Monday night at Wakefield forward Trey Lonardo scored 22 points, and #16 Marshall raced to an early 17-2 lead before defeating the Warriors, 58-47.
Before the game Wakefield honored long-time Coach Tony Bentley, who earned his 400th career win on December 19th in a Wakefield win over Herndon. But for whatever reason, the Warriors came out flat after the presentation honoring him while the visitors came out sharp.
“Marshall came out and played Marshall basketball,” Bentley said. “They took the wind out of our sails early.”
In the first quarter Marshall’s defense prevented good looks at the basket from the Warriors. Conversely, on offense Lonardo was active cutting to the basket and getting looks near the rim, and was often on the receiving end of sharp passes from fellow junior Jackson Fraser (eight assists).
“We had good floor balance with proper spacing and we’ve got guys who can do multiple, different things,” said Marshall Coach Jerry Lin. “Jackson’s our spearhead, he just kind of gets us into what we want.”
Wakefield trailed 19-5 after a quarter, but did start to stabilize things after that. After trailing 33-17 at half, Wakefield held the Statesmen to eight points in the third quarter and cut the Marshall lead to single digits with a few minutes left in the fourth. The Warriors’ offense scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, but it just wasn’t enough.
“By the time we figured out we could play it was too late,” said Bentley. “When you’ve got a team like Marshall…you have to play Marshall all four quarters.”
Lonardo’s 22 points came on 11-12 shooting from the field, and he added 10 rebounds. Fraser added 11 points, as did senior guard Shreyas Vaidya. Junior forward Jonas Rohde was big off the bench, helping stake Marshall (2-0, 9-1) to the early lead with three first half threes.
Wakefield (1-2, 8-3) was led by 16 points and four assists from senior guard Jeremiah Poole. Senior guard Dyson Beaty had nine points, and sophomore forward Rayvon Hackley helped to spark the late rally off the bench by controlling the boards. Hackley had ten rebounds, with nine coming in the second half.
Even with the outcome not going the way Bentley hoped, it was still a special night for the Warriors. Home and visiting fans alike expressed a deep appreciation for Bentley, who has been at Wakefield as head coach for almost 24 years.
“He’s done so much for the Wakefield community and the Northern Virginia boys basketball community in general,” said Lin of Bentley.
“There’s nobody like him. And there’s going to be nobody like him in the future.”
–Chris Jollay