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Bobcats' cloying zone defense rebuffs Eagles, 54-50, in first place showdown
Two thrilling triple overtime wins last weekend left the Liberty boys basketball team battle-tested.
But could they pass their Battlefield test?
The answer, unfortunately for Liberty faithful came Tuesday night, when the Eagles, flat from the opening tip, lost to Cedar Run District leader Battlefield, 54-50, in Bealeton.
To make a long story short, the Eagles couldn't score against the Bobcats' oppressive zone, fell behind by 18 points, eventually came back to take a one-point lead, only to see some frustrating plays go against them in the last minute.
A win would have propelled Liberty (6-5 overall, 4-2 district) into first place. Now Battlefield — which improved to 6-0 in the district after a Wednesday win over Osbourn — sits in the catbird seat, with a comfortable lead over FHS (9-5, 6-2) and LHS.
Bobcat coach Al Ford was naturally pleased in the giddy moments after the final buzzer sounded, but isn't ready to pop the champagne. “We're not even halfway through the district season,” emphasized Ford.
When it was noted that his streaking team now owns victories over top contenders Fauquier and Liberty, Ford pointed out, “We haven't seen Loudoun Valley yet, and we hear they match up well with us.”
Battlefield actually did make a rash of turnovers down the stretch and still has some kinks to iron out, but no one can disagree the Bobcats are setting the standard for consistency and high performance in the district.
Just like last year, the Bobcats feature a stifling matchup zone defense that makes completing any pass anywhere inside 25 feet of the basket difficult. Plus, the Bobcats guard the lane like Fort Knox. And shooting over that zone is is no picnic because the Bobcats are huge, with a lineup of 6-foot-6 Bo Revell, 6-5 Tim Horn and 6-4 Dion Romeo.
Liberty needed almost seven minutes to score their first points Tuesday: Shy Jones finally got his Eagles on the board with a floating shot in the lane with 1:20 left in the first quarter.
Repeated turnovers put Liberty in a 13-2 hole, and it would only get worse as the Bobcat lead grew to 22-4 thanks to some spunky contributions from sixth man Marty Dawson...
See the Friday print edition of the Fauquier Weekend for the complete story.
Does Fauquier High School Boys Basketball ever get sny positive press from you guys? Or any at press at all?
You did a great job profiling the private schools players but when it came to the public schools you didn't do it for any them? All we saw was an article on Jimmy Hargro. Give the seniors (or top players since KR has no seniors) at these schools some respect!!!!
Posted by hoopdy
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