Vikings Top Fauquier in Overtime, 51-49

By Kevin Myrick

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Loudoun Valley senior forward Cody Swain had a good feeling as he stepped to the free-throw line in the final seconds of overtime of Monday night's Cedar Run District quarterfinal game against visiting Fauquier.

"Before I went to shoot I turned to [senior guard] Chase Chambers," Swain said. "And one of the things we do when we win is dance in the showers. I turned to Chase and said, 'We're dancing in the showers tonight, boys.'"

Swain made two free throws with three seconds left to lift the Vikings to a 51-49 victory and propel them to a district tournament semifinal game with top-seeded Osbourn Park on Wednesday night at Stonewall Jackson High School.

Fauquier had a chance to force a second overtime but missed two free throws with 1.1 seconds left.

"I don't think he was listening to me," Loudoun Valley Coach Chad Dawson said of Swain. "He just went to the line and like a senior leader he knocked them down,"

Swain finished with four points for the fourth-seeded Vikings, but he had plenty of help. Senior guard Josh Mallory had a team-high 24 points, and Loudoun Valley (15-7) would need every point in a game that was close and hotly contested throughout.

At the halftime buzzer, referees called a jump ball on Mallory and Fauquier's Aubrey McClean, and as the two came up, words were exchanged.

"There was a lot of trash talking out there tonight," Mallory said. "But it gets me pumped up."

That led to more words between between McClean and Swain, and the two had to be separated by referees and both were charged with technical fouls at halftime with the free throws shot before the start of the third quarter.

"I was trying to get everyone fired up," said Swain, who pointed out that the Vikings often had often started out flat at the start of the second half this season.

Fauquier held a four-point advantage in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, but then Mallory and Drew MacMahon came up big for the Vikings and tied it at 44 to push the game into overtime.

Dawson believed part of Loudoun Valley's success was keeping Jerrelle Benimon and Mike Green from consistently getting the ball inside, though Benimon still finished with 24 points.

"We knew we had to take care of [Benimon] and [Green], they are their top two players," Dawson said. "I think that AAA basketball in general is a little bit physical and it's taken us some time to get used to it and I think we responded well tonight."

The Vikings, now moving past this crucial test against the Falcons, will face Osbourn Park, which defeated Stonewall Jackson, 66-52, in its quarterfinal game. Dawson believes that the key to his team's continued success after ending a three-game skid to close the regular season will be their defense.

"We've got to go out and put up another big effort and control the ball like we did tonight," Dawson said. "Tomorrow we have to be sound in practice."

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

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