Sports
Boys: Cougars Overcome Colonials with Seconds to Spare
After being down for much of Tuesday's contest, Oakton rallies to beat Jefferson, 54-50
The could look up to the scoreboard at the end of each of the first three quarters and find themselves down to the visiting Jefferson Colonials on Tuesday night. Not even two minutes into the fourth quarter, Oakton's boys basketball team faced a nine-point deficit, its largest of the night.
But when the buzzer sounded at the end of regulation, the Cougars were the ones on top, 54-50, with the winning basket coming from the hands of reserve Abdinasir Barre with 18.8 seconds remaining.
The stage was set for Oakton's late heroics at around the three-minute mark following a technical foul by Oakton team captain Steele Shemeld. The technical followed a foul call against the fiery senior guard and put Jefferson junior Richard Kuzma—who had scored 27 points at that point—at the free throw line with the Colonials ahead by three, 49-46.
Find out what's happening in Oaktonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
But Kuzma, who hit shot after shot for the visitors throughout the night and scored all 14 of their first-quarter points, came up lacking, missing the first two shots before hitting the third to establish a four-point lead for the away team.
That would be Jefferson's final point for the night. Over the next few possessions, Oakton's Ben Webster and Adi Hajrovic would each add a pair of points, while Kuzma and junior Sameer Singh—who registered all 11 of his points as Jefferson's sole scorer in the second quarter—came up empty with a pair of misses.
Find out what's happening in Oaktonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Still knotted at 50, the Colonials regained possession and, after a timeout, Jefferson senior Daniel Barnes stood at midcourt to inbound the ball. Kuzma checked back into the Colonials' half of the court but, as Barnes relayed the pass, Shemeld swept in, collected the ball and accelerated to the basket to set up Barre for the finish on the game-clincher.
The next Jefferson possession resulted in a jump ball that went the Cougars' way, and Oakton sealed the win with a pair of free throws from senior Jonathan Morris.
"Really good teams, championship teams, they make plays in the big situations," said Jefferson Coach Mark Gray-Mendes.
The Cougars were the ones who made those plays, and the nine-point gap in the fourth quarter was the second time Oakton stepped up to close within striking distance of the visitors.
After alarms sounded forcing the entire gym to empty before the start of the second quarter, the Cougars were slow to warm back up while Jefferson went on an 11-3 tear to open up an eight-point margin, aided in large part by easy points resulting from Barre turnovers.
But Oakton clawed their way back thanks to a 9-2 run, with Shemeld and Morris each going 2-for-2 at the line, Morris banking in a 3-pointer and Hajrovic finally developing the post presence that had largely been frustrated up to that point.
Tuesday night was not the first time Jefferson surrendered a lead this season.
"We've now played 128 minutes of basketball on the season and we've been ahead, if you look at the tape, for about 120 minutes, and now we're sitting here at 2-2," Gray-Mendes said.
The Jefferson coach also gave credit to the hosts.
"Anytime you have a disappointing one like this, you know, it makes you tougher, it makes you stronger, it makes you more battle-tested," Gray-Mendes said. "Oakton won a district championship last year. They're tested. They've been through these tight situations, and a lot of our guys don't have that kind of experience playing in tight contests. So that's where it makes us better."
Kuzma led the contest with 28 points and seven rebounds. He was followed among the Jefferson leaders by Singh's 11 points, and Barnes' seven points and seven rebounds.
The Cougars finished with four scorers in double digits. Shemeld scored 13 points and tallied four rebounds. Hajrovic, Webster and Morris each had 10 points, with Hajrovic also contributing seven rebounds.
The Colonials (2-2) return home Friday with a match-up against Liberty District rival Stone Bridge. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
Oakton (3-2) snaps a two-game skid with Tuesday's win and will also be at home Friday to a Liberty District opponent.
