Go ahead and call it the Yorktown basketball program’s “Shot of the Century.” No one attending Friday night’s Liberty District boys basketball final at South Lakes will argue.
Sophomore guard Chris Short sank a deep three-pointer with two seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime against the top-seeded Seahawks. Short added three points in overtime and teammate Aidan Stroup canned a clutch three-pointer with 1:06 left to give his team the lead for good, and the Patriots celebrated a 70-67 victory.
The win marked Yorktown’s first district tournament title since 2008 and its first win over South Lakes this season in three tries.
Patriots fans stormed the court and then joyously and almost unbelievably watched their players cut down the nets, the final clip going to coach Joe Reed who shouted from the top of the ladder: “From last place to first place!”
The triumph gave Yorktown (20-5) its first 20-win season in school history. South Lakes (20-4), which had not lost in 2020, was one of four top-seeded Northern Region teams to lose in their respective district finals on Friday. West Potomac, South County and Madison also fell. The Patriots therefore earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 6D region tournament, which begins Tuesday. Yorktown will face the winner of Monday’s play-in game between Washington-Liberty and Westfield; South Lakes will host Madison.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that in my career,” said Short (10 points), a sophomore guard who played point for the Patriots’ JV team a year ago. “We play fast, the ball just came to me. Nothing was drawn up for me to shoot. Just amazing. South Lakes might have more talent than we do, but tonight, we had more fight in us.”
YHS’s Chris Short hits 3 to send Liberty finals into OT at South Lakes @novahoopsCom pic.twitter.com/0XjGgn8HqO — Paul Bergeron (@PaulBergeron3) February 22, 2020
Said teammate Liam Andersen, “This is an unreal moment. We were so poised. A big difference, I thought, was how we controlled the glass.”
The Seahawks twice handled Yorktown during the regular season, cracking the Patriots’ furious four-quarter, full-court press with savvy guard play and reliable inside scoring. On Friday, Reed said he thought it was time to add a wrinkle.
“We went with a match-up zone defense,” he said. “We got just enough stops to keep them off guard. On offense, [we mostly] took the first good shot we had [usually from the outside]. Their defense is just too good for us to drive by them.”
Reed also credited his boisterous student body, which chanted nearly the entire game, matching the homestanding crowd.
“At this stage in the season, it’s an emotional game,” Reed said. “We had it going all night tonight.”
Last year, Yorktown finished last in the Liberty District and didn’t qualify for regionals. After that, Reed decided to install a furious, up-tempo gameplan at both ends of the court. It couldn’t have started worse, though, as the Patriots fell behind 14-0 in its first summer league game.
“I thought our parents were going to have me fired,” he said. Things then fell into place and his team won its first 11 games. But twice it lost to South Lakes and even worse, it was swept in the regular season by Washington-Liberty. “I told our kids to ride the rollercoaster and they bought in. Years from now, Yorktown fans might forget the coaches, the players and even Chris’ shot tonight. But our name will always be on that banner, hanging in the gym.”
South Lakes played with poise, energy and determination throughout the game, but was beset by two factors. One of its key inside players, senior first-team all-region selection Hassen Kurtu, who had been sidelined due to injury the past two games, had to leave midway through the third quarter after injuring his shoulder while contesting for the ball. He was sent to the hospital and Kurtu announced Saturday that he will miss the rest of the season due to the injury. Also, the Seahawks hit only 17 for 27 free throws in the second half and overtime combined. (Yorktown was even worse, sinking only 15 of 31 attempts during that span).
Oliver Giaon led South Lakes with 15 points and Joseph Dagbe added 14. Steven Lincoln was tops for the Patriots with 15 points and John Sondheim chipped in 14. Statistics are unofficial.
History Lesson: Prior to Friday, David Grebb and Simon Kilday led Yorktown to its most recent district basketball tournament titles in 2007-08 and 2006-07 when the Patriots played in the National District. Each year, Yorktown fell in the first round of the region tournament…South Lakes last faced Madison on Dec. 10th, 2019, losing 62-59 in overtime…In November, the Patriots also clinched a Liberty District football title with a 31-10 win over South Lakes.
–Paul Bergeron
@PaulBergeron3