Centreville High boys’ basketball coach Drew Murphy saw his Wildcats win a game at both the Concorde District and Northern Regional tournaments. Photo by Craig Sterbutzel.
Centreville — In the end, the Centreville High boys’ basketball team finished its season just one win away from making it to the Final Four of the Northern Region tournament.
“We had a good end of the season, and [we] were playing well,” said Centreville head coach Drew Murphy, after his team was knocked out of the playoffs in a season-ending region tournament quarterfinals round loss at McLean High School on Feb. 22.
Even though the Wildcats final record was under .500 at 11-14, they experienced a good postseason by reaching the Concorde District Tournament semifinals and winning a first round region playoff game over Washington-Lee before losing to McLean, the Liberty District champion.
Murphy described the 60-55 win at Washington-Lee (Arlington) on Feb. 20 as a game in which the Wildcats received balanced scoring and did an overall tremendous job both on offense and defense. Four Centreville players, in the victory, scored in double figures – Evan Fuller (17 points), Hunter Campbell (14), Robert Coker (10), and Rahji Johnson (10).
And even though Murphy believed his team could make a further run in the region playoffs, they could not get past a red-hot McLean team which entered the quarterfinals game riding high on a nine-game winning streak. Centreville lost the contest, 62-47, to see its season end. The loss to the Highlanders ended Murphy and his team’s dream of reaching the Final Four and having a shot to win a championship.
“McLean had a great season and they were tough all year,” said Murphy, explaining that the way in which the Highlanders (24-4) put full court pressure on the Wildcats made it hard for his team to execute on offense.
Coker was Centreville’s top scorer in the game with 11 points. Campbell and Fuller contributed nine and eight points, respectively. Three Wildcat players – David Liddle, Mitch Mahoney, and Brennan Tait – scored five points apiece.
Commenting on the season, Murphy said he believed his team played well at season’s end and that the Wildcat players showed a lot of confidence in the team philosophy.
“Our kids believed we could win, and they really bought into what we were doing on both ends of the floor,” he said.