Sports
Generals Back in Business
Edison disqualified from district championship, Washington-Lee gets new life in regional tournament
The top-seeded Edison Eagles were shocked to find out that their season was over last night, as it was deemed by the regional committee that they had played an ineligible player.
First-team All-District performer Tyrone Mackall apparently became academically ineligible two games before the playoffs. Mackall averaged nearly 13 points this season, and was a big part of the Eagle’s domination down low with teammate Matt Murphy. Having played with Mackall in the lineup, the Eagles are now forced to forfeit those four games, tow of which were in the playoffs, which will put an unfortunate end to what was a 19-4 season, now 15-8.
As a result, the Falls Church Jaguars, who lost 83-50 to the Eagles in the semi-finals, will advance to take on the heavily favored Mount Vernon Majors for a shot at the title. The Majors are fresh off a 55-51 win over Yorktown, and Player of the Year Jesse Konadu is averaging 24.5 points per game in the tournament. If the Majors win, the Patriots will be given the two seed going into the regional tournament, (an identical 1-2 finish as last year) and take on a very tough Mclean team. If the Jags pull off the upset, the Patriots will remain third.
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This shocking disqualification will also give the Washington-Lee Generals a shot to redeem their early exit from the National District tournament, as they will be given the fourth seed heading into regionals. It will be no easy task however, as they will be pinned against the winner of the Liberty District, likely to be the 17-7 Langley Saxon’s, who have won 14 of their last 15 games.
“We got really lucky,” Washington-Lee senior Andrew Karpinski said. “But it feels great and we’re going to try and capitalize on our good fortune.”
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“We don’t know much about Langley,” he admitted. “Coach Dobson told us they have struggled against good guard play so it will be vital for our back court to step up. Other than that, we need to focus on getting the ball to Jonah and scoring inside.”
The National District championship will be played at Washington-Lee tonight at 7:30, and regional action will begin next Tuesday.
