Seton School’s Patrick Nguyen kicked a pass to Joey Curran who drilled a three-pointer as the clock expired, giving the Conquistadors a 32-20 lead heading into halftime. The home crowd stood to their feet and erupted with cheers, as it seemed like Seton School was on its way to victory.
But in the second half Virginia Academy erased a 14-point deficit to earn a 63-59 victory over the Conquistadors thanks to two things: defensive execution, and a stellar performance from 6’3″ 2022 guard Tazir Smith.
“Tazir Smith decided to take the game on his shoulders,” Virginia Academy Head Coach Joseph Haggler said. “And once he did that the kids fed off of him. I think that’s important – we go where he takes us.”
Smith finished the game with 22 points, 7 rebounds, and two steals. He also scored 10 of the Patriots first 12 points in the 4th quarter to help spark the late comeback.
“It felt amazing to get the win,” Smith said. “We put in a lot of work and we just want to show what we can do. A lot of teams are going to doubt us, but we’re going to put on a show this season.”
Coach Haggler was also pleased to see his team’s second half effort, but also acknowledged that defensive errors are what led to the team falling behind early.
“That is a great Seton team,” Coach Haggler said. “It was good to see us comeback, I thought we did a great job of keeping their composure. We were having a tough time keeping up, so what we ended up having to take our bigs out. Compared to (Seton) we’re really big, and I had to throw my guards in to help manage that, but I thought they did a great job.”
Seton School’s quick guards and off-ball movement helped the hosts build a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. Senior guard Andrew Nguyen led the charge with seven points in the first quarter. He finished the game with 15 points, five rebounds, and three assists.
The Patriots were able to cut Seton School’s lead to just 26-20 with two minutes remaining in the first quarter. But the Conquistadors responded with consecutive three-pointers to end the half at 32-20. Although Seton School had a 12-point lead, they were challenged with senior guard Bobby Vander Woude entering the second half with four fouls.
The Patriots began the half with a defensive stop that turned into a three-pointer from Lorenzo Nichols on the other end of the court. Seton School would rally back and eventually take their biggest lead of the game at 42-28, with a few minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Virginia Academy would only trail by six at the end of the third quarter thanks to Blake Berry, who contributed two points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal in the last few minutes of the third period. The Patriots completed their comeback as Smith scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to help close the game out.
“Coming into the half we were down but we executed our defensive plays and put points in the basket,” Smith said. “I (got) to the rim and was able to get to my spots.”
Virginia Academy’s come from behind victory brings them to 2-0 on the season, while Seton Schools falls to 1-1.
–TJ Davis
@Ttown316