Leesburg Honda Tournament Wrap-Up
ASHBURN, VA - Wednesday's action at the Leesburg Honda Holiday Basketball Tournament at Stone Bridge didn't prove climactic, with champions being decided by a Round Robin format instead of an actual bracket format with a Championship Game, but the play on the court was satisfactory all the same. The Stone Bridge girls and the Broad Run boys both came in having won both of their first contests, and needed only a win on the final day of competition to clinch the Tournament Crown.
In the way of both teams were the Dominion Titans, with the Stone Bridge girls up first. For the first few minutes of play, only a handful of points were scored, and speculation was rampant over how much of a fight the Titans would put up. Outstanding play by Cori Prince and the Lady Bulldogs would put that speculation to rest, taking the lead in the first period, and heading into the half up 21-13.
Imanni Smith came out firing for the Titans in the second, having racked up 4 points and 7 rebounds in the first half, the sophomore forward shouldered the load and earned Best Buy Player of the Game honors, along with Maggie Schierling of the Bulldogs, compiling 6 points and 7 rebounds, but controlling the pace of the game, and leading her team to a 20 point victory, 44-24. Stone Bridge, with the win, went undefeated in the tournament, and earned the Leesburg Holiday Invitiational crown.
On the boys' side of things, Broad Run looked to upend Dominion on their way to a perfect 3-0 in the tourney, but just as in the girls' game, the Titans would not go down without a fight, taking a lead early and holding it midway through the 2nd period. Broad Run, lead by the outstanding play of Ben Mcgaughey, took their first lead of the ballgame midway through the 2nd on a Dada Johnson free throw, and never looked back.
Heading into the half the Spartans held a 10 point lead, with Dominion holding out hope thanks in part to the stellar play of Reaves, who dropped 19 points in the opening half, and carried the Titans on his back. The second half would not prove as kind to the junior guard. Broad Run clamped down on defense, and held Reaves to just 3 points, finishing with 22 on the day.
Dominion's defense would not follow suit, allowing 54 points to put the Spartans up 96-65 on their way to a Tournament title. McGaughey lead the way in the 2nd half, compiling 24 points and 7 rebounds, and earned Best Buy Player of the Game honors.
BEST BUY PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
GAME ONE:
STONE BRIDGE:
#21 Maggie Schierling: Though the stats didn't show her as the leading scorer, the senior forward controlled the pace of the game, and lead the way for the Bulldogs to a tournament victory.
DOMINION:
#23 Immani Smith: Smith was asked to shoulder the load for the Titans in the second half, having a hand in most of the plays, and going to the line for the majority of Dominion's free throws.
GAME TWO:
BROAD RUN:
#25 Ben McGaughey: McGaughey turned on the afterburners in the second half and lead the Spartans to victory in grand fashion. Broad Run wins the tournament and rounds out a great year in true Spartan form.
DOMINION:
#10 Brendan Lidral-Porter: Lidral-Porter wins this award for his scrappy play, and all-around stats. There were several instances throughout the contest, though, where Lidral-Porter would tap a rebound while it was still careening off the rim, showing an almost freakish vertical leap, and out-jumping all others on the floor.
