Sports
Spartans Stumble While Falcons Fly
Both Briar Woods' teams advance to semifinals while Broad Run loses.
Anyone who thought they heard thunder in Ashburn Monday night, likely were hearing the shockwave reverberating across the Dulles District after the second-seeded Broad Run boys basketball team lost in stunning fashion to Woodgrove 69-67 in the opening round of the district playoffs. The loss compounded an already tough night for Broad Run, as the lower-seeded Lady Spartans fell to Potomac Falls 36-30.
Across town the results were much better for Briar Woods, as both Falcons teams advanced to Wednesday's semifinal round.
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Broad Run
Despite 28 points from Nigel Johnson, the Spartan boys could not hold off Woodgrove's dizzying 3-point barrage in the game's final minutes that vaulted the seventh-seeded Wolverines over the host Spartans.
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The team led by 9 points at halftime and seemed to have the game in hand with a 61-53 lead with 4:07 left in the game. But a volley of 3-pointers by Woodgrove, including a pair from sharp shooting Brett Danielson, quickly turned the Wolverine deficit into a 62-61 lead. After that, the Wolverines answered every attempt by the Spartans to recapture the lead.
Nigel Johnson's driving 2-pointer was followed by a Woodgrove free throw to tie the score at 63. Then, a 3-pointer by Johnson was matched by a 3-point play from Woodgrove's Brad Gilson. The Spartans would take their final lead of the game at 67-66 on Tyler Jasper's free throw, but Gilson struck again with a fading jumper that proved to be the game's winning bucket. The Spartans had several chances in the game's final minute to reclaim the lead, but the Wolverine defense held strong forcing a Spartan turnover and two tough misses by Johnson.
Despite the loss, the Spartans should advance to the regional playoffs based on a 19-4 overall record and second-place finish in the regular season district schedule (Check out the video of Coach Costello's postgame comments). But the Spartans' hopes for home-court advantage likely vanished Monday night, and an away game against nemesis Potomac Falls could be their fate in the opening round of regionals.
Briar Woods
On the other side of Ashburn, Briar Woods had a much more successful evening, as both the boys and girls teams captured victories in the home double-header. For the boys, junior guard Myles Tate scored 17-points and led the Falcons to a 48-39 victory over the visiting Freedom Eagles.
It was a collective achievement for the team as the Falcons were able to execute an excellent game plan. Even ball distribution and an attacking defense allowed the Falcons to maintain control of the game throughout the second half.
Junior guard Corey Faciane hit a couple of big 3-pointers and provided the Falcons with 8 points in all. Sophomore forward Matt Rolin dominated the paint, scoring a big dunk in transition to spark a momentum shift. Rolin ended the game with 8 points. Junior guard Yves Kouame and senior forward Curtis Calder combined for 10 points. In the end, the Falcons’ team effort was too much for the Eagles.
The Lady Falcons also advanced with a 65-53 win over Park View. The Falcons exploded out of the gates to grab a 12-point lead by the end of the first quarter, and maintained a double-digit lead for most of the game. Brittany Gilbert and Logan Ballard paced the Falcons on offense and defense, combining for 34 points and 15 steals. Jillian Olson, Ashley O'Neill and Lauren Moore chipped in with 7 points each.
The Briar Woods teams now advance to Wednesday's district semifinals. The boys host the upstart Woodgrove Wolverines, while the girls travel to top-seeded Loudoun County.
Good luck to all Ashburn's teams!
[Correction: A previous version of this story identified the wrong Woodgrove player – Brad Gilson was identified as Stephen Root. We apologize for the error.]
