Sports

T.C. Williams-Herndon Preview

Berth in state tournament on the line

With a berth in the Northern Region championship at stake, as well as the right to represent the region in the VHSL AAA state tournament, Saturday's showdown between T.C. Williams and Herndon at Robinson High School (tipoff at 6 p.m.) promises to be a huge game. Here's a closer look at the game:

How they got here:

T.C. Williams — Won Patriot District tournament, defeated Oakton 52-32 in the first round and Yorktown 56-43 in the quarterfinals.

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Herndon — Won Concorde District tournament, defeated Woodson 66-61 in the first round and South Lakes 87-76 in the quarterfinals.

The Titans will win if… Their athletic defense can rein in the high-scoring Hornets. The Patriot District champions held all their Northern Region opponents but two to fewer than 60 points, something no other team in the region can say. Conversely, Herndon scored fewer than 60 points just twice in Northern Region contests this season. The responsibility of shutting down Northern Region Player of the Year Austin Hamilton will likely fall to Tyler Driver, although the Titans could throw some size at him and put Tyrell Sitton on the lightning-quick point guard. Also, look for T.C. Williams to take a page from Woodson’s book. The Cavaliers had a lot of success aggressively hedging on every pick-and-roll involving Hamilton, forcing him to dribble away from the pressure. He seemingly never found a rhythm and was held to 17 points on the night.

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The Titans are capable of putting up 70 or more points in a game, but in this instance that’s the game Herndon wants to play. If this game is played in the 60s, T.C. Williams wins.

The Hornets will win if… They prove themselves capable of playing a team on an athletic par with them. Most teams in the Northern Region cannot match Herndon’s overall athletic ability, but that cannot be said of T.C. Williams. While the Hornets can usually turn a game into a track meet, getting up and down the floor at a higher pace than their opponents, the Titans will be able to keep up with them. Herndon coach Chris Whelan knew if his team wanted to be region champs this year they’d likely have to go through T.C. Williams, which is why when the rest of the area teams were playing holiday tournaments in the area, Herndon was in South Carolina playing against teams from three different states. Back in December, Whelan said he scheduled the Hornets for that tournament so they could play against teams that were more athletic than them. Oh yeah, the Hornets won that tournament.

T.C. Williams comes in as the favorite, but Herndon has the best player on the floor in Hamilton. While the Hornets may want to get as many trips up and down the court as possible, evidenced by their 66 points per game, they won two of those tournament games by scores of 50-47 and 58-51. When the athletic playing field levels and the scores are kept down, Herndon has shown the mettle necessary to come out with a win.

The verdict… These are likely the two best teams in the region. They spent the entire season in the top three of the Patch Northern Region Coaches Poll, and ended at No. 1 and No. 2, with the Titans in the top spot. While the Titans were the unanimous pick as the best team in the region most of the year, Herndon is playing the best basketball right now. The Hornets pull out a close, thrilling game, and move on to the region championship and, more importantly, states.


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