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Sports

Bruins Stun Chargers in First Round of Regional Tournament

Snow hits buzzer beater to give Lake Braddock 54-52 win, Langley awaits on Wednesday

Lake Braddock pulled off the first big upset of the Northern Region boys basketball tournament in dramatic fashion, as Tyler Snow tipped in the game-winner at the buzzer to beat Chantilly 54-52. The Bruins rallied from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter, even with limited contributions from their usual stars.

With the game tied at 52, a jump ball on a rebound gave the ball back to the Chargers with a chance to take the final shot. Corey Bonds stole the full-court inbounds pass, but after a Manning block with one second left, the game appeared to be headed for overtime. The referees put 0.8 seconds on the clock, and Snow took the inbound pass out of midair just inside and to the left of the free throw line to hit the most important shot of the Bruins’ season.

“I couldn’t have [imagined it any better],” said Snow, who finished with 10 points. “Coming off the bench, you never know if you're going to get too much playing time. When you do good, you get a chance to take that shot.”

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Bobby Freedman didn’t hit a field goal, scoring all 10 of his points from the line, and Matt Zanellato picked up his fourth foul less than four minutes in to the third quarter before fouling out with 2:09 left in the game, but Snow and Bonds picked up the slack for the Bruins. The result was Lake Braddock’s first regional tournament win in three years, and a matchup with Liberty District champion Langley in the second round on Wednesday.

“I would have thought we would have lost,” Bruins coach Brian Metress said if he had known Freedman wouldn’t made a single shot from the field and Zanellato would pick up his fourth foul as early as he did.

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Jamie Danehower scored 12 of his 17 points in the third quarter and fed John Manning for a fierce dunk on a fast break that gave Chantilly its largest lead at 38-29, but Freedman, who only had two points at halftime thanks to Manning’s defense, continued to work inside and earn trips to the line early in the fourth quarter. The Bruins had erased the deficit midway through the quarter and took their first lead of the night at 46-45 when Bonds hit one of two free throws.

With less than a minute remaining and the Bruins’ lead up to three, Lake Braddock’s Chris Williams was fouled on a scramble for a loose ball. To make matters worse for the Chargers, they were also called for a technical foul. Williams missed both of his attempts, but Freedman sunk both of the extra shots. Chantilly then forced a turnover, and Trey Huelskamp buried a 3-pointer to tie it at 52.

That set the stage for Snow's heroics.

Bonds finished with 15 points, and Zanellato added 12. For Chantilly, Manning finished with 14 points, five rebounds and six blocks, and Jake Weigand scored seven points.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first half. After Chantilly started to beat the full-court press that Lake Braddock employed in the early going, Metress backed the pressure up to half court and further disrupted the Chargers’ offense. Instead of settling his team down, Jim Smith saved his timeouts and let his players figure out what to do. It didn’t take long for Manning and Weigand to capitalize on their chances inside against a smaller Bruins team.

“I wish I had used less timeouts,” said Smith in reference to making sure the defense was set on the final play of the game. “You shouldn’t have to call a timeout to work on things we spend time dealing with in practice. What was I going to do, call a timeout and say ‘run our press offense?’ I don’t second guess that. We just didn’t execute very well.”

The Bruins are no strangers to close, late-game situations, but coming out with a win was a welcome change for Metress. Lake Braddock entered Monday with a 1-4 record in games decided by four points or less. When asked where this game ranks among the most intense he’s been a part of, Metress and his assistant coaches burst into laughter.

“This is up there,” he said. “We go through spells, and to come out on the right end of the stick is really good for our guys. They’re as happy as can be.”

For Chantilly, a chance to repeat as Northern Region champions came to a disappointing end on their home court.

“It’s devastating for a high school senior to lose a game like that. They’ve put tremendous time and tremendous commitment, and they work hard, and it’s like stepping off a cliff. Suddenly the season is just over, and you knew that was possible but you really hadn’t anticipated that,” Smith said. “That’s the great thing about sports, it duplicates life. You have great things that happen to you and you have very difficult things happen to you and either way you have to learn to deal with it and you have to move on.”

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