The Highlanders arrived for the 2025 Liberty District final against the Marshall Statesmen on Friday, Feb. 21, with a case of déjà vu on their mind—their last district final appearance was also against Marshall, exactly 12 years ago at the same time and the same gym.
After beating the top-seeded Yorktown Patriots in the semifinals on Wednesday night 47-38, the fans knew they had to make the most of this opportunity; the away bleachers were completely covered in red nearly an hour before the tipoff.
“It was absolutely incredible to see so many people show up from McLean,” junior Luke Hadden said. “The screams after the third three-pointer in the first quarter were almost deafening, in a good way of course.”
It began to rain three-pointers in Marshall’s gym shortly after tipoff. In the first three minutes of the game, seniors Avery Higgins and Peter Stoss, as well as junior Jake Bell, sank shots from behind the arc to put the Highlanders up 11-3. The Highlanders spent the entire first quarter on offense, holding a 16-5 lead.
For the rest of the half, the plan was loud and clear for McLean: hold the ball for as long as possible. The Highlanders maintained possession for nearly two minutes straight without even taking a shot to begin the quarter. Stoss finally ended the point drought with a three-pointer after four minutes without a basket from either team. Marshall put together a nice run to end the half, but it was all Highlanders as they led 21-9 going into the locker room.
“We had already played two huge away games during playoffs,” Bell said. “Our coach told us we were playing with house money, and we just had to play the same way we did during our first two District games.
McLean’s student section remarked that the game was over at the half, but the Statesmen continued to hold hope. Despite a 12-point deficit, the Statesmen came roaring out of the locker room with a strong sense of determination. A quick three from Marshall to open the half hushed McLean’s students, but Stoss’s layup elicited a booming cheer from McLean. A Marshall timeout led to an unprecedented 8-2 run cut McLean’s lead down to four, but the Highlanders still held a narrow 27-23 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter.
“We still had the big lead going into the fourth quarter, so we wanted to utilize the time to our advantage,” Bell said. “[Marshall] hit a few big shots, but we were never too concerned about the score.”
Senior Max Mullen inbounded a floater to senior Rece Bowser to end the skid and the quarter with a 29-23 lead. Bowser then picked up right where he left off with a massive three-pointer to begin the final frame to put the Highlanders up by six. A questionable foul on McLean produced pure vitriol from the McLean student section. Marshall swished both their free throws to make a one-possession game at 34-31 Highlanders with two minutes left in regulation, the closest margin since the score of 3-0 in the first quarter.
When the Highlanders finally got the ball back, they attempted to play keep-away from the Statesmen for as long as possible, aggressively throwing the ball back and forth until Marshall fouled in a panic. Bowser took the dagger out of his pocket by nailing both his free throws with 40 seconds left in the game, but Bell delivered the final blow after knocking down his two shots to put the Highlanders up by seven with half a minute left on the clock, holding off the Statesmen with a final score of 42-34.
“All of our hard work had finally paid off when the final buzzer sounded,” Bell said. “To get the job done for the team and the whole McLean community felt great.”
The Highlanders won their first Liberty District Championship since 2012 and their student section couldn’t contain their excitement. Every Highlander in attendance went down from the bleachers to courtside to mob the victors.
The court rush was something out of a movie, filled with hugs, laughs and even a few tears of joy as the hard work and heartbreak had finally paid off. The team was awarded their Liberty District champion banner and even got to cut the net down, an emotional experience for McLean, who had waited decades for this moment.
“I’ve always said my gravestone will not have my record or number of titles won on it,” Head Coach Mike O’Brien said. “What made me enjoy the win was the amount of former players that reached out to me afterward to congratulate me.”
While the taste of victory felt great, the Highlanders still had more work to do. They will host a Regional quarterfinal game as the number one seed against the Madison Warhawks on Tuesday night.
“Madison beat us by 19 this year so it is not a given that we will win just because we are the 1 seed,” O’Brien said. “Obviously, we proved seeding doesn’t really matter come tournament time.”
