Osbourn Boys Headed to District Title Game

The Osbourn boys basketball defeated  Loudoun Valley Tuesday night in the semi-finals of the Cedar Run District tournament by a score of 50-26. 

And that wasn't the only celebration for the night. Osbourn's star center, Izzy Freeman was honored for his nomination to be a part of the McDonald’s All American game before tip off. 

Freeman is one of 2,000 seniors nationwide nominated to be a part of the special game.

After the presentation, Izzy and his teammates knew the only thing left to do was to handle business on the court as the winner of the game would move on to the district championship game, taking on Battlefield at Osbourn High School Friday night.

Osbourn and Loudoun Valley had already faced off twice on the season with the Eagles winning comfortably both times. But this time, Loudoun Valley was determined to do something differently in an effort to surprise Osbourn.

Although the Vikings put forth a valiant effort, Osbourn was again too much for them to handle.

In the first quarter, Loudoun Valley showed Osbourn the strategy  they had been working on for the previous week to prepare for the game: Every time the Vikings got the ball, they continuously passed the ball around the perimeter, holding the ball for more than two minutes on a couple possessions.

Loudoun Valley was determined to keep the ball out of Osbourn’s hands as they know the Eagles have a high-powered offense. The Eagles were able to force a few turnovers, though, by pressuring the ball and by the end of the first quarter, Osbourn led 10-2.

In the second quarter it was more of the same: Loudoun Valley continued to hold the ball as long as possible, sometimes passing up wide-open shots just to let some extra time run off the clock.

The Vikings were able to knock down a couple three-pointers in the second after their strategy worked on a couple of possessions. The Vikings were also able to hold Osbourn to five points in the second, which led to the Eagles taking a 15-8 lead into the half.

Osbourn was more prepared for what the Vikings were doing when the two team came out at the start of the second half. And, as a result, the Eagles opened up a good lead. Still, Loudoun Valley stuck to their strategy. But that turned out to be a bad decision as Osbourn was able to force some turnovers and get some transition buckets while rendering the Vikings scoreless in the third quarter.

At the end of the third period, the Eagles had a 26-8 lead.

At the start of the fourth, Loudoun Valley finally decided to abandon their strategy to hold the ball. Trailing by 18 points, the Vikings knew if they were going to have any chance at all, they would have to turn to a more fast-paced game.

Unfortunately, for Loudoun Valley that played right into Osbourn’s hands and the Eagles exploded for 24 points in the final period. In an interesting game that caused Osbourn to be very patient, the Eagles eventually pulled away for the 50-26 victory. The top performers for Osbourn were:

Izzy Freeman with 15 points

Jahaan Roberson with 9 points

Cedric Delaney and Robert Carter who each scored 7 points

 Osbourn improved their record to 21-1 overall with the victory and will now host Battlefield on Friday night for a chance at the district championship. Game time will be 7 p.m.