The restart to their seasons was a success for the Wakefield Warriors and Washington-Liberty Generals, as the boys high-school basketball teams combined for a 5-1 record during last week’s games.
Washington-Liberty went 2-0 and Wakefield 2-1 in those contests. The teams had not played since the final two weeks of December because of COVID and weather issues, plus a two-week “pause” of all winter athletics for Arlington high-school sports.
When play resumed, Wakefield (5-6, 2-3) showed little rust, winning its first two games by routing Thurgood Marshall, 70-32, after not playing since Dec. 17, then downing the Yorktown Patriots, 61-53. The Warriors fell to the Langley Saxons, 67-62, in a Jan. 21 Liberty District contest.
Against Thurgood Marshall, Seth Langford had 14 points and seven rebounds, Lorenzo Snyder scored 11, and Lorenzo Cole Jr. (five rebounds) and Kobe Davis seven each for Wakefield.
In the win over Yorktown, Cole had a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Davis scored 14, with five rebounds and two steals. Austin Chaney scored seven and had four steals. Langford had six points and seven rebounds, and Horace Willis Jr. and Snyder each scored six points.
Against Langley, Wakefield trailed 38-23 at halftime and never led again. Cole scored 21 points, Davis 18 and Seth Langford seven.
Washington-Liberty (6-5, 3-0) routed the one-win Herndon Hornets, 80-55, in a Liberty District game the night of Jan. 21, then the next afternoon downed the Westfield Bulldogs, 64-54, in non-league play. The Generals had last played, and won, on Dec. 29 prior to facing Herndon.
Against Herndon, James McIntyre scored 19 and Brian Weiser 17 to lead the way for the Generals. The Generals also routed Herndon earlier in the season.
In the win over Westfield, the Generals trailed 34-30 in the third quarter, then led 45-37 by period’s end as McIntrye hit a number of key free throws during the period. Weiser, Matthew Evangelista, Elijah Hughes and Jakhi Beale were other big contributors in the win for Washington-Liberty.
Washington-Liberty fought off Westfield rallies in the final quarter.
With the earlier win over Herndon, W-L is now the lone undefeated team in the district.
* The Yorktown Patriots (2-9, 1-2) also had not played since mid-December, and went 1-1 in its restart in boys basketball action.
Yorktown lost to Wakefield, 61-53, then Jan. 21 defeated the visiting Marshall Statesmen, 59-50, to end the team’s 11-game winning streak.
Yorktown led most of the way against Marshall. The win snapped a six-game losing streak.
Chris Short scored 13 points for Yorktown and Kieran Upadhyaya added 10.
* The Bishop O’Connell Knights (11-6, 4-1) edged the host Paul VI Catholic Panthers, 64-61, in Washington Catholic Athletic Conference boys action last week in its first of three games.
For O’Connell, point guard Paul Lewis had 12 points and two steals to lead the offense. The leading scorer was Jadyn Harris, with 17 points to go with seven rebounds and two assists.
Christian May scored 13 points and had six rebounds with a block; Cavan Reilly scored 12 with four boards; and Del Jones had six points and two assists.
O’Connell then fell to WCAC rival and host Bishop McNamara, 62-55, Jan. 21. May had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to go with two assists. Harris scored nine and had 12 rebounds, Reilly scored 11 with three boards, Lewis had nine points and five rebound,s and Isaiah Shaw made strong contributions.
Finally, O’Connell nipped Gonzaga, 85-83, in overtime in a Jan. 23 home game. Jones scored 26 points and had five rebounds and four assists. Harris scored 20 with 12 boards, Lewis had 17 points and seven assists and Reilly scored 13 with three assists.
* In girls action last week, the Wakefield Warriors (2-10, 0-5) had the busiest week of any Arlington team, going 1-3 with a 50-47 victory over Freedom and losses to Yorktown, Langley and Westfield.
Caitlin Trammontozzi, Samantha Stewart, Helena Helms, Lucia Jacobsen, Gigi Denton and Maya Solis were the top players in Wakefield’s win over Freedom.
* The Bishop O’Connell High School girls basketball team lost to Bishop Ireton, 70-24, as Keira Scott scored eight points in defeat. Sophia Carlisle scored five and Nia Grymes four.