Chargers boys basketball team finishes with 19-6, 10-2 record
The Middlesex High School (MHS) Charger basketball team lost to the Lancaster Red Devils, 63-53, in the semi-finals of the Virginia Class 1 basketball tournament at New Kent High School on Friday, March 1.
Middlesex, win or lose, was on the verge of having played one of the greatest basketball games in school history and arguably played the best first half in MHS history.
The Chargers shut down the acclaimed Lancaster offense in the first half and produced plenty of offense of their own that the Red Devils were unable to answer.
Early foul trouble resulted in the Chargers having to back off defensively in the second half from the tight man-to-man defense that had paralyzed the Lancaster offense and kept the state No. 1 offensive player Troy Henderson at bay.
The Chargers beat the Red Devils in the first quarter, 21-12, and were up at halftime, 31-24. Middlesex was still up at the end of the third quarter, 44-43.
In the fourth quarter, Middlesex went to a zone defense that opened the door for the Red Devils’ Henderson to come back and win on the scoreboard. Lancaster scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to the Chargers just 9 points.
The game was the usual hard-fought run and gun offense style with a lot of contact around the basket. Exactly what happened mid-way in the fourth quarter — with mayhem on the court and both teams fighting for a loose ball — was unclear to most fans sitting in the stands.
The result, however, was obvious. Administrators, athletic directors, coaches from both schools and the New Kent police force took over the court. One Middlesex player was ejected from the game. A Lancaster player was bodily taken to the Red Devils bench by his coach. After nearly 15 minutes order resumed as a Lancaster player took two technical free-throws. A Red Devils player was also given a technical foul because of the incident.
The Chargers were paced by Ichi Layne, who scored 21 points. Layne nailed three 3-pointers in the first quarter. Malik Dandy scored 16 points, spending considerable time on the bench being in foul trouble.
JaQuan Griffin scored 9 points. Nathan Powell drilled a 3-pointer to contribute 3 points and Cameron Lambert played a strong defensive game and added 2 points on offense.
The Red Devils will play Auburn High School in the finals of the Class 1 state tournament at Virginia Commonwealth University Siegel Center in Richmond today, Thursday, March 7. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
