Majors Prepare for Second-Round Tilt with Atoms

A first round with few surprises in the boys Nothern Region basketball tournament (except, to some, Lake Braddock over Chantilly) has created a slew of great quarterfinal matchups. What does each team have to do to advance and get itself on the cusp of states?

Annandale vs. Mount Vernon

The Atoms win if…They commit to getting the ball inside to Karl Ziegler. The Patriot District Player of the Year exploded for 27 points in Annandale’s first-round win over Westfield. Conversely, in a late-season loss at home to Woodson, Ziegler had just 14 points as the Atoms scored only 49 as a team. D’Angelo Boyce is as good a guard as anyone in the region, but Annandale is at its best when running its offense through Ziegler. Mount Vernon has struggled with post players this season, and Ziegler, although just 6-foot-3, has proved a tough matchup for anyone in the post. If he scores 20 within the offense, Annandale wins this game.

The Majors win if…Juwan Bullard and A.J. Tracey can control Ziegler and take some pressure off Jesse Konadu. It’s no secret that Mount Vernon’s offense is built around Konadu, the dynamic guard and National District Player of the Year. If he struggles, it’s likely Mount Vernon can’t beat a team the caliber of Annandale. But forwards Bullard and Tracey have a tough assignment in Ziegler and Melvin Robinson Wednesday. They need to keep those two in check, while also producing on the offensive end so as not to burden Konadu with too much of the scoring load. Bullard did just that in the first round against Fairfax, going for a career-high 29 points. If he can come close to that effort, Mount Vernon will march on.

The verdict…This is the premier game on the slate for Wednesday. Both of these teams are capable of winning the region, but one will see its season end in the quarters. Look for Annandale to advance, with Sanar Shamdeen hitting a few clutch threes late.

Lake Braddock vs. Langley

The Bruins win if…They duplicate the defensive performance that propelled them to a first-round win over the favored Chantilly Chargers. Lake Braddock held the defending region champs to just 52 points on Monday. Langley presents a different challenge, as the Saxons are a guard-oriented team with David Adams, Austin Vasiliadis and Daniel Dixon. That also means that Braddock’s bigs, Bobby Freedman and Matt Zanellato, should find more room to operate in the paint than they had against Chantilly’s frontcourt of 7-foot John Manning and 6-foot-8 Jake Weigand. The Chargers held Freedman without any field goals, and Zanellato was plagued by foul trouble, neither of which is likely to be the case against a shorter Langley team. The Corey Bonds-Adams matchup will prove pivotal.

The Saxons win if…Their backcourt is the strongest unit on the floor. Langley isn’t a particularly big team. That didn’t cost them in the Liberty District, but against a Patriot District team, the disparity in size is likely to stand out. For the Saxons to counteract Lake Braddock’s advantage in the paint, they’ll have to count on their trio of talented perimiter players, Austin Vasiliadis, Daniel Dixon and Liberty Distict Co-Player of the Year David Adams. Lake Braddock’s Corey Bonds may be the most individually talented guard in the game, but the Bruins will have trouble matching up across the board outside.

The verdict…Langley had another great year in the Liberty District, but Lake Braddock turned heads in the Patriot, likely the class of the Northern Region. The Bruins take care of business on the road, advancing to the regional semis.

Yorktown vs. T.C. Williams

The Patriots win if…They find their stroke from behind the arc, and find it early. Yorktown is going to struggle with T.C.’s athleticism, just like anyone else in the region would. If they are going to match the Titans, they’ll have to shoot it well from outside. That means Jack Earley and Daniel Pietropaoli will have to be on from the opening tip. If they can extend the Titans’ defense, leading scorer Nicko Esherick will have more room to operate, which should lead to drive-and-kick opportunities. Make no mistake, T.C. is the favorite to win the region, but Yorktown matches up with them well.

The Titans win if…They let their athleticism take over. No team in the region can match up athletically with the Titans, especially forward Jamal Pullen and guard Tyrell Sitton. The two form one of the region’s strongest inside-outside duos. If they can turn up the defensive pressure on Yorktown, they could turn the game into a track meet, exactly the type of game the Patriots want to avoid. Coach Julian King was not happy with his team’s performance in their first-round win over Oakton, despite winning by 20 points. They completely shut down the Cougar offense, but struggled from the floor, something they can’t afford to do against a much better Yorktown team.

The verdict…Yorktown deserves a better fate, but they have to play the next team on the schedule, and unfortunately for the Patriots, the Titans are lurking. The game will be closer than many expect, but T.C. has too much in the end. The Titans advance.

South Lakes vs. Herndon

The Seahawks win if…They forget what happened in their first meeting with the Hornets, take the crowd out of it early and slow the game down. Herndon waxed South Lakes 82-56 when the teams met in the regular season, but this is a much-improved Seahawks team since that game in early December. The Herndon crowd will no doubt be at its rowdiest for another edition of the Baron Cameron rivalry, so South Lakes needs to come out and hold its own in the first quarter. While the Seahawks’ game may be to let D.J. Christian, J.D. Wallace and Darius Smith get out and run, they can’t win an offensive showcase against the Hornets. They need to take their transition opportunities when they get them, but otherwise slow the game down. If this game is played in the 60s, Herndon wins easily.

The Hornets win if…They impose their will on the game. Despite not having a regular taller than 6-foot-3, Herndon is 21-3 on the season, including the playoffs. That’s because they have the best player in the region in Austin Hamilton leading a guard-oriented offense that gets up and down the floor and strikes quickly. Hamilton gets and deserves a ton of attention, but that has resulted in teammate Jonathan Beltran going as the most underrated player in the region. The two of them along with Raleigh McKenzie give Herndon easily the region’s best backcourt. If they play this game at their pace, they win. Plain and simple.

The verdict…Being one of the final eight teams alive in the region makes this a successful season for South Lakes. Herndon has its sights set much higher, namely, regional and state titles. The run won’t stop Wednesday. Herndon takes care of business, setting up a great semifinal matchup with T.C. Williams.