Titans Hasten Lake Braddock's Exit 50 - 37
FAIRFX, VA - It was a battle between 2 Patriot District foes Friday night at the George Mason Patriot Center, as top ranked T.C. Williams (24-3) faced off against Lake Braddock (17-8), for the 4th time on the season, but this time for the right to go to the Northern Region tournament championship game, against the Langley Saxons.
The first quarter proved to be the Travis Berry (6 pts 1st half) and Edward Jenkins (13 pts 1st half) show for the Titans as they cruised to a 12-6 first quarter lead. The Titans seemed to be converting shot after shot while the Bruins struggled to get their offense going.
In the second quarter, Lake Braddock used a familiar tactic to try and offset the Titans offense. The Bruins attempted to hold the ball and milk the clock on offense in order to keep the high scoring Titans off the board. The tactic was semi successful as T.C. Williams only put eight points on the board. Unfortunately, the Bruins offense wasn't exactly sparking, as they only added five points to make it 20-11 at the half. Dominic Morra led the first half charge for the Bruins with six points.
As the second half began it appeared that the Bruins were abandoning their time conservation tactic. Morra played inspired basketball in the third quarter. It was his dominating play that kept the Bruins within striking distance. However Anthony Winbush and Jenkins never let up making it a 31-24 T.C. Williams lead at the end of the stanza.
In the final quarter, it seemed that T.C. Williams was matching the Bruins point for point and more. Morra continued to play his heart out for Lake Braddock, putting up 16 points on the night, but wasn't receiving a whole lot of help from his teammates. The Titans received key scoring contributions from Winbush (12 points), Berry (10 points) and Jenkins leading the way with (18 points). Foul trouble seemed to melt away any chance that the Bruins had for a comeback as the Titans advanced to the Northern Region Championship with a 50-37 4th triumph over the Bruins.
