Thursday night at home Broad Run outscored John Champe 23-7 in the second quarter to blow open a close game, ultimately cruising to a 68-53 Catoctin District victory.
“This was a big test for us,” said Broad Run coach Jacob Krogh. “This showed I think the blueprint of how good we can be, in spurts.”
The Spartans were very good in the second quarter after falling behind 15-14 after eight minutes. Champe senior guard Joshua Jones had nine points in the first quarter, but was held scoreless by a tough Spartan defense in the second quarter. In fact, Broad Run held the entire Champe team scoreless for the first four minutes of the second quarter.
“The defense is something that we can rely on hopefully every night,” Krogh said. “Do we want to have to shoot well to win, or do we want to have something to fall back on? I was pretty proud of our defense, the first three quarters for sure.”
On this night Broad Run also shot pretty well, especially from the perimeter. Six different players drained a total of 10 three-pointers, mostly in the second and third quarters. That three-point barrage in essence buried the Knights, as Krogh’s team built a comfortable 58-35 lead after three quarters.
“When the shots fell tonight, that’s kind of our ceiling right there,” said Krogh of his team’s perimeter shooting. “Defend well, and hit your threes.”
Sophomore Adam Perdue, who has been one of Northern Virginia’s most potent scorers this season, paced the Spartan attack with 21 points, while senior Benny Nketia added 11. The pair were also effective clearing the defensive boards off of Champe misses, as they combined for 22 rebounds. Darnell Bennett scored 12 points off the bench, while fellow junior Braden Lee had nine points off three three-pointers. Senior point guard James Wasikye contributed seven assists as the Spartans passed the ball well all night, getting 20 assists on their 25 made field goals.
It was definitely a team-oriented win, one that kept the Spartans (3-0, 9-3) undefeated in the newly-created Catoctin District. With a battle with Woodgrove on the docket for next week, the Spartans now have a chance to become top dog in the district.
When asked what his team has to do to win the Catoctin, a smiling Krogh had a quick answer.
“Keep playing like that second quarter. That was eight minutes of that, can we get 32 minutes of that?”
Champe (1-1, 7-7) was led by Jones’ 20 points and 11 rebounds on the evening. The Knights found some success in the fourth quarter pressuring the Spartans on defense, and will get another crack at Broad Run on February 6th.
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| BROAD RUN | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| WASIKYE | 3-10 | 0-0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | |
| BOLLE | 2-4 | 0-0 | 5 | 5 | 3 | |
| LEE | 3-9 | 0-0 | 9 | 5 | 5 | |
| NKETIA | 3-8 | 3-4 | 11 | 14 | 2 | |
| PERDUE | 8-17 | 3-5 | 21 | 8 | 2 | |
| Bennett | 6-7 | 0-0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ghotra | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pollard | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 26-58 | 6-9 | 68 | 39 | 20 | |
| Threes: Lee 3-8, Nketia 2-3, Perdue 2-6, Ghotra 1-2, Bolle 1-3 Wasikye 1-5 | ||||||
| CHAMPE | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| SHAH | 2-5 | 0-0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | |
| ZACHARIASIEWICZ | 2-7 | 0-0 | 6 | 7 | 1 | |
| JALALI | 1-5 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| #3 | 2-12 | 1-4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | |
| JONES | 7-14 | 6-9 | 20 | 11 | 2 | |
| Clottey | 3-6 | 0-2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | |
| Joyner | 0-2 | 1-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Frazitta | 3-6 | 0-0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | |
| Anthony | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wright | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Plews | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 21-60 | 8-19 | 53 | 32 | 7 | |
| Threes: Zachariasiewicz 2-5, Shah 1-3, #3 0-1, Clottey 0-1, Joyner 0-1, Frazitta 0-1, Wright 0-1 | ||||||