The National District in its present form is in its fifth year, and going into Friday’s game at Annandale the Justice Wolves came in at 4-4. That may not seem all that impressive, but if you consider the Wolves only won six district games total the previous four years, it shows how far the young Wolves have come.
Friday night Justice took another step forward, defeating the Atoms 50-48 on Annandale’s Senior Night. Wolves junior guard Isaiah Tedros scored 20 points to lead the way.
“That’s growth for us,” said second-year Justice Coach Calvin Mainor. “Last year we might lose that game because we couldn’t finish. And we’re learning how to win.”
Up 48-39 with just under five minutes left, the Wolves had trouble icing the game offensively. They missed four free throws in the last 22 seconds, which gave the Atoms three chances late to tie or take the lead. On the first try the Atoms missed a three-pointer, on the second they turned the ball over, and on their final attempt, Justice senior guard Mohammad Shifa picked off an in-bounds pass to seal the victory.
“Of course we want to finish better…I’m okay with that, but it’s more work for us to get better at,” said Mainor. “Now we can look at that on film and figure out how we can close that game better. We’ll take the win, but also it’s still a growth opportunity. We’ve still got to figure out how we can get better.”
Things are definitely getting better for the team near Seven Corners, and a big reason why is Tedros. A combo guard, Tedros had the ball in his hands much of the game, and was extremely effective at attacking the rim. In the second half especially, he opened up offensive rebounding and cutting opportunities for his teammates with the defensive attention he got.
“#2 is a great player,” said Mainor of Tedros, who also had nine rebounds on the night. “Since I got the job I’ve been just holding him accountable to being a great leader. He’s a great scorer…he’s great for us, we go as he goes and I tell him that every single day.”
He’s starting to get help, too. The Wolves played nine and got nice support from their bench, including the key play from Shiva. Biruh Yilma, Yama Agonfir, and Kaleb Geta had six rebounds each as Justice won the battle of the boards. The Wolves didn’t take a lot of three-pointers (4-14), but hit just enough to open things up for Tedros’ drives. Amennai Adhanon had two of those threes.
One reason Annandale was left with the disappointing loss was their inability to hit from three-point range. The Atoms also hit four threes on the night but that came on 26 attempts–though Esay Ghirmay did hit a big one late to close it to 50-48. Senior guard Jeremiah Nelson led the way for Annandale with 24 points, wowing the home crowd with a few spectacular dunks.
With the win the Wolves (5-4, 9-8) swept the regular season series from the Atoms (4-5, 7-11) and moved into sole possession of fourth place in the district. While there’s still five regular season National District games to play, the teams could meet again in the National District Tournament, as they would presently play in the first round in the 4/5 game.
–Chris Jollay