BOYS BASKETBALL POWER POLL - Tourney Ed.
Chantilly's John Manning helped his Chargers take away the Concorde tournament crown for the 1st time in many years. Chantilly remains #1 in this week's Poll.
Photo by Marc Gold \ Gameday Magazine
Edward Jenkins and the TC Williams Titans still chase the Chantilly Chargers in our Power Poll, but a possible showdown for the Northern Region title looms, and could change the order...
Photo By Gary Black for use by Gameday Magazine
The Hylton Bulldogs survived this week's district tournament wars by taking the Cardinal crown away from Gar-Field. Dominique Major and Scotty Hagmann will try and help the Bulldogs garner a Northwest Region title, and a berth into the state championships.
STERLING, VA - Okay, so all the district tournaments are over and now it's onto the real deal: the regional playoffs. No more of this lose and still play another day puffball stuff. Well, okay yes, the top two teams from each regional tournament advance to states, but that's quite a small percentage of the teams involved.
But before we talk about regionals, what did we learn from the district playoffs? For starters, it's that the top teams are the real deal. And from a fans perspective, it means the tournaments were all fairly boring. We don't mean that the games weren't exciting, but they were devoid of any major upsets.
Of the eight area districts, the top seeds won five times, the two seed winning twice and the third seed winning once. Pretty indicative from our vantage point that the teams that sit at the top are in fact as good as advertized.
We were waiting for a major upset to happen, but it just never materialized. The biggest upset was likely McLean besting South Lakes, but seeing as that happened in the Liberty District, is that even all that surprising? I mean, Twilight Zone doesn't even begin to cover what goes on in that district.
So with all of this in mind, what can we expect this week? Well, it's that Chantilly, T.C. Williams and Mount Vernon should be heavy favorites to reach the Final Four in the Northern Region. Fauquier, Hylton and Gar-Field can each make it to states and win the Northwest Region. And finally, it's that Dominion, Handley and Broad Run all have an equal claim to a championship in Region II.
Any other team not listed above we just don't expect to make a championship run mainly because the teams above them are really that good. The upsets to the top teams never happened in the district tournaments and we're not too sure a lot of them will happen this week, but we've been wrong in the past!
1. CHANTILLY (22-1)
Previous: 1
Last Week: 82-61 win over Centreville; 67-46 win over Westfield
This Week: vs. Yorktown (2/23)
Over the past couple of weeks, it's been pretty scary to see what Chantilly is capable of. They've won by significant margins twice over #8 Westfield, while also blowing out the likes of Centreville and Falls Church. Any doubts some people have had about this team come tournament time are quickly fading, and for good reason. They'll be going against Yorktown this week, but things get much tougher from there where they could potentially face #7 Hayfield in the second round.
2. T.C. WILLIAMS (23-2)
Previous: 2
Last Week: 82-50 win over South County; 77-71 (OT) win over Lee; 76-57 win over Annandale
This Week: vs. McLean (2/23)
The Titans' dominance of the Patriot District continues as they just wrapped up this past week with yet another Patriot District title. They're still behind Chantilly in the Power Poll, but both teams are pretty interchangeable at this point. What everyone around the region has to be looking forward to at this point is a potential championship meeting between T.C. and Chantilly. Regarded as the two best teams in the entire area for the majority of the year, a meeting between the two in the championship would be a fitting end to the basketball season.
3. MOUNT VERNON (19-4)
Previous: 3
Last Week: 64-55 win over Yorktown; 55-50 win over Stuart
This Week: vs. Centreville (2/23)
Make that now 17 straight victories for Mount Vernon as they continue to make a legitimate claim as the Northern Region's best team. What's fairly incredible about this team is no one is talking about them too seriously. While all the talk has been dominated around the likes of Chantilly and T.C., the Majors have seemingly crept under the radar. They should be a favorite to reach the region Final Four, but have proven they have what it takes to win it all.
4. HYLTON (19-5)
Previous: 4
Last Week: 51-49 loss to #6 Gar-Field; 55-50 (OT) win over Woodbridge; 71-63 win over #6 Gar-Field
This Week: at #5 Fauquier (2/24)
Well, Hylton didn't win the Cardinal District, but they did end up winning the district tournament. Problem is, they still lose out on the district title and the number one seed, meaning they have to travel out to face #5 Fauquier in the opening round of the Northwest Region tournament. Looking at the body of work this team has done throughout the year, there still shouldn't be any doubt this team can a region title, but the road to success will certainly be a tough one to travel on.
5. FAUQUIER (21-3)
Previous: 5
Last Week: 67-36 win over Culpeper; 66-54 win over Loudoun Valley; 57-50 win over Battlefield
This Week: vs. #4 Hylton (2/24)
Right now, there isn't a team in the entire Northwest Region that is looking forward to playing Fauquier. They just went through the Cedar Run district tournament with relative ease, and have now won 12 straight games. In addition to that, their three losses have all come in overtime. Now, with that being said, they drew one of the region's best teams in Hylton who are coming off of a Cardinal District tournament championship, so Fauquier certainly has their work cut out for them if they wish to make a title run.
6. GAR-FIELD (16-9)
Previous: 9
Last Week: 51-49 win over #4 Hylton; 37-34 win over Potomac; 71-63 loss to #4 Hylton
This Week: vs. Battlefield
What seemed impossible in early January was made into a reality last week when Gar-Field won the Cardinal District with a 51-49 win over #4 Hylton. Despite losing in the district tournament, they still get the number one seed, which gives them a somewhat favorable matchup against Battlefield. Over the past month, this is a team that proven they can play with the best, making them an instant region title contender. However, whether their hot streak can continue is another question.
7. HAYFIELD (18-6)
Previous: 6
Last Week: 58-34 win over West Potomac; 76-74 loss to Annandale
This Week: at Woodson
Hayfield was one of several teams that fell victim to an upset in district tournament action this past week, causing them to drop back a spot in the Power Poll. Yet they're still in relatively good standing, but now they draw a tough team in Woodson for the first round and could potentially face #1 Chantilly in the next round. Yet despite an early loss in the district tournament last week, this team still has to be regarded as one of the best in the Northern Region.
8. WESTFIELD (19-5)
Previous: 7
Last Week: 67-56 win over Fairfax; 59-56 win over Herndon; 67-46 loss to #1 Chantilly
This Week: vs. Wakefield
Westfield has to be thrilled that they won't be facing Chantilly this week. They're 0-3 on the year against the Chargers and each loss has gotten worse and worse, making their ranking in the Power Poll lower and lower. This week they come in at number eight and have a fairly tough draw against Wakefield, a team that has had relative luck in the region tournament. Yet don't let the recent losses fool you, this is still a darn good basketball team and if it weren't for bad breaks against Herndon and Westfield, they could easily be 21-3. To sell them short would likely be a big mistake.
9. DOMINION (19-6)
Previous: 8
Last Week: 57-46 win over Freedom-South Riding; 50-44 win over Park View; 74-67 loss to Broad Run
This Week: vs. William Monroe/Western Albemarle (2/26)
Over the course of the year, Dominion has managed to lose three times to district opponents and two of those losses have come to Broad Run and the last one had to hurt the most. Faced with an opportunity to win the Dulles District championship, they were instead turned back by Broad Run, causing them to drop one spot in the Power Poll. They have a bye in the Division 3 Region II tournament this week, which has separated into divisions for the first time in VHSL history, with Division 3 being designated for schools with smaller enrollments. Yet playing down a division doesn't exactly mean they'll have an easier ride to a title, because if anything the road to a title is much harder than in Division 4 as they'll have to go through #10 Handley, Western Albemarle and defending champ Millbrook.
10. HANDLEY (20-3)
Previous: NR
Last Week: 79-49 win over Central; 64-54 win over Millbrook
This Week: vs. Skyline/Millbrook (2/26)
In what's growing into a fairly intense rivalry with neighboring Millbrook, the Judges are the ones getting the last laugh, well, for now at least. That's because just last week, they beat back Millbrook in the Northwestern District tournament championship game, which gets them back into the Power Poll. In the process, they also wrapped up the number one seed in the Division 3 Region II tournament, but as fate would have it, they could potentially face the Pioneers for the fourth time this year. And it goes without saying that a win then would pretty much give the Handley faithful bragging rights in Winchester for quite a while.
HONORABLE MENTION:
11. Stuart (17-6): Stuart did a good job of slapping around Wakefield and Edison, but didn't have enough for #3 Mount Vernon, causing them to drop out of the Power Poll for the first time this year.
12. Langley (19-6): And here comes Langley! Resembling more and more last year's team that made a run to the state tournament, the Saxons won the Liberty District championship over Woodson in convincing fashion, making them a scary team to face in the coming weeks.
13. Battlefield (16-8): Battlefield lost out again to Fauquier, but aside from the Falcons, they've managed to get by everyone else. However, the Bobcats have a relatively tough draw against Gar-Field.
14. Woodson (16-9): Woodson fell to a hot Langley team in the Liberty District tournament and now must go up against #7 Hayfield on Monday, which is not an easy assignment in the least bit.
15. Broad Run (20-5): With an upset over Dominion, the Spartans are looking more and more like a solid region contender. They just locked up a bye in the Division 4 Region II tournament, and with Region II splitting into divisions, the road a title is looking a lot more plausible.
