On Dec. 19, both McLean’s girls and boys basketball teams hosted the Langley Saxons in their first rivalry doubleheader game of the season. Both teams had been playing well under expectation, with the boys team standing at 2-5 and the girls at 1-6. This game was crucial to get back on track and prevent a mountain too big to climb.
At 5:45 p.m., the girls took the court. Langley started off hot, banging two shots behind the arc to get out to an early 6-2 lead. McLean responded with a three of their own before calling an early timeout at 8-5.
The rest of the first quarter was filled with defensive stops and turnovers on both ends of the court. At its summation, Langley led 11-5.
The second quarter was the same, with Langley getting out to a commanding lead midway through at 17-7. McLean couldn’t get anything done on offense, and a full timeout hoped to stall the Saxon momentum.
Langley prevailed however, going on a 9-4 run to end the half in dominant fashion and giving McLean many talking points in the halftime break. Leading 26-11, the Saxons just had to hold in the second half.
After the break, McLean started to sure up on defense, causing multiple turnovers and long, stalled out possessions. On the other side of the ball though they were lackluster. The possessions became messy, and only six points were scored in the eight minute quarter. The score at the end of the third was 33-17.
“In the second half our passing got sloppy and we lost the patience that we had on our shots in the first half,” junior forward Karine Najarian said. “We got too jumpy on offense and we didn’t have the time to run the plays that we know work.”
In the final quarter, Langley dominated the time of possession, passing the ball around in hopes to run the clock all the way down. McLean’s offensive struggles continued, contributing to only four points. As the Saxons bench started checking into the game, the clock quickly ran down to triple zeros with Langley prevailing 46-21.
“We’re a very new and young team so we have a lot of hard work ahead of us to catch up to the more experienced teams,” Najarian said, “but I am really proud of every single one of my teammates for pushing through and not giving up on this game.”
With the stands already almost at capacity, out came the boys team for their battle against the Saxons at 7:30. As for the game before them, the boys hoped to start out in a different fashion.
“We’ve been having problems with starting off the game slow and behind,” senior guard JW Riggins said. “We made it a point in practice and before the game to play as hard as possible and come out swinging.”
And come out swinging they did, jumping to an early 8-3 lead in the first quarter. Led by quick defensive possessions with a smaller, guard-heavy lineup and offensive fast breaks led by senior guards Logan Baldrate and Nick Karageorgos, the Highlanders looked unstoppable. Langley couldn’t get anything done around the arc on offense, and the first quarter ended 20-10 in Highlander fashion.
“We worked on the defense all week in practice and made sure that it could translate in the game,” Baldrate said. “Everyone on the team was brought in with full defensive effort and that was ultimately the biggest success for us.”
The second quarter screamed defensive showcase, with both teams now stalling on offense. For McLean, the strategies that they used to jump out early started to be recognized by the Saxons, who capitalized on sloppy defensive turnovers.
With a deep three late in the second quarter by Langley, the McLean boys went into the locker room to end the first half leading 24-17. While still a lead, there were still things to go over in the locker room after a messy second quarter with only four points to show.
“Our mentality stayed the same throughout, we just had to get the shots to fall that weren’t falling,” Riggins said. “The 10 minute break was a good physical and mental reset and helped us come into the second half with a lot of energy and confidence.”
However, this confidence seemed to be too high coming out of the half, as the team started shooting lots from outside the arc and diverging away from what worked for them in the first half: quick fast break points.
In the third, Langley dominated the paint with a strong and big lineup on the court, aiding to numerous offensive rebounds and second-chance attempts. McLean played solid on offense with senior guard Jake Bell knocking down a couple of threes and Riggins playing dominant paint defense, but shots continued to not fall and their lead slowly cut to a mere even standoff: 32-32.
Like many rivalry showdowns, the game came down to the last eight minutes, with McLean putting their best five on the court against Langley’s best 5. This last quarter was all back and forth action, with long offensive possessions by both teams and stifling defensive efforts.
Riggins continued to dominate in the interior, drawing multiple fouls and one crucial and-one. The Highlander defense stayed strong and with minimal time on the clock, Langley took a timeout.
Out of the timeout Langley was forced to foul down two points, putting Bell on the line with a chance to seal the game for the Highlanders. Cool, calm and collected, Bell walked up to the free throw line and sunk them both. “I knew I could put the game away with the two makes and had to just trust my practice and embrace the moment,” Bell said. “Opportunties like that don’t come often and against a team like Langley I was glad to be in that position with the fate of the game in my hands.”
A last-ditch heave from Langley to attempt a four-point play was no good, and the Highlanders took home the win 44-40. The fans, coated in blackout clothing, stormed the field to cheer with the team after a dominant rivalry win.
“We’re going to continue to work on ball movement and defense because those two are really what got us the win,” Baldrate said. “Our points in this game were really spread out between multiple players which really speaks to the kind of team we are.”
