South County held Mount Vernon to just two points the last seven minutes plus of the fourth quarter, and junior guard Elija Eccleston went eight-of-nine from the free throw line, as South County defeated Mount Vernon in a first round Occoquan Regional Tournament game, 49-43. The game was held at a neutral site at West Potomac High School.
The Stallions (16-9), the fifth seed from the Patriot District, fell behind early 12-3, but used defense to claw back into the game, forcing numerous Majors turnovers in the second quarter. Sophomore forward Michael Robinson (11 total points) sparked the rally with three first half three-pointers off the bench. At halftime South County led, 26-23.
The game stayed close in the second half, morphing into an all-out defensive struggle in the fourth quarter. South County couldn’t score much, but neither could Mount Vernon. Eccleston was effective at getting to the line, however, and as the Majors failed to score eventually put him on the line even more late. Eccleston converted, and South County advanced to the quarterfinal round of the tournament.
The Stallions, who will face Patriot District Tournament Champion Fairfax next week, were led by Eccleston’s 14. Mount Vernon (15-10), who did not have second team all-district senior guard Ashon Brice available to play, was led by Anthony Poindexter’s 11 points. The Majors’ season concluded with the loss.
–Chris Jollay
statistics are unofficial
SOUTH COUNTY 9 17 12 11 –49
MOUNT VERNON 15 8 14 6 –43
| SOUTH COUNTY | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| WASHINGTON | 1-5 | 3-4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | |
| EDWARDS | 2-7 | 0-0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | |
| MILES | 3-6 | 0-0 | 6 | 5 | 2 | |
| ECCLESTON | 2-7 | 10-13 | 14 | 5 | 3 | |
| MULLIGAN | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Jackson | 1-3 | 1-4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | |
| Trotter | 1-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| Robinson | 4-8 | 0-0 | 11 | 2 | 3 | |
| Smith-Bey | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Pennix | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 15-42 | 15-23 | 49 | 25 | 13 | |
| Threes: Robinson 3-7, Edwards 1-5, Smith-Bey 0-2, Washington 0-3 | ||||||
| MOUNT VERNON | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| POINDEXTER | 4-5 | 3-8 | 11 | 3 | 3 | |
| SMITH | 3-8 | 1-2 | 7 | 8 | 1 | |
| BYNUM | 2-10 | 0-0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | |
| ASMADU | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| THOMPSON | 2-6 | 3-6 | 7 | 6 | 0 | |
| Patterson-Jones | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
| Sandifer | 1-1 | 0-0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
| Fontanez Smith | 2-2 | 0-0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Coleman | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| Fuentes | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 16-37 | 7-16 | 43 | 30 | 7 | |
| Threes: Sandifer 1-1, Fontanez Smith 1-1, Patterson-Jones 1-2, Bynum 1-5 | ||||||