Northern Region Basketball - Upset Monday!
STERLING, VA - What in the world is going on in Northern Region basketball??? What has been touted most of the season as being one of the toughest regions in high school basketball in the state, it took one night to bring that all crashing down!
In the Boy's bracket, 2 of the top 3 seeds fell, ending their seemingly successful seasons, and some probable exciting semi-final, and final, matchups! The #1 seed, TC Williams Titans, handled their business, but the #2 seed Westfield Bulldogs and #3 seed Chantilly Chargers, stumbled out of the blocks, and lost their games, ending their seasons. This is especially disappointing, as a possible TC Williams vs Westfield semi-final game was heavily anticipated. Even more vexing is\was the possible final game set-up of a Westfield-Chantilly IV in the final! All for naught, now! The Bulldogs fell in overtime, to the Lake Braddock Bruins, 43-38, while Chantilly dropped a close one to the Annandale Atoms, 83-79!
On the Girl's side...life wasn't much better for top seeds here! The shocker of the season... the #1, and undefeated, TC Williams Lady Titans' season came to a crashing halt, as they were upset by the #16 seed Robinson Rams, 58-45! Heartbreaking for Titan fans, and especially wrenching for star guard, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, as she had to watch her team's demise from the bench, after suffering a separated shoulder in the Patriot District tournament. This ends a run that many thought would end in a state title for these ladies. Would this open up the door for the #2 seed Oakton Lady Cougars! Nope! They, too, felt the agony of defeat, and a premature end to their glorious season, as they fell to Annandale, 47-41. Upsets were aplenty on the night in this 1st round bracket, as Centreville was upended by West Springfield, 54-46, and #5 Langley fell to Yorktown, in overtime, 52-49.
This may not appear, now, to be a very exciting tournament, for both the Boys and Girls, but you may want to analyze this a bit further! With all the upsets from Monday night, this can only mean one thing... Anything could happen, and probably will, as this tournament rolls on! This journalist will now scrutinize these early rounds a bit more intent, and will expect the unexpected, until the final buzzer sounds Saturday night!
Tonight's 2nd Round pairings is as follows: (Home team listed first)
Boys
TC Williams vs Woodson
Mt. Vernon vs Lake Braddock
Langley vs West Potomac
Annandale vs Madison
Girls
Yorktown vs Robinson
Woodson vs Annandale
Madison vs West Springfield
Edison vs RE Lee
The semi-finals and finals will all be played at the George Mason Patriot Center Thursday-Saturday, and Gameday Radio will be there to bring you all the exciting games! Stay tuned to Gamedaymagazine.com for updates and scores!
