Less than a week ago on the same court, T.C. Williams' season was in doubt against Herndon. The Titans were a couple of free throws away from having their state tournament hopes dashed.
Friday night at Robinson Secondary School, T.C. Williams made 9-of-12 from the line in the final 81 seconds to ice its 58-51 win over Phoebus and qualify for the VHSL Class AAA Final Four.
While there was plenty of drama, including big dunks by Rick Mathews and T.J. Huggins, no dramatic finish was needed for the Titans to move on in the tournament. They will face L.C. Bird next week in Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University in the state semifinals.
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T.C. Williams struggled early, only getting on the scoreboard with a Daquan Kerman free throw almost five minutes into the game. But it showed composure late, pushing the Phantoms into foul trouble in the second half. Phoebus’ floor leaders Breon Key and James Daniel were relegated to the bench by the end.
It was clear from the tipoff that this was no Patriot District matchup. Three Phoebus players, Key (6-foot-3), Troy Williams (6-6) and Dashawn Stitt (6-7), were taller and faster at guard and forward than any of the local players T.C. Williams had faced en route to the state tournament. Smaller Titans guards like Kerman and Jordan Byrd found driving into the middle of the Phantoms’ defense quite treacherous.
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There were more than a few turnovers and blocked shots in the first five minutes, but then T.C. Williams seemed to steel itself for pressure on every dribble and every shot.
“We don’t get a chance to see this kind of athlete all the time, so they had to get readjusted,” Titans coach Julian King said of the Phantoms. “These guys have played a tough non-conference schedule, but we’ve been away from that going through the district tournament and the region tournament.”
Once T.C. Williams regained its composure—Kerman hit Huggins with a long outlet pass, Mathews executed a nice reverse layup—the game was essentially even. While the Titans never had a lead in the first half, they were always within a basket or two. When Tyler Driver scored with 25 seconds to play and Byrd hit a free throw with 6.1 to go, the game was tied heading into the break.
King said he had to make his team realize the referees were going to allow lots of contact and physical play, just as they had when the two teams met earlier in the season and Phoebus downed the Titans 48-41.
“We assumed with three referees [in the playoffs] it might have been called a little [tighter],” King said. “I told them it’s basically the same game we played before, we just have to be more focused and take care of the ball.”
The Titans turned the ball over 22 times in their first game against Phoebus. On Friday, while the ball flew out of bounds or was stripped a handful of times, the ratio was more acceptable, King said.
“We wanted to cut [the turnovers] down and stop their runs,” said Jamal Pullen, who scored 15 points and went 7-for-8 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. “The last time we played them, they went on a run and we didn’t come back on them.”
With 5:46 to play and the Titans up 43-40 after a pair of Byrd free throws, Daniel made a nice jumper and followed that up with a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 run. In exactly 60 seconds, T.C. Williams went from leading to staring at a four-point deficit.
After a bit of back-and-forth action during which neither team scored, the Titans went inside to Pullen, who drew a foul and converted both free throws to make it 47-46. Moments later, Kerman made a soft baseline jumper from the left side to put T.C. Williams ahead for good, 48-47.
That sequence was a “major difference in the game,” said Phoebus coach James Daniel Jr. He lamented his team’s poor shot selection after it took the lead.
“We were up by four and took a long 3, they got the rebound, and then we came back and took another 3, and gave them another two points,” he said.
On the other sideline, King said he reminded his squad it was only down by four.
“Keep your composure, keep playing defense,” he said he told the Titans. “Get a couple points here and there and a couple of good scores, and we’ll be back in the game.”
And they did. Phoebus scored just four more points the rest of the game, while T.C. Williams, thanks to its strong free-throw shooting (18-for-24 in the second half), tallied 15 with just one field goal.
