Late Foul Sinks Atoms

Four seconds. That’s all it took for Annandale to go from elation to heartbreak Thursday.

After a layup by Karl Ziegler off a perfectly executed inbounds play put the Atoms up one with 4.7 seconds left, Woodson’s John Schoof pushed the ball up the floor, gave a slight head-fake to get his man up in the air, and leaned in to draw a foul and three free throws with no time left on the clock.

He only needed the first two, as the senior drained them both to give the Cavaliers (12-8, 7-5) a huge 50-49 win on Annandale’s (13-6, 8-4) home floor, getting a measure of revenge after the Atoms went to Fairfax and handed Woodson a loss last month.

Annandale coach Anthony Harper said he had “no comment” when asked if the pivotal foul called against D’Angelo Boyce was legitimate, but ultimately said his team needs to be smarter in that situation.

“We should have just ran past him,” Harper said. “We shouldn’t have even tried to contest the shot.”

That same harassing defense, while fatal in the game’s final seconds, got the Atoms back in the game. Woodson raced out to a 17-4 lead early in the second quarter before Annandale’s full-court pressure took the Cavaliers out of their offensive rhythm.

“Part of it was our pressure on the ball,” said Annandale coach Anthony Harper. “They were able to make passes off their Princeton cuts, and we weren’t helping from the backside. We got that straightened out at halftime.”

Annandale also made a more concerted effort to get Ziegler involved in the second half. The senior had just six points in the first two quarters, but equaled that output in the third quarter alone. His success forced acting Woodson head coach Durmia Marshall to shift Schoof down into the post to guard the 6-foot-3 forward.

Schoof stuck with Ziegler the rest of the game, including on the inbounds play with 6.7 seconds left on the clock. When the forward set a screen for D’Angelo Boyce, Schoof expected the man guarding Boyce to switch onto Ziegler. Instead, they both went with Boyce, giving Ziegler an unimpeded path to roll back to the inbounder for the layup.

Unfortunately for the Atoms, they left too much time on the clock.

“We just gave the ball to our best player, [Boyce] was harassing him, he felt the contact, he leaned in and got the shot off,” Marshall said. “That’s what happens when you’ve got good players like that.”

Boyce came alive for the Atoms in the second half, as well, finishing the game with a team-high 15 points. Ziegler added 14.

The Atoms will have to bounce back from a game where a win would have clinched them a home game in the upcoming Patriot District tournament. More importantly, it would have kept them out of that crucial 4-5 matchup, the loser of which will miss out on the Northern Region tournament. Two of Annandale, Woodson, Lake Braddock and South County – all ranked in the Patch Northern Region Top 10 Coaches Poll – will meet in that game.

“Hopefully this gets them refocused,” Harper said. “They realize they have to play hard every night.”

Guard Ronnie McCoy sprained a toe in the fourth quarter. Although he returned for the game’s final 6.7 seconds, Harper was unsure if he’ll be ready for Annandale’s next game at West Springfield on Tuesday.