Gameday Notebook: Reynolds Big East's ROY
Freshman guard Scottie Reynolds (Courtesy Villanova athletics)
Reynolds Big East's Top Rookie
Villanova freshman guard Scottie Reynolds, the area's first McDonald's All-American since 1993 after leading Herndon to the Group AAA state championship game last year, was named the Big East Conference rookie of the year on Tuesday.
Reynolds, who entered the Wildcats' (21-9 overall, 9-7 Big East) match-up with DePaul (18-12, 9-7) in the first round of the conference tournament on Wednesday averaging 14.1 points and 4.1 assists, was the first Villanova player to earn the honor since 1997, when current Los Angeles Clippers forward Tim Thomas won the award.
After struggling early on, Reynolds took off over the past couple of years and entered the Big East Tournament averaging 18.4 points in league play, the second-highest average in the conference. On Feb. 28, he had 40 points, the most by a Big East player and the highest total in the country by a freshman this season, in a win at Connecticut.
At Herndon, Reynolds graduated as the seventh-highest scorer in state history, leading the Hornets to a 26-5 record and the school's first Northern Region title while averaging 28.4 points, 4.5 assists and 4.0 steals per game as a senior. He was the Northern Region's player of the year three times, and twice earned All-Met honors by The Washington Post.
Thomas, Cougars Set For State Semifinals
Oakton senior guard Jasmine Thomas, who last week earned her fourth straight Group AAA Northern Region player of the year award, had a triple-double in a 68-49 win over Northwest Region champion Stonewall Jackson in last week's state quarterfinals.
The Cougars (27-2 overall) will meet Eastern Region champion Hampton (28-2) in the state semifinals on Wednesday afternoon at the Siegel Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Edison (29-1), the Northern Region champions, will meet Heritage-Newport News in the other semifinal on Wednesday.
Thomas, who has signed to play at Duke, had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the Cougars' quarterfinal victory.
Panthers' Biber, Spartans' Campbell Named All-Region
Potomac Falls senior point guard Ben Biber was named as a first team selection to the Group AA All-Region II boys basketball team, and Broad Run's Alexis Campbell was a second-team selection to the girls team by the region's coaches.
Biber averaged 13.2 points as the Panthers went 18-7 and won the Dulles District's regular season title, advancing to the regional tournament before falling to Handley in the quarterfinals.
Biber was joined on the first team by Orange County's Brad Starks, the region player of the year, as well as Handley's Chad Moore, Rockbridge County's Marcus Mayo and Waynesboro's Todd Phillips.
Campbell, meanwhile, was the district's player of the year and led the Spartans to the regional semifinals and a 21-6 record, with four of their losses coming to Group AAA schools.
