Herndon Looks to Rebound Against Wildcats
Gary Hall's Hornets are 13-2 this season.
Centreville, VA - Two days after having a 31-game winning streak against Northern Region opponents snapped in a 63-60 loss at Edison, the Herndon boys basketball will look to get back on track at Centreville tonight in the TCC Sports Game of the Week.
The Hornets (13-2 overall, 7-0 Concorde District) were hurt by some poor outside shooting and foul trouble to leading-scorer Danny Jones in Wednesday's loss, a setback that snapped a seven-game winning streak. The 6-foot-6-inch Jones, who was held to two points in the loss - 15 below his season average - will be matched tonight against Centreville's Quantrell Simmons, a 6-foot-6 senior center who enters the game averaging 17.0 points and is 10 days removed from a 32-point outburst against Oakton.
In the schools' earlier meeting, a 74-44 Herndon victory at home on Jan. 2, Jones outscored Simmons, 19-10, and the Hornets held Centreville to 20 second-half points as they bounced back after their first loss of the season against Notre Dame Academy.
Herndon's three starting guards - seniors Richard Gore, C.J. Glen and Matt Seeger - account for 34.2 points per contest, and will be looked upon by Hornets coach Gary Hall to take the scoring pressure off of Jones.
The Wildcats (7-9, 1-7) have struggled since opening the season 4-1, dropping four straight overall and eight of their last 11. Centreville's other options on the offensive end include 6-foot-4 senior forward Mitchell Dudley (11.8) and junior guard Ryan Farrar (11.2).
The game pits the Concorde District's highest-scoring offense (Herndon averages 68.7 per contest) against the district's worst scoring defense (Centreville allows 66.8). So for the Wildcats to have a chance, they will likely have to keep the game in the 50s.
