Gameday Notebook: Hall Steps Down
Stone Bridge's Marianne Bell was a first-team all-region pick.
Herndon's Hall Steps Down
Herndon boys basketball coach Gary Hall, who in 18 seasons at the school built one of the top Group AAA programs in the state of Virginia, announced on Thursday that he would be resigning to spend more time with his family.
Hall, 46, compiled a 319-146 (.686) record with the Hornets, winning six district championships and the 2006 Northern Region title. He coached Herndon to 20-win seasons in four of the past five years, and a year ago guided a Scottie Reynolds-led team to the state final, where they fell to Booker T. Washington. Over the past five seasons, the Hornets have gone 111-23 (.828) and won three district titles.
This year, the Hornets went 21-3, winning the Concorde District crown and a first-round regional game against Madison before having their season ended with a quarterfinal loss to Wakefield on Tuesday.
Hall's resignation comes just three days after South Lakes coach Wendell Byrd, his former mentor and longtime coaching rival, had his 23-year tenure ended with a first-round loss to Westfield in the regional tournament. The two coaches, who were on the same staff at South Lakes during the Grant Hill era in the late 1980s, combined for 760 career victories and will forever be linked by the heated rivalry that existed between the two schools through the 1990s and the early part of this decade when they were in the same district.
Hall-led Hornets teams won three consecutive district titles from 1994-96 behind the likes of Randy Dodson (East Tennessee State), Brandon Richardson (St. Francis), Jeremiah Johnson (Niagara) and John Pugh (Fordham), then experienced its success over the past half-decade with Reynolds (Villanova), Ricky Lucas (George Washington), Brad Farrell (Loyola) and senior Danny Jones as the lead characters.
Hall said he would like to spend more time with his twin daughters, Morgan and Ashley, who played junior varsity basketball as freshmen at Briar Woods this past winter.
Thomas Leads Oakton To Region Final
Oakton senior guard Jasmine Thomas, who won her fourth Group AAA Northern Region player of the year award this week, scored 33 points in the Cougars' 56-45 victory over Marshall in the region semifinals on Thursday night. The win advances Oakton to Saturday's region final, where it will face defending region champion Edison.
Thomas, who averages 26.0 points per game and has signed to play at top-ranked Duke University next season, has accounted for 51 percent of the Cougars' scoring (140 of 275 points) in their five postseason games. In Tuesday's 46-34 quarterfinal victory over Lee-Springfield, she passed former Madison standout Katie Smrcka-Duffy as the region's all-time leading scorer.
Oakton (26-1 overall), which has won 16 straight since its lone loss of the season to Princess Anne, will meet the Eagles (27-1) - which are led by all-state junior Doreena Campbell - at 6 p.m. on Saturday at George Mason University's Patriot Center.
Thomas and Campbell were joined on the all-region first team by Stone Bridge senior Marianne Bell, Robinson senior Caitlin Henry, Oakton senior Ashley Abed, Marshall senior Nicole Harrison, Edison junior Adria Crawford, Lee-Springfield junior Jay Babineaux, Lee-Springfield sophomore Kristine Mial and T.C. Williams sophomore Tierra Ruffin-Pratt.
Spartans Girls Advance to Region Semifinals
The Broad Run girls basketball team will face the state's top-ranked team, undefeated Turner Ashby, in the Group AA Region II semifinals at James Madison University's Convocation Center on Friday night.
The Spartans (21-5 overall) outscored Fluvanna, 16-4, in the fourth quarter en route to a 43-34 quarterfinal victory in Ashburn on Wednesday. Turner Ashby (26-0), the Valley District champions, defeated Brentsville District on Wednesday to advance to Friday's semifinals.
The Park View girls, meanwhile, had their season ended with an 83-68 loss at Charlottesville in the regional quarterfinals on Wednesday.
