Sports

01 22 2021

UPCOMING EVENTS Girls basketball: Hanover at Atlee, 7:15 p.m. 01 22 2021 Girls basketball Patrick Henry at Mechanicsville 7:15 p.m.

| Youth, High School, College, Recreational & Professional

Mustang boys open new era with victories

Dave Lawrence/The Local

Mechanicsville’s Wyatt Brown (4) doesn’t let Patrick Henry’s Jayden Mines (2) get in the way of a layup in the Mustangs’ 65-64 win.

By Rob Witham For the Mechanicsville Local

MECHANICSVILLE – Wyatt Brown will go down in history as scoring the first varsity boys basketball points for the renamed Mechanicsville Mustangs. But that wasn’t his most important play Wednesday night as the Mustangs hosted Patrick Henry in their longawaited season opener.

Trailing by 2 with two seconds remaining, Brown was given the task of finding a way to get the basketball down the length of the floor to give his team a prayer at victory, down 64-62.

“The play was to try to find a layup to tie the game,” Brown said when asked about the strategy behind the play. “I looked down the court and Drew (Ware) was open. I knew if I could get it to him, we would have a shot at 3 and the win.”

Somehow, Brown’s pass found a leaping Ware, who caught the ball, and launched a turnaround jumper that hit nothing but net as time expired for an improbable 65-64 win over the Patriots.

Patrick Henry (0-1) jumped to an early lead thanks to a 9-0 run fueled by Jordan Morris, who scored 5 of his 11 points in the opening stanza to build a 19-11 lead. Camden Byrd, who led the Patriots with 18 points, scored 8 in the second period, and led the Patrick Henry defensive charge, holding the Mustangs to just 8 points for a 36-19 advantage at intermission.

What was missing from Patrick Henry in the second half was a combination of offensive efficiency and a killer instinct. The shooting of Eli Lewis sparked the Mechanicsville comeback. Held to 1 point in the first half, Lewis hit three triples in the third period to get the Mustangs back within 9 points.

When Samuel Grubbs put back a missed free throw attempt with 5:35 left in the contest, the Mustangs were within 4 at 51-47. After two Byrd free throws, Christian Berry grabbed a key offensive rebound and scored, giving the Patriots an 8-point lead midway through the quarter.

But in the final 2:51, the Mustangs outscored the Patriots 14-3, the run capped by the Ware game-winner in a play reminiscent of Christian Laettner’s miracle turnaround jumper for Duke over Kentucky in 1992 in the NCAA East Region Final.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement, the Mustangs found themselves in a back-and-forth battle Friday night at Hanover, as the Hawks opened their season and new era with Michael Rohr now at the helm of the boys varsity squad after a successful run as girls varsity head coach.

Owen DeShazo scored 8 of his 11 points in the first period, helping Hanover take an early 10-8 advantage. Lewis’ traditional 3-point play gave Mechanicsville an 18-16

see MUSTANGS, pg. 22

Court girls shake off rust as abbreviated season starts

By Dave Lawrence Sports Editor

MECHANICSVILLE – On the court, some of the girls are showing a bit of rust. Some haven’t quite got their competition legs, but on the whole three of the county high schools’ girls basketball teams started their abbreviated 2020-2021 season.

They had little time for tryouts, less time for practice, but Wednesday night when Mechanicsville’s Mustangs tipped off with Patrick Henry for the county’s season opener, there was no lack of hustle.

“Some had a little slow start,” said Patriots’ head coach Phillip Cobb after his team’s 64-31 win over Mechanicsville. “But then we picked it up.”

Guard Logan Nuckols showed no evidence of a slow start. She finished with 21 points, nine assists and four steals. T’Niyah Baylor finished with 18 points and four steals. Jessica Osuanah and Ava Smith finished with seven rebounds apiece.

The Mustangs had their share of hustle, too. Bennett Carlton led Mechanicsville with 15 points and Madison Butler scored 12.

Hanover started its season Friday at Mechanicsville with a 62-33 victory. Like the Patriots’ start, the Hawks were a little off pace, but Hawk head girls basketball coach Dave Butler was still pleased.

“I would categorize it as a success for us, considering all of the obstacles that have been in our way,” Butler said. “We started our basketball season later. We had one week to practice before our first game. And, when you have practices and you have all of the things you need to install – offensive plays, defensive plays, inbounds plays – you’re talking through all of these different scenarios.

Winter sports schedule

Boys basketball (All games start at 7:15 p.m. unless noted.) Wednesday, Jan. 20

Patrick Henry at Atlee Hanover at Mechanicsville

Friday, Jan. 22

Atlee at Hanover Mechanicsville at Patrick Henry

Monday, Jan. 25

Mechanicsville at Atlee Hanover at Patrick Henry

Wednesday, Jan. 27

Atlee at Patrick Henry, 6 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 28

Hanover at Atlee Patrick Henry at Mechanicsville

Monday, Feb. 1

Mechanicsville at Hanover Atlee at Patrick Henry

Tuesday, Feb. 2 Hanover at Atlee

Thursday, Feb. 4

Patrick Henry at Hanover Atlee at Mechanicsville

Girls basketball (All games start at 7:15 p.m. unless noted.) Wednesday, Jan. 20

Mechanicsville at Hanover Atlee at Patrick Henry

Friday, Jan. 22

Hanover at Atlee Patrick Henry at Mechanicsville

Monday, Jan. 25

Patrick Henry at Hanover Atlee at Mechanicsville

Wednesday, Jan. 27

Patrick Henry at Atlee, 6 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 28

Atlee at Hanover Mechanicsville at Patrick Henry

Monday, Feb. 1

Patrick Henry at Atlee Hanover at Mechanicsville

Tuesday, Feb. 2 Atlee at Hanover

Thursday, Feb. 4

Mechanicsville at Atlee Hanover at Patrick Henry

Gymnastics (All events start at 7 p.m. unless noted.) Wednesday, Jan. 20

Multiple schools at Mechanicsville

Wednesday, Jan. 27

Multiple schools at Mechanicsville

Swimming (All events at Burkwood Swim & Racquet Club) Saturday, Jan. 23

Hanover vs. Atlee, 1 p.m. Patrick Henry vs. Mechanicsville, 5 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 30

Patrick Henry vs. Hanover, 1 p.m. Mechanicsville vs. Atlee, 5 p.m.

Indoor Track & Field (All events start at 5:45 p.m. unless noted.) Thursday, Jan. 21

Patrick Henry at Hanover Atlee at Mechanicsville

Tuesday, Jan. 26

Hanover at Atlee Patrick Henry at Mechanicsville

Saturday, Jan. 30

Multiple Schools at Mechanicsville, 11 a.m.

Wrestling (All events start at 7 p.m. unless noted.) Tuesday, Jan. 19

Dual: Patrick Henry at Atlee Dual: Hanover at Mechanicsville

Saturday, Jan. 23

Quad at Atlee, 11 a.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 27

Dual: Atlee at Hanover

Dual: Mechanicsville at Patrick Henry

Wednesday, Feb. 3

Tri at Patrick Henry, 6 p.m.

“You start to feel a little bit overwhelmed as a coach, and then you’re trying to relay all this information to teenagers. … I kept telling them, ‘I know it feels like you’re trying to drink from a fire hose right now, but just keep hanging in there.’ And I was saying that four or five times a day.”

When game time finally arrived, Butler said some on his team were so ready they could barely contain themselves.

“We had we had a few of them that were, I guess, shaking with anticipation,” Butler said. “They kept moving around. They wouldn’t sit still in the pre-game meeting. They were pacing, you know. So they were ready.”

Julia Mardigian certainly was. She led the Hawks with 27 points. Adrianna Jacobs finished with 11 and Hali Harris scored 10.

Joel Klein for The Local

Mechanicsville’s Shay Bassett (left) and Patrick Henry’s Alicia Artis chase down a loose ball in the Patriot girls basketball’s 6431 opening night victory at Patrick Henry Wednesday.

Mechanicsville was led by Madison Butler with 21 points. Dave Lawrence can be reached at dlawrence@mechlocal.com.

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County swimmers happy to go with the fl ow

By Dave Lawrence Sports Editor

MECHANICSVILLE – When the Hanover and Mechanicsville swim teams assembled at Burkwood Swim & Racquet Club Saturday, they had to deal with an atypical amount of choreography so that they could maintain social distancing while warming up and competing.

Out of water, masks on. Before entering the water, masks in Ziploc bags. In the water, stay in place (or lane within a lane).

But the swimmers were eager and, despite some rust on skills like turns, many turned in excellent times.

No matter how they finished, the most important part of the day was getting in the water – and actually competing.

“We started two months later than we normally do,” said Hanover head swim coach George Massey. “It was just like, ‘OK, finally we could do this.’ ”

The meet was especially important for the seniors. No matter how different the environment is in this time of the COVID pandemic, they were raring to go.

“Everyone was very excited, you know,” Massey said. “We’ve been practicing, been working

MUSTANGS

Continued from pg. 20 lead after a quarter. The lead changed all night long, with neither team up by more than 6 points.

Ware completed an “andone” with 12 seconds left in the first half to put Mechanicsville up 32-31 at the break. Hanover scored the final 4 points of the third period for a 45-43 lead. A Kwadell McQueen steal and

Dave Lawrence/The Local

Mechanicsville High School’s Logan Deal puts his fi erce face on as he swims to victory in the boys 100-yard butterfl y in a meet against Hanover at Burkwood Swim & Racquet Club Saturday. Deal reached the fi nish in 54.09, besting his seed time by nearly two seconds and his competition by more than six seconds.

on these protocols. … They followed all the protocols to a T. They understand what’s necessary for us to be able to compete.”

This year, numbers were down for both Hanover and Mechanicsville, and the numlayup capped a 9-2 Mustangs run to begin the fourth for a 52-47 edge.

Back came the Hawks, as Charlie Rohr, who led Hanover with 19 points, scored to tie the game at 55 with 3:12 remaining. But McQueen would be the hero, hitting a jumper in the lane with 12 seconds left for the 61-60 win to put Mechanicsville at 2-0 with a pair of thrilling 1-point wins. Rohr fought to the glass to try to give Hanover the victory, but his shot fell bers worked to the Hawks’ advantage in terms of team scores. Ben Schoenwiesner and Morgan Pittman were among the multiple winners for the Hawk boys and girls, respectively, while Logan Deal was a multiple winner for the short and, while bodies hit the floor, no foul was called.

“Great game by both teams. Hats off to Mechanicsville”, Coach Rohr noted after the contest on Twitter. “Proud of my guys for battling and giving themselves a chance to win.”

Brown noted the victories were early dividends of the hard work, both physically and mentally, by a team toughened by eighteen months of adversity.

“I think it speaks volumes about our desire to win,” Brown Mustang boys.

The competitive environment was just as electric in the Patrick Henry versus Atlee meet at Burkwood earlier in the afternoon.

“The kids want to be back to some normalcy, so they’re said. “Coming off a season with only two wins and with all of the changes we have faced with our school name, we wanted to approach this season as a new beginning all the way around. So far, we have been in sync with each other, and really playing team basketball.”

That season continues with a return match with the Hawks, this time at home, Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.

Rob Witham can be reached at sports@mechlocal.com. willing to do anything they can to make it happen,” said Atlee head swim coach Karen Seeber. “They’ve been really good about following directions and doing what they need to do. And it changes, like how we did relays and them staying in two lanes and doing all that stuff – they adapt. They’ve adapted, and I’m really proud of them because they really have made it pretty easy to do.”

Dave Lawrence can be reached at dlawrence@mechlo-

cal.com.

Dave Lawrence/The Local

Patrick Henry’s Jayden Mines (center) battles Mechanicsville’s Eli Lewis (3) and Jordan Callahan (10) for a rebound in the Mustangs’ 65-64 win over the Patriots Wednesday.