Heritage, Loudoun County Get Tourney Wins

By Kevin Myrick

Friday, December 14, 2007

The Loudoun Times-Mirror Tip-Off Tournament got underway Thursday with two wins for Loudoun teams after Heritage handled Handley, 68-56, and Loudoun County overtook Sherando.

Heritage Outlasts Handley in 68-56 Win

Pride senior forward Michael Massey scored 16 of his 18 points during the first half, and along with six points by senior guard Curtis Rustin, the Pride pulled out the win.

"Massey had a good game Saturday against Millbrook, too, so that's two good games he's had," assistant coach Greg Grimes said.

Grimes, who has been an assistant under head coach Marquez Mallisham for the past two years, found himself in the head coaching position Thursday after Mallisham was suspended for a game.

The Judges fought back during the third period, scoring 21 points to the Pride's 18. But even with a third period scoring drive spurred by Handley senior guard J.J. Dorsey, who scored 24 of the Judges' points Thursday, Handley couldn't overtake Heritage.

The Pride secured the win in a fourth quarter rally and a final dunk by Rustin to put Heritage over Handley.

"I felt we did a good job taking care of the basketball, which is what we've been stressing all week," Grimes said.

Heritage will meet Millbrook in the final round of the tournament at John Handley High School in Winchester at 6 p.m. Friday.

Raiders Roll to Victory Over Warriors

Things looked grim for Loudoun County Thursday night in the first half. The Raiders gave up 25 points in the first period to Sherando, including nine points off three-pointers, to give Warriors junior guard Jordan Sillars 13 points.

And then disaster nearly struck for the Raiders: Junior Tim McLister went down going for a lay-up, hurting his ankle. But after hopping off the court with 5:37 left in the second and Sherando up by three, Loudoun County began to rally.

The rally started with a dunk by Donne Lucas, who cut his finger while dunking the ball with two minutes left in the second quarter.

"He was in a little bit of pain, but we told him to tough it out," head coach Brian Blubaugh said. "But once he saw Timmy (McLister) warming up in the hallway I guess he figured he couldn't complain."

Lucas had 30 points in the win over Sherando, most of which came from two-pointers. Although McLister returned to the game later in the third after wrapping his ankle, his contributions in the second half weren't as noticeable as his five points in the first half.

During the fourth quarter, Lucas scored 12 points and shot two-of-three from the foul line, pushing the Raiders over the top with a 71-56 win over the Warriors.

Now at 5-0, Blubaugh said he doesn't wish to cast too much attention on the winning streak because of the competition the team faces in district play.

"5-0 is a good start, but we have a long ways to go," he said. "We haven't earned anything yet. We still have district play to look forward to."

With Loudoun County's win over Sherando, the team will move on in the tournament Friday to play James Woods at 6 p.m. at Park View. Sherando will play Park View.

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