Stonebridge eliminates Timberlake

Facing top-seeded Stonebridge in the Virginia Independent Schools Division III state tournament quarterfinal, Timberlake Christian School's boys basketball team nearly staged a giant upset Thursday in Chesapeake.

The eighth-seeded Tornadoes, who notched their first state tournament win in school history on Tuesday, took their hosts down to the final possession, missing a potentially tying 3-pointer as time expired in a 73-70 season-ending loss.

"It was the best loss I've ever experienced as a Timberlake coach," TCS coach Jason Spear said afterward, calling it a fantastic, back-and-forth game that stayed a toss-up through the fourth quarter. Stonebridge advances to the state Final Four at Richard Bland College in Petersburg — Spear said he liked the top seed's chances of winning the whole tournament.

The Tornadoes, who shot 70 percent (21-30) from the field for the game, effectively broke Stonebridge's press throughout the contest. Morgan handled the ball and sent most of his nine assists to Alex Miller (17 points) for open layups.

Trailing by one point with a minute to play, Timberlake's Jon Morgan (who led all scorers with 32 points) missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have put the Tornadoes on top. Stonebridge then missed its first free throw attempt after a foul, but forced a jump ball on the rebound and got the ball back. Spear felt Timberlake would have won the game had it come away with that final possession — instead the Tornadoes had to foul again, and Stonebridge made both free throws to seal it.

After trailing 17-15 following the first quarter, Stonebridge (22-9) seized a 37-30 lead by halftime when Timberlake center Chris Newsome had his lip cut open, forcing him to sit out the second quarter and requiring stitches after the game.

Spear said it looked at that point like Stonebridge might blow the game open, but Timberlake answered with what he called an unbelievable third quarter, tying the score entering the fourth. Newsome, back in after his injury, scored 10 of his 13 points in that third-quarter stretch, and Spear said the performance had the team believing it could pull off what would have been the biggest win in program history.

The Tornadoes (14-18) held Stonebridge's leading scorer Ryan Barbosa to 24 points after he had sunk 10 3-pointers and scored 41 points in a win over Grace Christian, the second-ranked team in the state.

Timberlake will graduate seven seniors off this season's team. Spear said his players were understandably upset afterward, but that they had turned in their best performance of the season in the biggest game of the year, and had nothing to be ashamed of in a loss that close.

From Staff Reports
Source: The News & Advance