Cougars, Spartans Fail In Region Title Bids
Edison's Doreena Campbell
Edison Too Much For Cougars In Final
Fairfax, VA - Despite building a 28-22 halftime advantage and getting 25 points from four-time Northern Region player of the year and Duke-bound Jasmine Thomas, the Oakton girls basketball team were unable to keep Edison from winning its second straight region title, dropping a 60-59 decision in overtime to the Eagles on Saturday at the Patriot Center.
Free throws proved to be decisive down the stretch, as Oakton's Jackie Shewmaker missed back-to-back attempts with 0.1 seconds remaining after Edison's Tia Spaulding hit both of her attempts to give the Eagles their one-point advantage with 5.9 seconds to play.
Edison (28-1 overall), which was paced by 19 points from all-state guard and UCLA-bound Doreena Campbell and Chasity Clayton, will host Northwest Region runner-up Forest Park (21-6) in the Group AAA state quarterfinals at Robinson Secondary at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The Cougars (26-2), meanwhile, will travel to face Northwest Region champion Stonewall Jackson (21-5) at Osbourn High in Manassas at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
In Saturday's other girls quarterfinal match-ups, Eastern Region runner-up Heritage-Newport News (21-7) will face Central Region champion L.C. Bird (26-3) at Hanover High at 6 p.m. and Central Region runner-up Mills Godwin (26-3) will meet Eastern Region champion Hampton (27-2) at Churchland High at 6 p.m.
The T.C. Williams boys basketball team, which defeated Wakefield, 75-65, to improve to 25-3 on the season in Saturday's Northern Region final at the Patriot Center, will host Northwest Region runner-up Freedom-Woodbridge (20-5) at Robinson Secondary at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Warriors (23-5), which are making their second state tournament appearance in three years, will travel to face Northwest Region champion George Washington-Danville (24-3) at Averett University at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
In Saturday's other boys quarterfinals, Eastern Region runner-up Nansemond River (25-2) will play Central Region champion Highland Springs (25-2) at 7:30 p.m. at Hanover High, and Central Region runner-up Petersburg (23-5) will face Eastern Region champion Booker T. Washington (20-7), the defending state champion, at 7:30 p.m. at Churchland High.
The Group AAA semifinals will be held next Wednesday at the Siegel Center in Richmond, with the girls and boys finals scheduled for 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively, next Saturday, also at the Siegel Center.
Spartans Fall In Region Semifinals
Harrisonburg, VA - The Broad Run girls basketball team had its season ended in the Group AA Region II semifinals by Turner Ashby, the state's top-ranked team, on Friday night at James Madison University.
Alexis Campbell, the Dulles District player of the year, scored a team-high 13 points for the Spartans, which had their season end with a 21-6 record. The Knights, which suffered their first loss of the season in Monday's region final against Charlottesville, were paced by a combined 36 points from Jordan and Kirby Buckholder in the win over Broad Run.
