RECAP OF DAY#1-2011 LANDON WINTER INVITATIONAL BB TOURNAMENT—Bears win, as do Langley HS, Middleburg Academy and in a thriller St. Mary’s and SCHEDULE FOR DAY#2

Landon faced Trinity Christian School of Fairfax in the last of 4 games in the opening of the home team’s Winter Invitational. The Bears played swarming defense forcing their opponents into many turnovers. Trinity had some size, but they could not match Landon’s speed, hops and athleticism.  Six Bears contributed to the home team’s 1^st Q 15-8 lead, but it was the Bears’ constant swarming D that lengthened the margin to 42-21 at half. Coach Luther, mindful of the tournament’s three day schedule, substituted liberally and the new energy held Trinity to 6 points in the 3^rd Q, while his team added another 26 points in that 8 minutes. The margin was expanded as Sebastian Wells (6’6”) and Cyrus House (6’4”) were added to the line-up. Big Sebastian, a junior forward, had 5 consecutive buckets in this quarter on the way to a Landon career high of 20 points. JOE McDONALD had a casual 15 points (not much playing time after the early play) and DEION WELLINGTON added 12.

FINAL SCORE LANDON 86 TRINITY 36

LANGLEY 68 — CESAR CHAVEZ SCHOOL 50

A small, but very energetic CC squad gave the Saxons a battle, narrowing the margin to 44-42 against the bigger NoVa public school.  Langley has depth, size and skill. Every time the CC team challenged Langley, the Saxons responded with 3-6 quick buckets to stem the DC school’s momentum.

MIDDLEBURG ACADEMY 86   — ST. ANSELEM’S 34

The Dragons of Middleburg have a BIG TIME roster, with one star going to VCU and rumored that at least 2 others are Div. I recruits. In contrast the Abbey roster was without 5 players due to injuries and played valiantly with only 6 competitors. The Panthers held the margin to 12-20 at the end of the 1^st Q, but the Dragons’ depth, size and full court press overwhelmed the NE DC team.

St. Mary’s of Annapolis 67 — Christ Chapel ACADEMY 64

This game matched two teams with roughly equivalent and energy. The Saints, while using more of its bench early in the game, fell behind in the first two quarters (10-13; 25-33), but the  CCA dominance began to deteriorate in the 3^rd Q, with the well known lacrosse school cutting into their opponents lead at the end of this eight minute period CCA was ahead 46-43. Coach Konik used an Offensive team and Defensive Team substitution pattern in the last few minutes. The Saints strategy resulted in a CCA charge, two consecutive turnovers by the Woodbridge team and a couple of big 3’s and free throws for the Saints. The score went from +3 for CCA to a +3 for StM. With 8.8 seconds left CCA set up a play only to see their opponents regain control of the ball. The final result reflected the Coach’s strategy and his players’ greater energy due to their depth.

Thursday’s Schedule   

1pm                 CESAR CHAVEZ          v.                     ST. ANSELM’S

3pm                 Christ Chapel          v.                     Trinity Christian

5pm                 LANGLEY HS               v.                     MIDDLEBURG ACADEMY

7pm                 SAINT MARY’S            v.                     LANDON

Based on today’s play, I can guarantee that all of these games will be spirited, well coached and fun to watch. THE PRICE IS FREE, parking easy and lots of great seats. The Landon BB Moms are providing a variety of food for the spectators!!!