Loudoun Valley Girls Win, Boys Lose

By Paul Tenorio

Saturday, February 9, 2008

In a game with heavy implications for the Virginia AAA Cedar Run District playoffs, Loudoun Valley suffered yet another second-half letdown at home, giving up a six-point halftime lead and falling, 57-49, to Culpeper on Friday night in Purcellville.

After an impressive second quarter, in which its offense seemed to flow seamlessly, Loudoun Valley (15-5, 8-4) looked flat in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter, and let the game slip away.

"Once again, we go into the locker room, and we're up, and we think that's enough," Loudoun Valley senior Cody Swain said. "We think that's the end of the game. It's not."

Holding a 29-23 lead at the start of the third quarter, Valley watched Culpeper (15-6, 9-4) go on an 8-2 run to tie the score at 31 with 3 minutes 3 seconds remaining in the third. The Vikings clung to a one-point lead heading into the final frame but turned the ball over on six of their first eight possessions, allowing the hot-shooting Blue Devils to jump to a 10-point lead and eventually snatch the victory.

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Loudoun Valley vs. Culpeper

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At the end of first period action, Loudoun Valley's #32 Django DeGree shoots a jumper past Culpeper's #12 Jermaine Pettyjohn. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Loudoun Valley's #50 Cody Swain makes is fouled by Culpeper's #21 Solomon Francis. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Loudoun Valley's #11 Ryan Mueller drives into Culpeper's # 21 Solomon Francis during the fourth quarter. The shot is blocked and Culpeper gets the ball. ()

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The Blue Devils were led by senior Kyle Majors (20 points), whose three three-pointers in a two-minute span swung the momentum in Culpeper's favor for good early in the fourth quarter.

Loudoun Valley shot just three free throws, and Culpeper was 15 of 25 from the line.

"We started playing hesitant, and we stopped attacking the glass," Loudoun Valley Coach Chad Dawson said. "And when you only shoot three foul shots, you're not going to get a lot of easy opportunities. And our shots weren't falling tonight; we didn't shoot the ball well."

The loss holds huge implications for the Vikings, who entered Friday's game tied for first in the district but now fall into a tie for second and have to hope that Osbourn Park loses down the stretch to capture the regular season district title.

"We controlled our own destiny, and we let it slip through our fingers," Dawson said.

Loudoun Valley jumped to a three-point lead at the end of the first quarter, as both teams seemed to feel each other out. But the Vikings came out hot to start the second frame, using a quick 10-3 run to extend an eight-point lead.

The two senior captains led the run and were dominant throughout the quarter, with Swain and senior guard Josh Mallory hooking up several times for the Vikings. Swain scored 12 of his team-high 20 points in the quarter, and Mallory assisted on four of those buckets. The senior guard often found Swain on no-look passes and back-cut dishes. Valley's pressure defense, meanwhile, held Culpeper without a field goal for the first four and a half minutes of the quarter.

But in the end, Valley was unable to carry that success to the second half. Mallory fouled out with more than five minutes remaining, and the Vikings' cold shooting (23 of 59 from the field), inability to get to the line and lack of energy gave Culpeper the all-important district win.

The loss holds huge implications for the Vikings, who entered Friday's game tied for first in the district but now fall into a tie for second and have to hope that Osbourn Park loses down the stretch to capture the regular season district title.

"We controlled our own destiny, and we let it slip through our fingers," Dawson said.

Viking Girls Shut Down Culpeper

In the first game of the night, the Loudoun Valley girls' team defeated Culpeper, 43-27, behind junior Jessica Mullen (16 points) and senior Perrin Raudabaugh (15 points) on senior night in Purcellville.

The game was tied at 20 with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter, but Valley outscored Culpeper 23-7 over the final 13 minutes to pull away with the victory. The Vikings' defense shut down Culpeper for the entire game, with the Blue Devils never reaching double figures in a quarter.

The Vikings finished the third quarter on a 6-1 run and outscored Culpeper 8-0 over a two-minute stretch in the final frame to open up the game, with Raudabaugh and Mullen combining for 11 points in the final frame.

Tagged: basketball, high school sports, Loudoun County High School, sports

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