Osbourn Loses in State Quarterfinals

 It was the first time in the school's history that Osbourn made it all the way to a state tournament.

The pressure was enough to give, not only the players, but the fans butterflies in their stomach. Many loyal fans from Manassas made the drive down to Richmond to cheer on the Eagles Friday night as they squared off against L.C. Bird High School in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

The game took place at the Siegel Center, which is where Virgini Commonwealth University (VCU) hosts their basketball games. The two teams definitely gave the fans a game that was worth the price of admission.

It was a tight first half before Osbourn finally opened up a big lead in the third quarter. The Eagles were one decent quarter away from an appearance in the state semi-finals, but the Skyhawks of L.C. Bird went on a big run to erase the deficit and eventually win the game 73-72.

It was a thrilling game that broke the hearts of Osbourn players and fans.

 Osbourn came out and took an early lead in the first quarter. The Eagles knew  if they could play their up-tempo game  it would be tough for the Skyhawks to hang.

Osbourn loves to run the floor and tire the opponent out, which in many cases, leads to the Eagles running away with the game in the second half. The two teams ran quite a bit in the first quarter and Osbourn took advantage of their speed and endurance as they grabbed a 21-15 lead in the period.

L.C. Bird was substituting  bench players quite often because they knew they would not be able to run with Osbourn for the entire game.

L.C. Bird had some players step up in the second quarter and began the period with a 9-0 run. The Eagles battled back, but only managed to tally 10 points in the second period. The Skyhawks played solid defense in the period, making a couple big  plays to stop fast-break chances for Osbourn.

L.C. Bird managed 15 points in the second, and at the half, Osbourn was clinging to a 31-30 lead.

The fans stood up to encourage the players as the teams came back onto the court after the half. It had been a great first half and the players knew it was going to be a tough battle down the stretch. Both teams were also aware that it was win or go home.

The Eagles exploded in the third quarter. The Skyhawks had no answer for the quickness and the ability of Osbourn to run the court without showing signs of fatigue.

The Eagles drove the lane for lay-ups and made solid passes to the big men underneath to get easy buckets. Osbourn opened the third period with a 14-2 run and they were in complete control of the game. The Eagles’ defense was very stingy as they forced several turnovers and when they didn’t take the ball, they forced the Skyhawks to take tough shots.

Osbourn got two huge plays from Robert Carter and Lucky Whitehead in the third that really pumped up the team and the fans. At the half way point of the quarter, Carter drove the lane and went up for a lay-up, making the shot and also getting fouled. Whithead did the same thing with one minute to go in the period and both players made their free throw for the three-point-play. After a dominant quarter, Osbourn had a commanding 52-37 lead and they could smell victory.

As the fourth quarter began, the Skyhawks had their starters on the floor and after getting plenty of rest during the first three quarters, they were pretty fresh. The head coach from L.C. Bird knew that he would need his starters to be at full speed in the fourth quarter and he was content with his team trailing as the final period began.

He knew that his work horses could go full speed for one quarter and hoped that it would be enough to make a comeback. Not only would the Skyhawks make a comeback, but they would have one of the greatest offensive quarters that anyone had seen in a long time at the high school level.

Early in the fourth, Osbourn took a 17 point lead before the Skyhawks made their final run. L.C. Bird began using a full court press against the Eagles and on several occasions, Osbourn was unable to get the ball down the court as the Skyhawks created turnovers, leading to easy transition buckets.

L.C. Bird was on fire in the final quarter, hitting a few three-point shots in the final period and also using dribble drives to create open shots. With Osbourn leading by two as the final minutes ticked away, the Skyhawks came down and the point guard fired up a three-pointer from the top of the key, hitting nothing but net to give L.C. Bird their first lead since early in the first half.

Once the Skyhawks took the lead, it seemed as though Osbourn became somewhat panicked as the players had no experience playing in such a big game, trailing by one as the final minute ticked away.

Osbourn would turn the ball over on their next possession and the Skyhawks took advantage as they built a four point lead with under 20 seconds to play.

Osbourn coach, Mike Dufrene, called timeout to draw up a play as his team needed to score quickly and then look to create a turnover or foul L.C. Bird on their next possession.

The Eagles in-bounded the ball to Jay Lane who fired up a three that was off target. Osbourn got the rebound however and kicked the ball out to Robert Carter who was able to nail a triple to cut the lead to one.

There was only three seconds on the clock as the Skyhawks prepared to in-bound the ball. With everyone assuming Osbourn would foul, L.C. Bird got the ball to their guard and a couple of Eagles swarmed him, but there was no whistle as the final second ticked off the clock, sounding the buzzer.

The Skyhawks and their fans erupted as they had just made an epic comeback to advance to the semi-finals. The leading performers in the game were:

             Osbourn:                                                                            L.C. Bird:

Robert Carter—15 points                                              Robert Johnson—27 points

Izzy Freeman—13 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks   Christian Smith—15 points

Cedrick Delaney—11 points, 6 assists                     Harvey Freeman—11 points

Jahaan Roberson—11 points

Jay Lane—9 points

The Eagles also got seven points and a very solid defensive performance from senior, Lucky Whitehead. Whitehead and fellow senior, Izzy Freeman played their final high school game. At the conclusion of the game, the Osbourn fans were silent as they watched the players leave the court, some with tears in their eyes, others walking with their heads down as they headed for the locker room.

It was a heart-breaking loss as both players and fans thought they had the victory locked up. Although the Eagles had an early exit in the state tournament, it was a team that took Osbourn’s basketball program to a place they had never been. It will be tough to get over the loss, but the Osbourn players and coaches should also take comfort in the fact that they made their school and community extremely proud.

The players fought hard all season and not only made it to states, but finished with an extraordinary 24-3 record. For the players who will be returning next year, they will be looking to have a productive off-season as the Eagles will have a squad next year that has the potential to make it as far, if not further, than this year's team. It was not the fairy tale ending that Osbourn was hoping for, but nobody can deny the fact that this was a great basketball team that should be proud of the excellent season they had.