Head Coach for Langley, Scott Newman and assistant coaches Andrew Hypnar and Billy Wilkerson discussing plays with their team at the end of the first quarter. Photo by Colin Stoecker
It was a close and exciting game between the South Lakes Seahawks and the Langley Saxons on Thursday night.
“The win was impressive after our loss against Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria a few nights ago,” said head coach and assistant athletic director at South Lakes, Andrew Duggan.
South Lakes had superior ball control and possession for most of the game, the bonus in their favor in the last quarter helped them in a tight spot, and they came out the winning team.
Both teams were tied right until the last few seconds of the game when South Lakes scored again in the bonus, and Langley couldn’t get another basket in the last few seconds before the buzzer. South Lakes’ record now stands at 11 wins and 5 losses.
“We lost 4 games at the buzzer, these were close, and we think we’ve found a formula that was working for us.” — Langley’s head coach Scott Newman
This was the second time that South Lakes prevailed against Langley. South Lakes beat Langley in the first round by 11 points, 68 to 57. Despite the optimism of Langley’s head coach, Scott Newman, his team wasn’t able to pull off a win Thursday night.
Langley’s record now sits at 8 and 8.
Langley’s head coach Scott Newman said that his team was a little slow to start off the season. “We lost 4 games at the buzzer, these were close, and we think we’ve found a formula that was working for us,” he said. But his goal for his team was improvement over the course of the season. And, it was a close game this time.
“I am thrilled,” said Newman about the performance of his team so far this season. “I told my players there are going to be teams that are good fast and plateau and we will improve,” Newman said.
Some notable players from Langley’s starting lineup this season are senior Chas Battaglia, 5’10” guard, senior Sami El-Rafey 6’6” forward, and junior Colter Carton, 5’11” guard.
For the Saxons, El-Rafey had an outstanding night in terms of scoring with 15 points, followed by Carton with 11 points and Battaglia with 10 points. El Raffey also led his team in rebounds with 10 total followed closely by junior Andrew Derminassian, 6’4” forward, who had 9 rebounds.
On South Lakes' team, much of their starting lineup aren’t seniors.
“Our point guard, sophomore Cameron Savage, started all of the games last year,” said head coach Duggan.
Seahawks players, junior Emmanuel Aghayere, 6’5” forward, sophomore Cameron Savage 5’10” guard, and junior Damon Johnson 5’10” guard all have at least one more year with their team before graduating. Johnson and Savage will likely be playing basketball on the college level.
Even with a winning record, Duggan insists that his team didn’t play as well as they could have against Langley in the first round.
Senior Marcus Cherry, 6’4” guard was the lead scorer for the Seahawks with 12 points followed closely by junior Emmanuel Aghayere with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and junior Andrew Powers, 6’4” with 9 points.
“We were focused on playing better basketball, on our defense and rebounds, you know the little things,” said Duggan. “This team plays hard as snot.”