Fairfax County JV and ninth grade tourneys continue (updated)

This weekend is your chance to see the future varsity boys and girls basketball stars from Fairfax County compete when four schools host the first day of a single-elimination tournament for boys and girls junior varsity and freshman level teams.

First-round games will be played at Fairfax High, South Lakes, West Potomac and Centreville high schools, starting as early as noon and continuing for most of the day. Saturday’s first-round winners advance to play later that day.

The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be all day Saturday Feb. 1, all at Fairfax High.

For Saturday Jan. 25:
Fairfax HS- JV Girls, games start at noon
South Lakes- JV Boys, games start at 3 p.m.
West Potomac- Freshmen Boys, games start at noon
Centreville- Freshmen Girls, games start at noon

The boys brackets each include 24 teams and the girls brackets each include 23 teams. Invitations were extended and those who opted-in are represented. Participating teams were placed alphabetically to create the brackets, with the intention that no team is facing a District school opponent in the first round.

“Way back in the day, we held these types of tournaments and the kids loved them,” Nancy Melnick, Director of Student Activities, Fairfax High, says. “Then with all the budget cuts and limitations, this went away.”

Fairfax County Public Schools’ Director of the Office of Student Activities and Athletics Programs Bill Curran back in October asked other DSA’s for ideas on how to promote more turnout and more excitement for athletics played below the varsity level. Melnick and South Lakes DSA Leah Conte and several others started discussions about bringing this tournament back.

“We want to create a great experience for the kids,” Melnick says. “This will be something they will reflect back on later in their careers. If it goes well, we could try to do it for other sports this spring—we want to make it something we can build upon.”
Curran says this tournament—not unlike one the County created several years ago for wrestling—could help boost participation rates at sub-Varsity levels for basketball.

“Studies show that students who participate even in one season for a school team will have a more positive high school experience—and this can even benefit them throughout life,” Curran says. “I’m a believer in that. My thought was, ‘How can we make the season more interesting for them?’ Kids love to compete. This gives them more than just playing a regular schedule and then walking away when it’s over.

“I’m so proud of the DSAs who organized this. I told them what I wanted, and they ran with it. I said, ‘If you can make this happen, I’ll find a way to fund it.’ ”

Game rules are structured as follows:
Two, 20- minute halves with a running clock (2 total time outs—1 full time out per half)
No time outs in OT
Second-half clock stops during the last minute
Teams shoot 1-and-1 after the 10th foul
If a game is tied, a 2-minute OT will be played and the first team to score (free throw or field goal) is the winner. If the game remains tied after 2 minutes, the game will be settled by free-throw shooting.

A voluntary $5 charitable donation is asked for at the door. Concessions will be covered by the host school. T-shirts will be awarded to the winning team in each division. Cardinal will provide the game officials.

Day 2 of the tournament will be played Saturday, Feb. 1 at Fairfax High. Logistics and game rules will be the same for Day 2.

–Paul Bergeron
@PaulBergeron3

updated schedule for Saturday, January 31st

Boys JV – All Games at Fairfax High
Quarterfinals
Centreville vs. Chantilly, 3
Fairfax vs. Hayfield, 4
W.T. Woodson vs. Oakton, 5
South County vs. West Potomac, 6
Semifinals
Centreville/Chantilly winner vs. Fairfax/Hayfield winner, 7
W.T. Woodson/Oakton winner vs. South County/West Potomac winner, 7
Final
Semifinal winners, 8:30

Girls Freshman – All Games at Fairfax High
Quarterfinals
Edison vs. Lake Braddock, 11 a.m.
Fairfax vs. Langley, noon
Madison vs. Oakton, 1
South Lakes vs. West Potomac, 1
Semifinals
Edison/Lake Braddock winner vs. Fairfax/Langley winner, 2
Madison/Oakton winner vs. South Lakes/West Potomac, 2
Final
Semifinal Winners, 4