against good teams, if you want to win championships, you can’t do that. We’ve got to learn from our mistakes, box out, and do things right early on so it’s not that close at the end.”
The Judges’ efforts were also hurt by foul trouble. Ra’Shaad Morris — who had a strong first half and finished with eight points and four rebounds — wound up sitting the last 13:22 of the game with four fouls. After picking up his third foul with 5:22 left in the third quarter, he fouled Miller as soon as Miller caught the inbounds pass, denying Handley a key post player.
Tigney said the Judges have reason to feel good about themselves going forward.
“We knew that we were the underdogs,” Tigney said. “There were some people in our hometown that didn’t think we’d do as good as we did. We proved them wrong.
“Even though we lost, I think we competed well. I still think we should have come out with the win, but coming from this game I think that we’re a team that other teams should be scared of.”
“We’re a resilient group,” Wise added. “It’s not bad that we lost. It’s just going to give us more fire and motivation to win.”
Dominic Peterson added 15 points for the Raiders, and Nick Ball had 10. Loudoun Valley made 23 of 42 field goals while Handley made 18 of 44.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1
Smithfield is good but not overwhelming. GW has a great chance to advance. Smithfield has had an awesome streak of buzzer beaters lately so maybe the universe is on their side this year. I'd say GW advances though
GW has to play a full 32 minutes and do what they did against Franklin Co and Martinsville if they want to win. I wish they had brought at least 2 JV guys up as it would've helped.
