The Fairfax Rebels kicked off the 2018-19 season with a visit to the home court of the Annandale Atoms, formerly big rivals during the heyday of the old Potomac District. But this game was not for old times' sake, as both teams, anxious to play after a couple of weeks of intense practice and intrasquad scrimmages, wanted to start off with a convincing win to set the tone for the upcoming season. Well, the Rebels bested the Atoms by a score of 47-39, but Coach Barbee and his staff took note of a number of things that will have to be improved, and quickly, because this year's early season slate of games matches the Rebels with some pretty tough opponents. Still and all, a win is a win, and the squad was glad for that. For the first few minutes of the opening period, the game see-sawed back and forth, but after the Atoms tied the contest at 9, the Rebels went on a 12-2 run to close out the period leading 21-11. Josh Abtew canned two 3-pointers and was fouled in the act on another attempt, leading to 3 free throws, all of which he sank effortlessly. Josh ended the period with 10 of the Rebs' 21 points. Ricky Peters hit from the interior and twice from the stripe for 4 points and Daniel Mbangue notched 1st a bucket and then another plus the and-one, for 5 points. However, he also picked up a pair of fouls in the period, thereby consigning himself to the same vantage point as Coach B for the rest of the half. The second period was much more even with the Atoms closing the gap by 1 by the end of the period, outscoring the men in black 13-12 for the quatrain. Still, the Rebels led by 9, 33-24, at the intermission. Abtew tallied 5 more points in the period; he was matched by Ryan Pelczynski, who had a terrific period of play, hitting a trifecta and both of his free throws, as well as drawing 2 charging calls on would-be Atomic Bombers. Bobby Kestyn also got in on the action with a putback to get his first bucket of the season. The pace of the game slowed considerably after intermission. The Rebels won the 3rd period 8-4 and increased their lead to 13, 41-28, with one quarter left in the game. And that quarter went significantly in Annandale's favor, 11-6. Luckily, the Atoms were too far behind for their scoring bursts to close the gap very much and ultimately the Rebels registered their 1st win of the season. Abtew was high scorer for the game with 20 points, just 2 shy of his career high; his point total included 3 triples and 7 of 8 from the line. He also led the way with a career-high 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Despite that stellar performance, the man of the match may very well have been the almost-vowel-less one, as Ryan brought a great deal of energy to the floor whenever he entered the contest in addition to his 7 points, 3 boards and 2 take-a-seat-on-the-floor-courtesy-of-out-of-control-Atoms charges. Peters had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals and Mbangue had 7 points and 6 rebounds, and no more fouls! Next up is the home opener, an unusual Saturday night special, against region and state powerhouse Wakefield, another long-ago rival from the Potomac District. Coach B has intentionally drawn up a non-Georgetown-like pre-District schedule, cuz teachers love teachable moments and the idea is to toughen 'em up long before the postseason begins. So, since Christmas is weeks and weeks away, here's hopin' we'll see you on Saturday night for some good old-fashioned scholastic hoops action. Get a good seat on the bandwagon.

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday, the regular crowd shuffles in ... It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday And the AD gives me a smile 'Cause she knows that it's me they've been comin' to see To forget about life for a while ... Wait, wait, that's the wrong song. Hit restart. On Saturday, the first day of December, the Rebels played their home opener against the lime-green-clad Wakefield Warriors, out of Arlington, VA. Now, the Rebs used to match up against the Warriors at least twice a year when both schools were members of the Potomac District, but that arrangement ended after the 1993-94 season when all the districts were shuffled like a restart on a Rubik's Cube. Thereafter the teams clashed annually in an out-of-district contest, but even that stopped after the 2002-03 season, which was the last time the Rebels came out on top of the Warriors. Until tonight, that is. For the last several years, Wakefield has contested for the state title in the 5A classification, and Coach Barbee wanted to present his charges with an early-season challenge to show them what a good team looks like and to measure their response. Well, I think the coaching staff was fairly pleased, but, coaches being coaches, they told a cautionary tale after the win, still citing many things to improve upon. The first half was kind of rough and tumble, with lots of bumping and the officials letting them play for the most part. Chase Ackerman opened the scoring for the home team with a 3-pointer. Ryan P, the first sub off the bench tonight, hit a 3 of his own (the first of his career) to tie the game at 6. Daniel (the M is silent)Bangue mbanged home 2 free throws to give his team a 12-10 lead and the period ended in a 12-12 tie. The second period provided a lot of back-and-forth as well. MBangue hit both ends of a one-and-one to tie things at 16. Then with the Rebels down 16-20, Ryan knocked down another 3 to bring them to 19-20, Josh Abtew hit his first 3-pointer of the night to re-take the lead at 22-20 and the Rebels closed things out making 3 of 4 from the line for a 25-22 lead at the break. Interestingly, they went 0-11 from 2-point range during the half, but 5-14 from long distance and 10-15 from charity distance. Not exactly a recipe providing guaranteed success, but still with a half to play. In the early stages of the 3rd period, Fairfax built their lead up to 10 points, but Wakefield methodically cut it back down to 3. The homers nudged it back up to 5 at the end of the 3rd, 37-32. Junior southpaw Christian Lewis hit a big layup off a steal in the frontcourt, Abtew tallied a bucket of each type and MDaniel (remember, the M is silent) swished another pair of freebies. In the 4th period, the Rebels immediately went up by 7, then eventually got it up to 10 again. But the Warriors went on a mini 6-0 run to climb within 4 again, 40-44, with a shade over 3 minutes remaining. Thereafter, the Rebels maintained their poise, closing things out by outscoring the visitors 9-6 in the final 3 minutes to secure the 53-46 victory and move to 2-0 on the young season. Ab-three once again led the team in scoring, duplicating his 20-point effort from opening night. He knocked down 4 more 3-pointers, went 4-5 from the free throw line, grabbed 6 rebounds, took a charge, helped 3 senior citizens to their seats and went to his volunteer job at the food bank after the game (the guy is doing it all so far this season!). MBangue bnailed 10 out of his career-high 12 free throw attempts for the only other double-figure scorer for the Rebs and also had a game-high 7 rebounds and a career-high 7 assists. And RP was feelin' it tonight, as he hit 2 more trifectas, going 3-4 from the land beyond, to tie his career-high scoring mark with 9 points. WikiPetey contributed 5 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and a block, while Christian tied his career high with 6 points and set a new personal mark by leading the team with 5 steals. The boys shot 8-20 from long range and 17-24 from the line, including 7-8 in the second half, helping to keep the Warriors on the outside looking in. Like we said earlier, the coaching staff took note of plenty of stuff to occupy Monday's practice time, and I'm sure the Madison coaching staff did too, as they are the next visitors to Laing Arena, Tuesday night. So let's hope for another good turnout by the Rowdy Rebel Rooters; quiet fans are welcome as well. Still too early to feel guilty about not starting your holiday shopping yet or not getting the tree up yet. Just tell 'em I wanted you to go to the game! 'Cause Saturday night's the night I like, Saturday night's alright alright alright, ooh ... (thanks to Billy Joel and Elton John, respectively. Ever heard of them?)

In the continuing effort to toughen up his charges by playing against stiff early-season competition, Coach Barbee booked a game against the Warhawks of Madison High School. This was another team that the Rebels battled with frequently over the years while both were members of the Liberty District, beginning in 1992-93. In all, going back as far as our game history database goes (that is, back to the 1988-89 season), the Rebels and the Warhawks tussled 44 times, with the Rebels coming out on top on 24 occasions, though not once in the 6 most recent match-ups. That all changed tonight, as Fairfax scrapped for and earned a 66-62 win to up their early-season record to 3-0. Madison snatched the lead at the end of the first period, 12-11, just after the Rebs had taken a 11-9 lead that they thought would last until the first buzzer. Anthony Smith hit a nice shot from close in off a steal on the defensive end, Christian Lewis hit a tough, contested lay-up and the ensuing and-one, and Mbangue, Peters and Abtew all contributed a bucket. The see-saw-ness continued in the 2nd period until the home team found themselves down 17-21 with a few minutes still remaining before they could hit the locker room. Thereafter, Fairfax went on a nice 9-1 run to end the period leading by the score of 26-22. The Rebels would not trail again in the contest. Smitty scored again off a pilfer, Ricky P nailed an old-fashioned 3 point play, Chase Where-have-you-been-er-man got off the schneid with two perfect free throws, while Jabtew registered 7 points on a twobie, a threebie and two freebies. The Rebels came out of the halftime interlude breathing fire and led by 12, 42-30, by the time the 3rd period was over. Ab-three hit a looonnng-three, RickyBobby hit a 3-fer of his own off an inbounds play, Christian scored an acrobatic layup off a steal and then Little Ricky hit a bucket at the buzzer on a putback off a teammate's miss. Rebels rockin', Warhawks reelin' The good times carried over to the 4th period, for a while. Josh hit for 2 off an ingenious inbounds play, and soon thereafter the highlight of the contest occurred. Ricky P jumped the passing lanes, swiped the rock and took off for the races. Stealing a furtive glance at the Warhawk in futile pursuit, Ricky found the promised land with a very impressive jam. Even Clackerman got in on the act, with a very impressive above-the-rim drop-in. But these Warhawks, disciplined and well-coached, were a long way from throwing in the towel. Back they came, making 5 3-pointers in the last period en route to 32 total points in the 8-minute span. But the Rebels were not to be denied this evening and kept the 'Hawks at bay by going 14-17 from the stripe in the 4th period (and 21-27 for the whole game). In the end, Coach B was able to empty the bench and Big John Thomasson, Christian Lobban and Aaron Walker did their best to work up a sweat. For the third time in succession, Josh led the hit parade, this time with 18 points, including 2 more 3-pointers and a perfect 4-4 from the line. 2 more 3's from Josh will put him alone in 3rd place in program history for career made 3's. Tricky Ricky upped his game (did you see that slam?!) and followed with 16 points; he also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists and led the team with 5 steals. For the 2nd game in a row, Christian Lewis established a new personal career high, this time with 13 points, including a stellar 7-8 on free ones. Mbangue led the squad with 6 rebounds and Stanley Weru smiled his way to 3 rebounds in his limited minutes; don't let that smile fool you, Stan's the man when the lights come on. As has been noted previously, no matter what, Coach B and staff will find stuff that needs attention in the next day's practice. Today's message was something like "You need more hoofin', less woofin". In other words, keep your composure and knock off the gestures, etc. which could get you T'd up for taunting. Next up is a contest down in Woodbridge Friday night. Coach says Prince William County uses a different referee association and the Rebs might meet a PW County team if they reach the Regional tournament, sooo ... If you leave now, you might get there before the 7:30 tip-off. Still too early for Christmas shopping (though it might be too late by the time you get back home from the general vicinity of Potomac Mills), so come to the game. Thanks for supporting the team.

Freedom WB Tipoff

Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk. Heretofore I have been afraid to ask, he looks so menacing. But tonight I think I learned why they call him "Chalk." More on that later. Tonight the Rebels traveled out of their element, half-way to Richmond (time-wise, not distance-wise) to participate in a tip-off tournament hosted by Freedom-Woodbridge High School. And the Rebels knew right away that there were not in Kansas any longer. Even the scorekeeper, who was chastised by the lead official for not having finished entering the lineups in the scorebook by the time he came to the table. Hey, it's not my fault that the home team listed their jersey sizes in the program instead of their jersey numbers! Anyways, we got that sorted out and once the game started, the blitz was on. With the Rebels pressing all over the court and forcing numerous turnovers, the visitors opened an 18-7 lead by the end of the first period and never looked back. Six Rebs scored in the period, which was marked by the emergence from hibernation of Chase Ackerman, who hit both his shots and who would shoot a perfect 5-5 for the game. Josh Abtew continued his consistent play with a layup off a steal and a 3-pointer. Ryan PZinski continued to display his new-found marksmanship with a 3-pointer as well. The pace slowed a bit in the 2nd period, which was played to a 15-15 tie, but the Rebels still led by 11, 33-22 at the half. Properly chastised in the half-time locker room for letting their defensive intensity lag in the 2nd period, Fairfax came out determined to impose their will on the home team for the remainder of the game. And that they did, holding the Eagles to a grand total of 5 points in the entire 2nd half! In the 3rd period, Abthree hit one from the Potomac Mills parking lot on the other side of I95 and another one from only the school parking lot, at the buzzer, to cap off his night. The lead was 20 at the end of the third and with junior Anthony Smith running the point for most of the 4th period, Coach B went to the reserves pretty early in the period. While Smitty scored on 3 tough, acrobatic shots in the lane, the most cheers from the bench were accorded to those hard-working reserves. Tyler Young scored on a pretty first-left-then-right layup on a frenetic fast break. Big John Thomasson muscled in a put-back off a teammate's missed shot. And then there was the mystery man, Christian "Chalk" Lobban. Chalk scored a nice hoop on the interior, but it was a shot that he didn't make wherein the man-child let his inner beast emerge and where the scorekeeper had his "ah-hah!" moment. After another rebound of a missed Eagles' shot, the defense got the ball out to Chalk on the break. And when I saw the expression on his face, which said to me "I am going to pulverize the rim with this rock", it became clear to me why they call him "Chalk". With Fairfax outscoring the home team 29-5 in the second half, the game ended in a 62-27 win. The Rebels upped their record in the early going to 4-0 and now face Christ Chapel Academy, also out of Woodbridge and winners of the first game over Brooke Point, in the tournament championship on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. This tournament marks the first time in Fairfax history that they have played either one of their opponents. For the 4th game in a row, Josh led the team in scoring, with 14 points, including four 3-pointers. 2 more made threebies and Joshie will be move into sole possession of 2nd place all-time in career made 3's. Not wanting to be perceived as one-dimensional, JAb also contributed 4 steals and took 2 charges, now having drawn at least 1 in every game so far. As indicated, the Chuckerman of old is beginning to emerge from his early-season slumber and didn't miss a shot tonight for his 10 points. AntMan Smith took turns running the point and racked up career-highs of 7 points and 3 assists. Christian Lewis continued his excellent play with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals, while Daniel Mbangue continues to show that he can run the point as well; tonight he contributed 5 rebounds and 6 assists. The team as a whole tallied 15 assists on 25 made baskets. And the energy on the bench tonight, which is something the coaching staff always preaches about, was very high, especially evident in the cheering for the guys at the end making the most of their precious minutes of playing time. Well done men! The Men in Black are right back at it Saturday night, so don't bother to look for a parking spot at Potomac Mills (you're not crazy are you?). Instead, use that as a good excuse to your spouse why you chose the alternative of coming to the game. You still have 16 shopping days (and at least 10 days of procrastination) left. But get to your seat on time, lest you be chastised by the officiating crew! Thank you for the support.

Freedom WB Tipoff

After being admonished by Coach Barbee to rise on Saturday morning sometime before noon, lest they not be able to shake off their somnambulance prior to tonight's 7:30 start, the Rebels took to the highway again to play in the championship contest of the Freedom Woodbridge Kickoff tourney. Their opponent, whom the Rebels had never ever matched up with before in the almost 80-year history of Fairfax basketball, was Christ Chapel Academy from Woodbridge, who thus had it all over the Rebels in one category before the game even started - shortest bus ride to the game. Fortunately, that stat doesn't count toward the final outcome, so the game started out 0-0. The Rebels took control at the outset, building a 12-point lead in the first period before CCA whittled it to 8 at the end of the period, 14-6. Mbangue, Ackerman and Pelczynski, accounted for all but 10 letters of the alphabet as well a 3-pointer each, while Christian Lewis, continuing his run of inspired play, stole a CCA inbounds pass, sprinted for the basket and laid it in while being smothered by a defender. He made he free throw to account for his 3rd point of the period as well. The defensive execution wasn't there in the 2nd period and the offense wasn't as proficient either, and by the end of the 8 minutes, the Rebels' lead had dwindled to 4, 25-21. C-Lew scored off a steal again, as well as 2 other buckets. You had a feeling, though, that it might not be CCA's night when their agile big guy went for the show-shopping jam when he got out on the break but the attempt ended up hitting the sideline bleachers on the fly. CCA did have the better of things for a good part of the 3rd period and twice got to within one point of the Rebels, but each time the men in black countered and actually nudged the lead up to 5 by the end of the period. Finally, in the 4th period, the Rebels found their rhythm again and began pouring it on. Mbangue took one in the chops underneath but still scored the bucket and the bonus. Ricky P went long on a baseline out-of-bounds play and tickled one home over CCA's big man shot-blocker not long after swishing a wet one from way out in Timbuktu. Lewis made all 4 of his free throw attempts and big Bobby Kestyn logged solid minutes and showed crisp perimeter passing on the offensive end while helping to hold CCA's interior scoring threat to a measly 2 buckets for the whole game. Afterwards the coaching staff praised the team for finding a way to keep things rolling on a night when the Rebs' usual top scorer was experiencing a rough shooting night, showing that they are not a one-dimensional team. On the night, CLew led the team in scoring by matching his career high, set just the night before, with 13 points, and matched the team high with 5 steals. WikiPetey was the other double-digit scorer, with 11, while Mbangue continues to fill up the Mstat Msheet, collecting 8 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals. The team as a whole registered 10 assists on 18 made baskets, a pretty good ratio. So now, the Rebels, who stand at 5-0, continue their pre-district odyssey by entertaining another tough former league foe, the South Lakes Seahawks, who visit the ice arena on Tuesday. I not gonna repeat myself about why you should be there, just know that I haven't even given a thought yet to what I should get for gifts. So you can tell your spouse that at least you're ahead of my pace. See you there!

Let's just say that the game plan wasn't executed in the anticipated manner. One of Coach B's top 5 keys to the game is ALWAYS "take care of the ball." Well, tonight the boys committed a season-high 25 turnovers, generally did not have a good flow nor the patience on offense to keep probing for openings and, despite having a brief 7-point lead early on in the 4th period, dropped a 47-44 decision to the visiting Seahawks of South Lakes HS in Reston. Things started well enough for the home team, at least on the scoreboard, as they led 12-8 at the end of the first period. But the 2nd period didn't go so swimmingly and after being down by 6 points at one point in the period, the Rebels did manage to close the gap to 3 by halftime, trailing 26-23. Abtew and Mbangue each chipped in with 8 points in the half and CLew got to the line 6 times in the half. Perhaps it was an omen, because although he came into the game shooting 19-23 (82.6%), it was not Christian's night, hitting on only 2 of his 6 chances from the stripe. The 3rd period was more to the home crowd's liking, holding the visitors to only 5 points, while scoring 13 themselves. The Rebels went on a 7-0 run (including a three-for-free exhibition by JAbthree) to close out the period up by the score of 36-31. But that was the high-water mark, as the Seahawks took the Rebels out of their game and dominated the 4th period to claim the win. Right at the outset, the Rebs' 5 point lead became a 7 point lead but that was basically that. The Seahawks turned up their defensive pressure, which, when combined with the Rebels proclivity to rush and to try to do too many things individually instead of within the context of the normal offense, turned that Rebel lead into a 2 point Fairfax deficit after a South Lakes 3-pointer with 42.8 ticks remaining. One more free throw by the Hawkers, followed by 2 missed 3-pointers by Ricky Peters, and the horn sounded to signal the Rebels' first defeat on the season. Team high scorer was JAbfree, whose 16 points included 3-5 from beyond the arc and 3-3 from the free zone, while Mbangue contributed 13 points 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 1 block. With their record now standing at 5-1, the Rebels will travel through a maze of new car showrooms on their way to meet the Bulldogs of Westfield HS on Friday night. From the 2005-06 season through the 2008-09 season the Rebs and the Dogs matched up at least twice per season in Concorde District play and out of the 17 times the schools have met in their history, the Rebels have only won twice. So they have a tough row to hoe come Friday. I'm not gonna beg you this time, just come to the darn game ... please.

Does anyone know who won the game last night? Really? Really? So that's why all these guys in black shirts were running willy-nilly back and forth across the gym after a buzzer sounded. Allright! The Rebels played one of their most exciting games in recent memory and came away with a 67-64 win in double overtime on the home court of the Westfield Bulldogs, a place where the Rebels had never won. Well, you can scratch that one off the list! As best I could tell, the Bulldogs into the contest winless on the season, while the Rebels came in following their first loss of the season. Fairfax had the better of things in the first period, leading 18-10 at the end. Abtew, Smith, Ackeman and Pelczynski all hit 3's in the period, with Peters, Mbangue and Lewis contributing 2 pointers. Some teams often don't have 7 guys score during a whole game, let alone all in the first period! During the 2nd period, the Bulldogs started to get things going and wiped out the entire 8-point deficit, even got a 2-point lead for a brief moment. But the Rebs grew the lead back to 6 at the half, 32-26. Josh hit 2 more 3's and AeroSmith hit a bucket and later was fouled on his Rockin Roller Coaster ride (ever been to Disney World? Get it?) to the hoop at the buzzer and was fouled with no time left on the clock. The officials made everyone stay on the court while Anthony took his free throws and he swished 'em both. In the 3rd period, the Rebels grew the lead to 12 on 2 separate occasions, saw it drop to 8 twice and ended it up by 10 at the "final" period break (spoiler alert!), 47-37. This time Josh, Ricky and Christian hit 3-pointers, while Ackerman twice scored off of designed in-bounds plays under the Rebels' hoop. However, foul trouble was mounting for the visitors, and as it so often does, that would color how the rest of the game went for the Men in Black. Westfield really took over the game in the 4th period and with the full-throated support of the sizable home crowd, outscored Fairfax 16-6 at the outset to tie the contest at 53 (at 1 point actually outscoring the Rebels 14-2), with about 3 minutes left in the period. Coach B called a full time out with 1:30 remaining and the score tied at 53. They worked the ball around and then handed it Daniel Mb and got out of the way so he could perform one of his herky-jerky-no-traveling-foul-me-if-you-dare moves to the basket. Sure enough he got hammered on the way home and made both free throws for a 55-53 Rebel lead. Time out Bulldogs, still with 1:09 remaining (an eternity, the way this game was unfolding). Westfield's big man made his 3rd hoop of the period to tie it again at 55. Time out Rebels, their final one of regulation, with 44.0 seconds remaining. Coach B again put the ball in the hands of HerkyJerkyMan and again he was fouled, this time with a mere 3.7 ticks remaining, but this time for a one-and-one, not while in-the-act. This time he missed the shot. Westfield grabbed the rebound and hurried it into the frontcourt where their top scorer heaved up a prayer from just inside the half-court line, which shot whistled cleanly through the net. However, the responsible official emphatically waved it off, having been barely, but clearly, released after the red light on the backboard shone through. OT babeee!! Minus Chase Hackerman who had fouled out of the contest with the Rebels' 13th team foul of the half. The Bulldogs struck first, then Mbangue tied it at 57 with another interior toughie. 2 free throws for the Bulldogs and then 2 by RickyP tied it again at 59. Ricky drove again and got fouled in the act, but he missed both shots Westfield suffered the same fate and then Ricky, playing his heart out in the OT period, got fouled yet again. But again he missed both attempts, only this time Mbangue-on-the-spot came up with the miss and muscled it in for a 61-59 lead. But there was still about a minute left and after Westfield evened it up again at 61, neither side could convert and the game went to a second overtime. And a 5th pencil. Christian Lewis fouled out during the period. Coach B went deeper and deeper into the bench and each man called upon responded to the challenge. Mbangue scored first for the Rebs in the 2nd OT to nudge his team in front 63-61. A Westfield free throw, a 3-point play by Abtew, and a Bulldog bucket (but a miss on the and-one attempt) left the Rebels with a 66-64 lead with 49.5 seconds remaining. Mbangue Mfouled Mout part-way through the 4-minute period and on came Stanley Steemer, smiling as usual, but playing good D and boxing out, as usual, as well. Stanley missed his both his free throw attempts coming out of that time out, adding to my anxiety but not subtracting from his facial demeanor or his tenacity of play by one bit. The Bulldogs used a time out with 36.5 seconds remaining, subsequently got off a number of shots, none of which really came all that close to falling and when they committed their 15th foul since halftime, Josh made one out of two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining to help finally seal the deal. Flash to above-referenced court-storming scenario and a 67-64 road win, pushing the Rebels' W/L record 6-1. Statistical highlights included team-high scoring from Josh Abtew, with 18 points, including 4 made 3-pointers (the 4th time this season he has registered that many makes from beyond the arc in a game) (note: Josh is fact-approaching the century mark in career made 3's). Also notable was a career-high 11 points from AeroSmith, to go along with 3 steals; 9 points and stifling defense from RickyP, 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists from the MInside Mman, and 9 points, 5 rebounds and a career-high-tying 5 assists from C-HAck. Not much time to enjoy this one, as the Rebs report to the Laing for a 4 pm tilt on Saturday, hosting another never-before-played-them Washington Latin Public Charter School. Maybe do a little gift-browsing first, then come by. These Saturday games are getting to be a habit!

Following last week's Friday/Saturday back-to-backer, the Rebels looked to repeat the outcome in this week's version of the high school doubleheader. After Friday night's physically draining 2 OT win over the Westfield Bulldogs, Fairfax played host Saturday afternoon to the Latin Lions of Washington Latin Public Charter School, from north of the Fort Totten area of Washington, D.C. Continuing a trend unfolding this season, this was the first time the two schools ever met in any sort of athletic competition. And the Rebels seized control of the game right from the opening tip. The first period was pretty even, with the Rebels ending up on top 12-8. But they really revved things up in the 2nd period, outscoring the Lions 26-7 in the period, which accounted for the 36-15 tally at halftime. EZ Pleazee Ryan Peazee had 8 points in the 2nd period to lead the way, Josh Abtew tallied 6 in the period and AeroSmith and RickyP each had 5. The 3rd period was even more 1-sided with Fairfax holding the visitors to an all-time program best of one point during the 8-minute stretch, while scoring 24 points themselves. Christian Lewis led this time with 7 points, while Anthony, doing his best Steven Tyler (you know, the lead singer for AeroSmith )impression tacked on another 5 and Rowdy Rebel Rooter Fan Favorite Big Bobby Kestyn registered 2 buckets for a career-high 4 points. Time to hand things over to the understudies. With Anthony conducting things from the point, Aaron Walker scored the first two hoops of his varsity career, Tyler Young canned the first 3-pointer of his varsity life to go along with a twobie for a career-high 5 points and the Chalkman and Big John Thomasson logged career highs in minutes played while D-ing up to protect the rim. As a result, the Rebels came away with a 73-40 win over the Latins, moving the season's ledger to 7-1, with 1 more game before Christmas. PleazeePeasee tied with CLew for team-high with 11 points, setting a new career-high with his first double-digit total. Not only that, but he registered career highs in in rebounds, with 6 (including 5 on the offensive glass), and assists with 3. Anthony followed closely behind with10 points, including 3-3 from the line, where he has made his last 8 in a row. Ricky totaled 9 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals and SmileEasy set career marks with 4 assists and 2 steals. All in all, the team registered an incredible 24 assists on 30 made baskets. So, if you've been waiting on guidance from me, now is the time to either hit the mall or hit the web and get that shopping done. The Rebels are off until Friday the 21st, so take advantage of the lag in game competition this week, cuz thereafter it's gonna get hectic. Thank you for the support.

Freed at last from the yoke of classes, homework, presentations, projects, etc., the Rebels kicked off their Christmas beak Friday night by hosting the Saxons of Langley High School. Since the 1988-89 season (as far back as records of this type are compiled to date), the Rebels and the Saxons have tangled 55 times with the Rebels barely leading the series 28-27 but with the Saxons having a decided 14-6 advantage in the last 20 contests. Well, toss all that out the window, because tonight the Rebels dominated from the opening tip and came away with a convincing 57-36 win, the 3rd fewest points ever accumulated by the Saxons against the Rebels. And we meant it when we said "from the opening tip." Chase Ackerman controlled the tip-off to Josh Abtew who pulled up just short of the Mason-Dixon line and drained a 3-pointer. Chase scored on the interior, Josh buried another 3-pointer, this time from just inside the Greenwich meridian, Chase scored again off a steal and before you knew it, it was 10-0 Fairfax. And it didn't stop there. AeroSmith swooped in for a steal and converted the resulting layup, Chuckerman soared for an alley-oop, Josh knocked down 2 more long-distance requests and when the air-raid klaxon sounded and the smoke cleared to end the period, the Rebels had a 20-3 lead. And that was effectively that. For the rest of the game, the Rebels outscored the Saxons 37-33, keeping the marauders at bay. JAbthree shot 5-6 on 3-pointers in the first half, but 0-4 in the 2nd half as the defense really clamped down on him. Still, he led the team in scoring with his 15 points, closely followed by Daniel Mb and the Chuckster (shooting 6-10 from the floor) with 12 apiece. Josh has now cracked the century mark on career made 3-pointers, with 104. Tyler Young got in some solid minutes and went 3-4 from the free throw line. That is, until the refs realized that the foul/technical foul sequence during which they awarded him a one-and-one and then Coach B had him shoot the 2 from the tech, shouldn't have been a one-and-one at all (full disclosure: the scorekeeper didn't catch the error either) because the foul was only the Saxons' 6th of the half (the tech was the 7th). So they took 2 points off the board and Tyler ended up officially 1-2 from the line. Hans Christian Lewis continued his fine floor play, dishing out a career-high 5 assists to go along with his 7 points. Ricky didn't score but as usual contributed his pesky defense, garnering 3 steals and 5 rebounds. And MDaniel registered 8 rebounds, 4 Santa's helpers and 3 Grinchly thefts. So now the team takes a pause to enjoy the season a bit, and hopefully so do you. NOW you better get that holiday shopping done. I already know that my wife is giving me a season's pass to the rest of the Rebels' games, as she thoroughly enjoys having me out of the house on a regular basis. Happy Holidays. Rest up, cuz next week offers back-to-back-to-back games on Th/Fr/Sa in the Rebel Roundball Classic and you'll need to build up your stamina. See you there. Go Rebels!

Fairfax Rebel Holiday Classic

In this season of firsts, the Fairfax Rebels recorded another, as they took on the Tigers of Brentsville High School for the first time ever, hosting the boys from far western Prince William County in the first round of the Rebels Roundball Classic. Tip-off time was 9:15 p.m. but the team showed no signs of sleepiness, as they zoomed out to leads of 9-0, 16-2, 26-4 and 30-5, all in the first period, before ending the stanza up by a score of 33-10. The second period was even worse, or better, depending on your point of view, with the Rebels outscoring the Tigers 20-3. The halftime score of 53-13 meant that the 2nd half of the game would be played with a running clock until such time as the lead might shrink to something less than 30 points. Which it never did. With the hard-working reserves garnering a great deal of playing time in the 2nd half, the Rebels went on to a 72-25 win and moved their season's record to 9-1. This marks only the 3rd time in the Rebels' 84-year basketball history that the team has won 9 of the first 10 games. So stay tuned folks, something special could be brewing. As expected in a game like this, the team had very balanced scoring, with 11 of the 13 players registering points. Top men were Mbangue with M-eleven and Pelczynski with 10. Bobby Big had career highs of 4 points and 4 rebounds, while gentle giant Chalk wiped the boards clean a career-high 4 times as well. Props also to John Thomasson who matched BB exactly to establish his career-highs in points and rebounds as well. While mixing it up inside, he muscled in a rebound for one of his buckets, discretely acknowledged the cheers of his teammates from the bench and hustled back up the floor to play some defense. Way to go big fella! And finally, senior swingman Tyler Young knocked down two 3-pointers and 1 mid-range jumper on his way to a new career mark of 8 points. So congrats to TYoung as well. Abtew, Ackerman and Pelczynski each had 4 steals and Ant-man Smith continued his improved play with 8 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Next game is tomorrow, at 5:45 p.m., against the Chantilly Chargers, coached by the dean of all Northern Region coaches, Jim Smith, in his 28th year as the Chargers' head man. The work week is over, there's another short one coming up and you don't have to worry about Christmas shopping (returns, maybe), so come on out and cheer for the Rebels as they attempt to make history. They'll appreciate the support.

Fairfax Rebel Holiday Classic

"Smith helps Rebels to 10th win, date with Oakton for tourney championship". So read the headline on page 5 of today's Washington Post sports section. Read the article, it's a really fine story. Some good quotes from Coach B and from today's humble hero, Anthony "Aw Shucks" Smith. On late Friday afternoon, the Rebels took to the court again to do battle with the Chantilly High School Chargers in the 2nd round of the hosts' Rebel Round Ball Classic, with a berth in the championship game on the line. And today, the oop portion of the team's alley-oop play finally worked. The Chargers controlled the tip and scored the first bucket of the game, but the Rebels countered with an absolutely perfect lob pass to Chase Ackerman who soared waaaaayyy over the rim from his spot along the baseline and rammed that sucker resoundingly home to tie the game at 2. The game went back and forth for a few possessions, but gradually the homers began to pull away and although they only led 12-10 at the end of the period, you could tell that things were beginning to click. They harassed the Chargers everywhere on the court and outscored the visitors 19-13 in the 2nd period, with the Chargers still hanging tough and the Rebels getting into a bit of individual and team foul trouble. Slammerman matched his 1st period output with 5 more points in the 2nd period, Abtew connected on 2 of his house specialties and Mbangue m-connected on his first m-bucket. But today's hero left a lingering impression on both squads as he launched one from beyond the arc while on his way to the locker room for the halftime chalk talk. The backboard lit up while that baby was in the air and the home crowd lit up when the shot found the bottom of the net. Anthony? Well, he just put his head down and continued to the locker room. The Rebels led 31-23 at the break. After the break, Fairfax pretty much controlled the rest of the game. Coach B gave the order to get the ball into MDaniel's hands, which the team did. And MDaniel worked his contortionism in the lane, scoring 2 buckets and getting fouled on 3 occasions while twistin', twistin', twistin' the night away. The lead was 19 at the end of the 3rd period and with about 4 minutes remaining in the game and the Rebels still up by 16, Chantilly Coach Smith sent his reserves in en masse and let them finish up. Coach B did the same and after Bobby K got to the line for 2 free throws, he was reminded that we'd had enough rain that day and that he didn't need to send his free throws into the clouds, just into the basket (he made the 2nd of the pair of shots). On the night, the Man of the Night scored a career-high 13 points, which, when announced in the post-game locker room, was met by a resounding cheer and much messing of the hair. He had 4 steals on the defensive end as well. Abtew and Dunkerman each had 10 points, while Peters and Mbangue both had 9. WikiPesky recorded a half dozen steals and picked up a defensive charge, while McTwisty notched 6 assists and 2 blocks. So, as the local rag advised, the Rebels are 1 win away from their inaugural tourney title under the reconstituted tournament for which they and the Lady Rebels are hosts. It's a 9:15 p.m. start on Saturday, so take a nap during the afternoon cuz you're not gonna wanna miss a minute of the action. Stop by and say hi. And Woot for the Webels. As ever, thank you for the support.

Fairfax Rebel Holiday Classic

On Saturday night, the Rebels took to the home court for the finals of the Rebel Roundball Holiday Classic, in search of their first holiday tournament championship since capturing the title in a tournament at McLean HS in 2005. The opponent was the Cougars of Oakton HS, a team Fairfax had beaten twice before in holiday tournament finals, in 1990 and 1991. But the two teams had not matched up since 2009, the Rebels' final year of competing in the Concorde District. Well, the 3rd time was not the charm for the Cougars, as the Rebels led from start to finish en route to a 55-48 victory and the championship trophy. Josh Abtew opened the scoring for Fairfax with a sweet 3-pointer and he hit another moments later. Chase Jumperman soared for a couple of buckets inside, Daniel Mbangue pivoted on the interior for 2 insiders like one of his feet was nailed to the floor, and Aero Smith beat the buzzer again to give his team an 18-10 lead at the first break. Ryan Pelczynski took over the leading man role in the 2nd period, scoring three times on layups, twice off steals. Daniel M continued to amaze and notched 2 free throws and a 3 pointer, as the lead grew to 9 at halftime, 33-24. The 3rd quarter was played to a 10-10 draw, with MDan hitting twice more, Ryan moving outside for a 3-pointer and Josh moving to a different school district for his 3rd 3-pointer of the game. Twice in the 4th period Oakton pulled to within 6 points, but the Rebels' patience with the ball (at one point, they controlled possession for over 2 minutes probing the defense for an opening) and the combined 5-6 free throw shooting by RickyP and Daniel (M)B down the stretch kept the Cougars at bay, resulting in a championship celebration. Daniel topped the scoring with a season-high 16 points, while Ryan followed closely with a career-high 13 markers. Abtew tallied 9 on his 3 makes and the Chuckerman contributed 7 points. Daniel also contributed 6 rebounds and 3 assists, while Chase snagged a season-high 6 rebounds as well. Ricky was tenacious in his defensive play tonight, all tournament-long really, and was named to the All-Tournament team, as was Ryan. But the piece de resistance was that Daniel was named by the participating coaches as the Tournament MVP. Over the course of the 3 days' play, he tallied 36 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks, all while doing a considerable amount of ball-handling as well. Afterwards, Coach B and staff congratulated the team, but admonished them that the real season (i.e, district play) starts next week and that every game is going to be a scrap. The pre-district record stands at 11-1, with the 10-game double round robin district schedule starting on Friday. So if you've enjoyed the games thus far, just wait, it gets better. So rest up, just like the guys are doing, celebrate the dawn of the new year safely and responsibly and hopefully you can then celebrate something much less common in about 6 weeks. Thank you. Go Rebels!

Okay, without looking it up, who knows the title to the song whose lyrics in part read: ... "Ain't no rules, ain't no vow, we can do it anyhow ..." I'll give you a hint: it's a Bob Marley song. Well, after tonight's performance by Little Ricky and The Band, which song must have been running through his head all night, it could become the team's anthem for the season. After an extended break and with the boys itching to get back on school grounds (okay, I made that part up), the Fairfax Rebels returned to the home ice at Pat Laing Arena (did you see how many times players slipped and fell during the game? Gotta talk to the bldg maintenance crew about that ice under the basketball floor) to open District play against the visiting Spartans of West Springfield High School. The first several minutes of the opening period were played pretty evenly, but the Rebels were not quite hitting on all cylinders at the outset. Except for RickyP, that is. He was everywhere on the offensive and defensive ends of the court and hit 3 buckets in the period. Abtew scored off a steal, Ackerman scored off an in-bounds play run specifically for him, Lewis knocked down a 3-pointer and Mbangue notched an old-fashioned 3-pointer. Fairfax led 19-16 at the end of the period. But Daniel picked up 2 fouls in the period and sat out the entire 2nd period as a result. Never fear, his running mates soldiered on without him, edging the Spartans 14-10 for the period. Abtew hit his daily special, Ricky scored again, Ant-ney had a bucket and free throw, and Lewis hit both ends of his one-and-one. There was the play of the gentle giant, John Thomasson. Called upon tonight earlier than he is accustomed to, he was prepared nonetheless. He smothered a couple of rebounds on the defensive end and made a tough, contested shot while getting hact in the act. Score the basket! Didn't make the free throw but continued to play hard during his time. The Rebels effectively sealed the deal in the 3rd period when they opened he period on a 10-0 run. Abtew came out firing from the locker room and canned another 3 as well as a pair of free throws. But here was when Ricky really put his stamp on the game. First he scored a basket, then he jumped the Spartan passing lane, stole the pass, and with a quick side-long glance to see if anyone was pursuing, took off for the promised land. You could feel the crowd rise up from their seats and they leaped and shouted for joy when Ricky threw down with authority. They tightened things up defensively in the 3rd period as well and led by 16 going into the final stanza. Ricky's motor was still pushing the limits of its tachometer and he rammed another one home to complete his scoring night. When the Spartans' coach sent in a gaggle of reserves with still a few minutes remaining, Coach B did the same. No doubt with Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Music" playing on endless loop in his brain, big Chalk Lobban found himself out on the break doing his best Ricky imitation and when he rammed his shot home, the entire Rebels' bench erupted in cheers for the big guy. Why, there was even a hint of a fist-pump at the scorer's table. The final outcome was a 63-44 win for the home team, lifting their record to 12-1 overall and 1-0 in the District. RickyP led the jam session with a school record-tying 9-9 performance from the field and a season-high 19 points, only 1 off his career high. Josh was the other double-digit scorer, with 14; he added a career-high 6 steals. Chase Helperman tied his career high with 5 assists, Ryan Pelczynski made all 3 of his shot attempts, the team shot an excellent 22-31 from 2-point range and BobbyBig, Favowite of the Webel Wooters, tied his career high while tying for game-high honors with 4 rebounds. Answer to the quiz: We Be Jammin' It doesn't get any easier, as the Robinson Rams are the next visitors to the temporary home of the Ice Capades, on Tuesday. The Rebs will be trying to extend their current 7-game winning streak and they could really use your support. So break your New Year's resolution and come to the game instead. Thank you for the support.

Fairfax continued their long homestand by entertaining the Rams of Robinson High School in the 2nd game of Patriot District play. The coaching staff consistently reminds the team that theirs is the toughest district in the entire state and they need to be at their best every moment of every game. Tonight bore them out. The game started slowly, with the Rams scoring the first basket but not until 2:44 into the game. The Rebels tied it at 2 but thereafter, Robinson outscored them 8-3 for the remainder of the period to take a 10-5 lead after one. The Rams scored first in the 2nd period as well and then the Rebels caught fire. Mbangue hit from distance to make it 8-12, then RickyP did the same to make it 11-12. A Rams' free throw gave them a 13-11 lead, but that would turn out to be their last lead of the game. Pelczynski muscled in for a steal and his streaking layup tied the game at 13. A long 3-pointer from Abtew made it 16-13 Rebels and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Ant-ney made it 19-13 at the half, Fairfax having gone on an 8-0 run to end the period. The Rebs opened the 2nd half the same way they closed out the first, going on a 9-0 blitz to start the period, giving them a 15-point lead. But the Rams bounced right back with an 8-0 run of their own and end the period down by 7, with the home team bench getting a little bit nervous. Robinson quickly closed to within 5 at the start of the final quatrain, but that was as close as they would get. Their foul trouble put the Rebels at the line 16 times in the 4th period and Mbangue and Ackerman combined to make all 14 of their attempts to keep things in control. The end result was a 46-35 victory for the Rebels, pushing their record to 2-0 in District play and 13-1 overall. Only 1 other team in FHS history has won 13 of their first 14 games and though time has not yet permitted thorough research on this, it is hard to imagine that any FHS team has gone better from the free throw line than the Rebels' 18-21 performance tonight. Mbangue was high scorer for the game with 16 points, including 9-10 from the charity stripe. Ackerman tallied 8 points, helped greatly by his 6-6 performance from the line, and Abtew recorded 8 points as well. Ricky and MDaniel led with 4 rebounds each and MDaniel also recorded 6 steals. BobbyK ruled the interior during his time in the game and came up with a beautiful steal, as he timed his intervention perfectly. The Rebels finally take to the road on Friday, traveling to Burke to take on the "on-the-verge-of-cracking-the-Washington-Post's-top-20 Lake Braddock Bruins. The Bruins like to turn every game into a track meet, the Rebels don't. Come on out and see which approach wins. Thanks for the support.

The Rebels ran into a buzz saw tonight in the form of the Bruins of Lake Braddock High School. In their only away game of the first leg of round robin Patriot District play, Fairfax took their show on the road to face the high flying Bruins. Braddock came into the game averaging a shade over 94 points per game on the season thus far. And while the Rebels held them to an almost season-low 78 points, they learned that that wouldn't cut it when they themselves scored only 57 points. The Bruins' gym is enormous, and the home-team bleachers were filled with the largest high school basketball crowd I have ever seen in person. And they certainly had plenty to cheer about, as the home team jumped out to a 16-11 lead at the end of the first period. RickiePedia led the way for Fairfax with 5 points in the period. The second period yielded much more, and more balanced, scoring for the visiting Rebels. Antney notched 2 buckets and a free throw and Christian canned 3 out of 4 attempts from the line. But the real mstory of the period was MDaniel, mwho mworked his mway minside, mostly, for 2 toughies and 6 free throws, en route to 10 points in the period. The Bruins unleashed the beast in the 3rd period, speeding their way to 27 points in the period, compared to 11 for the Rebels. And on a night like tonight, the 68-46 deficit at the end of the 3rd period was far too much to overcome. The loss knocks the Rebels' record back to 13-2 overall, 2-1 in district play with 2 games left in the first of 2 times through the home-and-away series against Patriot District opponents. Mbangue tied his career high with 20 points (including a perfect 6-6 from the line); MDan has made good on 21 of his last 23 attempts from the free throw line and is creeping up on the 80% accuracy threshold for the year. The team only made good on 1 of their season-low 4 three-point FG attempts and that 1 was not made by Josh, the first time all year that he did not sink a 3-ball in the whole game. He did contribute 5 rebounds and a career-high-tying 4 assists. RyanAir also tied his career high with 6 rebounds, Chackerman totaled 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks and Ricky scored in double figures again with 11. The opponents for the next 2 games to finish out the 1st round robin through the District? Why, none other than the last 2 state champions, South County and then Woodson, both at home. You gotta man up in this district! So make sure you get your driveway clear because the Rebels will need your vocal support whenever it is they can get the games in. Onward and upward! Thanks for co

VARSITY ONLY DH

At least once every season, or so it seems, winter weather causes some sort of upset in the schedule. This year, it might even work in the Rebels' favor. A sizable snowfall on Sunday disrupted school enough that the Rebels' scheduled home game against the Stallions of South County HS, out of Lorton, VA was postponed on Tues, evening . As a result of the Mon/Tues school closure/late opening, what was originally on the schedule as a home game, morphed into a Girls/Boys doubleheader, at South County instead of at home. The potential benefit stems from the fact that the next game against the Stallions will be at home in front of the Wooters. Anyways, tonight's game, while not particularly well played, was exciting nonetheless. Fairfax fell behind early on, but a 3-pointer from Throsh Abtew tied things up at 7-pts apiece. Ryan Pelczynski (I spelled it out just to see if i could) hit a threebie of his own to give the Rebs a 10-9 lead and Joshie cashed in again for a 13-12 lead. This time he was fouled in the act, but couldn't cash in on the free throw, and the period ended with Fairfax clinging to that 1-point lead. Game on! The teams continued to battle evenly back and forth throughout the 2nd period as well. Christian Lewis hit a driving layup to tie the game at 21, Ricky Peters drove the lane a couple of times as only he can, and RyanP scored the final 3 points of the period on his 2nd 3-pointer of the night. Both teams headed into the locker room with 24 points on the board and no one in foul trouble. Christian Lewis got in on the long-distance dedications to open the 3rd period scoring ,but the Stallions came right back with a 3-point play of their own, old-school variety, to knot it up at 27. Ricky and Chase Ackerman hit 3-pointers along the way and soon the Rebels had built a 7-point lead. But the Stallions didn't lose everyone off last year's Va State Championship team and they climbed back to within 4 points by the end of the period, down 37-41. Well, it didn't take long for the Stallions to catch all the way up. They went on a 9-2 run at the start of the 4th period and took a 46-43 lead. Anthony Smith drove to the hoop with authority and his make brought the visitors to within 1 at 45-46. A miss and a make at the line for SCounty made it 47-45 in their favor with 19.8 seconds remaining in the contest. During the ensuing timeout, Coach B must have ordered the team to get the ball in the hands of Mbangue, which they mdid. With Daniel probing the interior looking for the slightest opening, he became the recipient of the Stallions' 10th team foul of the half with 8.7 ticks left on the game clock. Earlier in the period, a teammate had twice failed to connect on the front end of a 1-and-1 and Daniel himself had recently bricked both attempts of a 2-shot foul. This time, however, there was no doubt as soon as each shot left his hand and his 2 makes tied the contest at 47. South County inbounded the ball and worked it up court against Rebel pressure. They managed to get the ball into the hands of their big man who laid it off the glass and in a fraction of a second before the backboard lit up signaling the expiration of both the time clock and the Rebels' hopes for a signature win on the road. Final score 49-47 in favor of the home team. Having lost the last 2 contests, Fairfax now owns a record of 13-3 overall, 2-2 in the Patriot District. Mbangue led the squad in scoring again with 10 points, followed by Ricky with 9, Chase with 7 and Josh and Ryan with 6 apiece. Josh hit 2 3-pointers in the 1st period but was shut out for the rest of the game. Chase and Ricky each had 7 rebounds and Chase led with 3 assists and a block. Next up for the Rebels is a rivalry game, and a conference foe to boot, against the cross-town Cavaliers of WTWoodson HS. Oh, and did I mention that the Cavs won the State title two years ago??? You're not gonna wanna miss this one, so come on out and start your MLK weekend a little early by rootin for the Rebs. Thank you!

It actually wasn't as bad as I thought. I was thinking that we had just witnessed the Rebels' worst shooting night in a long, long time, but when I looked it up, it actually wasn't that long. Which is not really a good thing, but hey, we're trying to stay positive here. In the final game of the first round robin of Patriot District play, Fairfax hosted cross-town rival WT Woodson, looking to continue their 3-game winning streak against the Cavaliers and looking to get back into the win column after 2 straight losses in District play. As you might have surmised from the introduction, neither one happened. Woodson had some height and they controlled the opening tip but didn't score their first time down. Neither did the Rebels. The Cavs' 2nd trip down the court was unceremoniously interrupted by Ricky Peters, who barged through the intended recipient of Woodson's pass, stole the ball and streaked downcourt for the layup and the and-one to boot. Alas, he didn't score again all night. Josh Abtew made 2 interior buckets, the 2nd of which gave the Rebs a 10-6 lead. But the Cavs closed out the period with a 5-0 mini run to lead 11-10 at the break. Fairfax shot a respectable 4-7 from the field, 2-point distance-wise that is, but it was all downhill from there. For the first time in almost a year, they did not make a single three-pointer in the entire game, going 0-16. All told, Fairfax shot 24% from the floor, their worst performance since a holiday tournament game in the 2012-13 season and the first 0-fer from beyond the arc since a game at Lake Braddock last season. Despite a valiant effort, the Rebels just could not find the range and after getting down by as much as 14 points in the 4th period, they ended up with their 3rd consecutive loss, all in District play, this one by a score of 43-31. No one on either team reached double digits in scoring, so Abtew's 9 points were a game-high. Mbangue had a team-high 4 steals and registered the team's only assist for the contest (ruminate on that for a while). He was bullied and battered every time he tried to drive to the hoop and did get to the line 9 times, but was only able to convert on 3 of those tries. Chase Ackerman was the leading rebounder, with 8, which is a new career-high for him. Coach B and his staff remain upbeat and will be working hard, as will the players, to find ways to emerge from the current funk. Among other things, Coach reminded the team that they finished the first half of the round robin last year with the same 2-3 record and went on to win the 2nd half with a 4-1 record. So there is a precedent. Got to remain positive though. With one more cycle through District play all that is left of the regular season, the Rebels' record now stands at 13-4 overall and 2-3 in the Patriot. As best as I can tell, since a number of schools do not keep their website up to date and the Washington Post seems to devalue high school sports more and more every day, here are the standings half-way through league play: 1) Lake Braddock 5-0, 2) South County 4-1 (lost to Lake Braddock last night 100-97!!), 3) Woodson 3-2 (after starting 0-2), 4) Fairfax 2-3, 5) Robinson 1-4, 6) West Springfield 0-5. Notice that we beat the teams below us in the standings and lost to all those above us. Gotta change that in the second half in order to move up in the standings. So after a school holiday on Monday for MLK day, the Rebs take to the highways and byways (probably the back roads actually) to challenge the West Springfield Spartans in their renovated gym in Springfield on Tuesday. Now more than ever the team would appreciate your support, so try to fit it into your schedule. And if you're affected by the partial government shutdown, tell the gatekeeper I said you could get in for free (and let me know if that works). Thanks for reading.

The Rebels took to the road to kick off the 2nd half of Patriot District play, traveling to West Springfield HS to take on the Spartans and looking to break out of their 3-game funk. The trip seemed to do the trick, as they were in control of the game from the opening tip en route to a 65-46 win to even their district record to 3-3 and upping their overall record to 14-4. The Rebs led by 12 at the end of the 1st period and by 14 at halftime. Tonight the star of the show was Christian Lewis. C-Lew registered 8 points in the first quarter and a game- and career-high 19 points, including 8-10 on freebies. Speaking of freebies, the Spartans committed an incredible 33 fouls for the game, sending Fairfax to the line 45 times (the most since a game against Lee during the latter half of the 1994-95 season). They were successful on 27 of those attempts, the most made free throws in a single game in 5 years. There were some impresssive stat lines tonight, starting with the aforementioned C-Lew, who, along with his 19 points, chipped in 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Close on his heels, with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and a block, was RickyP. Mbangue went 8-9 from the line for all his points, while also contributing 8 boards and 6 pilfers, while Ackerman nabbed 6 rebounds. Another brief road trip on Friday , as the squad travels to Robinson HS to tangle with the Rams. You don't even have to leave work early for that one, so finish your work, submit your timesheet for the week and come see if the Rebs can build a new winning streak.

The Rebels continued their mini resurgence in racking up another Patriot District win Friday night, but it sure wasn't easy. The team took the short trip over to Robinson High School to take on the Rams in their spacious fieldhouse. Robinson played an excellent game and hung right with the Rebels until their foul trouble in the 4th period enabled Fairfax to build a big enough lead such that the Rams could not make another comeback. Christian Lewis opened the game scoring with a 3-pointer but Robinson came right back with 2 of their own. As time was dwindling in the period, the Rams held a 12-11 lead but 2 free throws by C-Lew (he went 7-9 from the line on the night) put the Rebs back in front 13-12. C-Make followed that with another free throw for a 14-12 lead but Robinson tied it at 14 with a bucket with only a few ticks remaining in the period. Whereupon lightning-quick Anthony Smith spun down the lane for a contested layup just a smidge before the horn sounded to give the visitors a 16-14 lead after one. The second period was even closer and was won by the Rams, 11-10. Josh Abtew finally got in the scorebook with an old-fashioned 3-point play right before the half ended, turning a 23-25 deficit into a 26-25 lead at the break. Across a good stretch of the 1st and 2nd periods, big John Thomasson was called upon as a sub on the interior and during his stint played excellent defense clogging things up in the middle. He was fouled making a strong move to the hoop and sank 1 of his 2 resulting free throws. The 3rd period was every bit as hotly contested as the first 2, with Fairfax eking out a15-14 advantage, to enter the final period with a 41-39 lead. The second half team fouls were even at 3 apiece at the end of the 3rd period, but that changed dramatically in the 4th quarter. 10 more team fouls on the Rams in the final period sent the Rebels to the line for 17 free throws (compared to 3 for Robinson) and their 11 makes helped to enlarge the lead all the up to 14 points for a brief instance during the period after the Rams had evened the game up at 43. Only a couple of buckets by the Rams with less than a minute remaining and the outcome no longer in doubt brought the final margin of victory down to 9, 62-53. Mslithery MDaniel Mbangue led all scorers with 20, matching his career high, shooting a combined 5-6 from the field and getting to the line 12 times. Lewis notched 14 points and 3 steals, and Abtew tallied 10 (including credit for a bucket for being the closest player to the incident when a Robinson player accidentally tipped the ball into the Rebels' basket, thank you very much). Ricky P led with 7 rebounds and AntMan logged major minutes while out-quicking everyone on the court on his way to 7 points and 3 assists. Lastly, 3 different players racked up charging calls on defense, something the coaching staff loves to see but I'm still achy from watching them absorb the blows. With the win, the Rebs got back on the plus side in District record at 4-3, 15-4 overall, with a very tough closing stretch coming up, facing the three teams ahead of them in the standings. Tuesday night is Senior Night against league-leader Lake Braddock. So please be sure to come out and enjoy the action, while also giving a hearty cheer for our 3 seniors Bobby Kestyn (who, by the way, last night won the District championship in the 12-lb shotput by more than 4 feet (!!) over the nearest competitor before he came to the basketball game(!)-all in a day's work for the jovial big man), Stanley Weru and Tyler Young. It is sure to be an exciting evening. Thank you for your interest and support.

Does anybody remember The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and his character, Carnac the Magnificent? His sidekick Ed McMahon would read an answer and Carnac would give him the question for which the answer was appropriate. (Google it) A: Well, it's a pretty short list: 1) government employees are back at work, 2) the sun came up today ... that's all I got. Q: What has gone right for the Rebels lately? Johnny's was funny, unfortunately ours isn't. Before the last home game of the regular season and facing the defending State-champion Stallions from South County High School, Fairfax honored the three senior members of the team and thanked them for their leadership and the work ethic they personified and instilled in their younger teammates. Smilin' Stanley Weru jumped center tonight, Tyler Young got the first varsity start of his career, and BigBobby Kestyn logged a career-high in minutes played. And while the game was close until late in the third quarter, the Rebels' continued cold shooting and the lack of defensive intensity foretold another Patriot District loss, this time by the score of 63-50. They shot almost 50% from inside the arc, but barely 16% (3-19) from beyond. Sharpshooter Josh Abtew continued to have difficulty finding the range, going 0-10 from distance, though he did go 8-8 from the free throw line to account for his entire offensive output on the night. Junior Chase Ackerman led the team in scoring tonight, tallying a season-high 13 points, followed by MDan the MMan with 12. Christian Lewis tied his career high with 5 rebounds and ChackAttack also contributed 3 assists and 3 steals. Well, there's one game left in the regular season, and boy, is it a biggie. Friday night the boys saddle up and take the floor at W.T. Woodson. Combine the usual charged atmosphere in the Cavaliers' cramped quarters, the cross-town rivalry, and the playoff seeding implications and you come up with a can't-miss event for your day planner (I know, I'm dating myself; you probably keep your schedule on your phone. Whatever.) The Rebs need to feel the love. Just get there early if you want to sit down!

Did anybody get the license plate on that truck? What's that you say? A freight train? Really? Truck, freight train, bus, all 3, whatever. The Rebels got run over three ways til Sunday when they took on the Bruins of Lake Braddock in a game rescheduled several times due to the recent frigid temps and snow. CLew opened the game scoring and then the onslaught began. Braddock scored nothing but 3's in the first period, plus one puny free throw. But Fairfax held their own and only trailed by one, 13-12, at the end of the period. Mbangue gave the Rebs a 14-13 lead, Abtew tied it at 17 with his second 3 of the contest, Daniel tied it again at 19, Josh gave the Rebels a 21-19 lead, Christian tied it again it 25, and then the game effectively ended for the home team. For the Bruins finished the period on a 19-4 run and took a 44-29 lead into the break. The lead blossomed to 32 by one juncture in the 3rd period as the Bruins rained down 3's from everywhere, making a total of 15 for the game, while the Rebels nearly matched the temperatures outside with their 8-32 second-half shooting, including 0-10 from 3-point range in the half. With only 2 games remaining in the regular season, the Rebels' record stands at 15-5 overall, 4-4 in the Patriot District. Ricky Peters led the team tonight with 14 points, while collecting 5 rebounds. Abtew totaled 12 points, Pelczynski had a team-high 6 rebounds, while BDan and ChAck each collected 5. Once again Big John Thomasson logged important defensive minutes, Smiley Stanley Weru scored from congestion on the interior and sophomore Greg Williams, recently called up from the junior varsity squad, looked pretty comfortable in scoring hist first 2 career buckets with the A team. In the revised schedule, the Rebs get no practice time before tipping it off Monday night, Feb 4, against the South County Stallions in the re-scheduled Senior Night match-up. Festivities are scheduled to occur prior to the game, commingled with the Lady Rebels' celebration. So be sure to be in your seat to give a hearty thanks to our 3 seniors, then watch the squad do battle with the 2nd place team in the District. And then .... make plans for Tuesday's night's regular season finale against the cross-town WT Woodson Cavaliers. Seats are likely to be at a premium for that one. See you soon!

Whew! This one's gonna take a while. Playing against cross-town rivals W.T. Woodson on Woodson's senior night in their packed bandbox gymnasium with the thermostat seemingly on high, this game was the very embodiment of a barn-burner. Neither team led by more than 4 points, and in the end, due to some clutch free throw shooting and some defensive stops, the Rebels eked out a 50-48 victory in the final contest of the regular season. If I told you at the outset that 2 of the Rebels' most reliable scorers were held to a total of 2 points among them, would you have said that they won? Well, that's exactly what happened tonight, but the other 3 starters all scored in double figures and everyone took their defensive assignments seriously, though Coach B emphasized that the team needs to be even better on D if they are to make any real noise in the post-season. Chase Ackerman opened the game scoring with a wet-from-the-moment-it-left-his-hand 3 pointer. Interior points were really hard to come by for the Rebs in the first half. The Cavaliers have a great deal of height on the front line and they probably blocked close to a half dozen shots in the first half. But that presence was negated quite a bit by the 2nd half as the big men got into a bit of foul trouble and the Rebels stepped a bit further from the hoop to launch their shots. Woodson took an 8-7 lead as one of their bigs hit his 2nd bucket of the period, but Antman literally snatched the lead right back as he jumped a Woodson pass and raced downcourt for a layup to put Fairfax up 9-8. A mbucket by Mbangue nudged the lead up to 11-8 but a Cavalier 3-pointer, followed by a post-make, visiting-crowd-woofing by the makee, tied things at 11 to end the period. To open the second period, the Cavaliers went right inside to their big guy and hit twice in a row to give them a 15-11 lead. Then Mbangue Mwent Mto Mwork. He hit 2 buckets of his own to knot the game up at 15, hit a 3 pointer to tie the game again at 21, made a 3-point play the old fashioned way to tie the game again at 24 and immediately thereafter drained another 3-pointer to give Fairfax a 27-26 lead. Woodson's big man #2 tallied right before the end of the period to give the Cavs a 28-27 lead at intermission. In all, Daniel tallied 13 points in the second period; the whole rest of the team registered only 3. Polite young man that he is, I could swear I saw MDan in the snack bar helping to sell popcorn during halftime while getting an energy drink to quench his thirst and recharge his batteries for the second half. Woodson scored to open the 3rd period but Chuckerman buried another 3-pointer to tie it at 30. Daniel went slithering inside, got bludgeoned and made both free throws for a 32-30 advantage. Woodson's woofer scored inside himself, got fouled, but missed the free throw and the game was tied again at 32. The Cavs went up 34-32 and then 37-35 on a 60's era 3-point play after sophomore JV call-up Greg Williams had nailed his first varsity threebie for a 35-34 lead. But Christian Lewis scored 5 points in a row, including a Rowdy Rebel Rooter-loving 3 pointer at the buzzer to put the Rebs in front 40-37 heading into the 4th period. On to the final period and No. 2 pencil #5. Woodson tied it right away with a 3-pointer. The noise was unbelievable! MBangue Mcountered for a 42-40 lead and Frackerman made the 2nd of 2 free throws for a 43-40 lead. Woodson scored twice to go up 44-43. Fairfax went to the Chucker again and he hit, but with a toenail on the arc so the officials made sure that the scorers knew it was a 2-pointer; good thing my pencils come with erasers, cuz I had him for 3 initially. Coach B used a timeout with 2:36 remaining and his charges clinging to a 45-44 lead. The Rebs had only 1 timeout remaining, while the Cavs still had 3 to use. The teams really dug in on defense and every possession became critical, while the pace of the game slowed. Woodson went to the line for a one-and-one and hit both to go back on top 46-45. That's when CLew said "I got this guys, I'll take it from here." He scored a bucket to put the visitors back up 47-46, then with the Woodson student cauldron boiling over in his peripheral vision, calmly swished 2 free throws to extend the lead to 49-46. Woodson's point guard drove the lane and scored to bring the Cavaliers back to within 1 at 48-49 and the Cavs called time-out with 16.0 seconds remaining. Off the inbounds, the Rebels got the ball back into Lewis's enormous hands and he was fouled again with 13.7 seconds remaining. It was the Cavs' 8th team foul of the half so it was still a one-and-one situation. Make both and it seemed as if the worst the Rebs could do was go into overtime. Christian no-doubted the first but missed the 2nd and the outcome was cast into doubt once again. The Cavs advanced the ball into the frontcourt and then signaled for a time out with 6.9 ticks remaining. They advanced the ball quickly towards the basket off inbounds, but the Rebels managed to knock the ball out of bounds before the Cavs could get a shot off. Coach B had 1 timeout left in his pocket and used it with 1.8 seconds remaining. He probably said something wise, like "Don't let them score!" Well, his charges did as they were told, Woodson couldn't get a good look, the buzzer sounded and the Rooters stormed the floor, practically running over Coach B. With the 50-48 win, the Rebels finish the regular season with a 16-6 mark overall, 5-5 in the district. MDaniel led all Mscorers with a career-high 21 points, while also leading the team with 6 rebounds. Lewis followed with 12 points, highlighted by hitting a clutch 3 of 4 from the line during crunch time. And Ackerman tallied 10 points, 4 boards and a block. Christian, Daniel and Chase are each within range of the 200-, 400- and 500-point career marks respectively. There is no rest for the weary and after 1 day of practice the Rebels head into the Patriot District tournament as the #3 seed, thereby earning a home game against the Robinson Rams, the #6 seed and playing really well of late. The game will be at home on Monday Feb 11 at 7:30 pm. You don't want to miss this one. The final District standings are as follows: 1) Lake Braddock 9-1, 2) South County 9-1, 3) Fairfax 5-5, 4) Woodson 3-7, 5) West Springfield 2-8, 6) Robinson 2-8. Also, the District coaches recently got together and these Rebels were accorded various honors: • Josh Abtew - 1st Team All-District • Daniel Mbangue - 1st Team All-District • Ricky Peters - 2nd Team All-District, All-District Defensive Team Congrats to those players, and good luck in the playoffs boys! Fans, come early and catch the Lady Rebels in action on Monday, then cheer on the boys. Lose this game and the season is over 😥; win and they are guaranteed 2 more games☺👍👏 They need your support!

Being students themselves, as well as players of the game of basketball, the members of our team, by the transitive property of mathematics, are thus all students of the game of basketball (hey, just go with it will ya?). As such, the operative phrase going around the post-game locker room after last night's hard-fought win over Robinson High School in the opening round of the Potomac District tournament was a saying coined by noted sage/philosopher and basketball connoisseur Jim Valvano: "Survive and advance." It wasn't the prettiest game but the Rebels did indeed survive 59-52, thereby advancing to the tournament's semi-final round on Wednesday night. Their opponent will be none other than the defending state champions, the Stallions of South County High School. Game time is 7 p.m. down in Lorton. The Rebels got off to a very slow start tonight, not removing the zero from their side of the ledger until Daniel Mbangue hit the 2nd of 2 free throws with 3:46 remaining in the 1st period and his team down 5-0. Thereafter, that deficit quickly turned into a 6-5 lead as Antman hit one of his usual Inside Editions and Ryan Buy-a-Vowel bombed one home from the hinterlands. Robinson's big man muscled in for his 2nd hoop right before the quarter ended with the visitors up 7-6. This game was won in the 2nd period, when Fairfax outscored the Rams 21-5, thereby taking a 27-12 lead into the locker room at the half. Chuckerman dominated on both ends of the floor in the 2nd, scoring 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting (2 from distance and 2 from not) while battling his opposing number for position in the lane and under the glass. Josh Abtew registered 5 points in the period and the team as a whole really clamped down on D. Robinson arrived pretty late in the allowance period prior to the start of the 2nd half and whatever was in the team water bottles must have worked, as the Rams opened the 3rd period with a 5-0 run. But we have Coach B and they don't, so the Rebels did as instructed, turned up the defensive intensity and turned the Robinson mistakes into Fairfax points, going on a 9-0 runs themselves. Anthony soared to the hoop for a lay-in after swiping the ball and Josh became Abthree again, swishing his first 3-pointer in 12 quarters. The Rebels' lead was 15 at the end of the period, 40-25. Then the Rams went on a tear, narrowing the gap to 6 with a 15-6 run to start the period. Thereafter, the 2 teams played pretty evenly, with the Rebs mixing in a trio of deuces and a couple of trifectas with 7 free throws to close out the match and move on to the semi-finals. Survive and advance, that's the name of the game in the early rounds of the playoffs. After the game, Chase Ackerman was awarded possession of the coveted lunchbox on the basis of his team-high and season-high 14 points to go along with his yeoman defensive effort. Josh was right on his heels point-wise, with 13 for the game, while Antman, Mbangue, Lewis and Can-you-spare-a-vowel matched each other with 7 points. Daniel, Chase and Ryan each snagged 5 rebounds, while Daniel, Chase and Anthony each dished a trio of helpers. Chase also disposed of a lunchbox-worthy pair of Ram hoop-attempts. One day of practice and then it's time to test themselves against the defending Virginia State Champions. Come see for yourself how they fare, but get out of work early to beat the traffic down Rt 123 to Lorton; hey, you don't get much done after 4 anyways, right? See you there.

The streak continues. But this is not a good thing because I'm referring to the fact that Fairfax has never beaten South County while both schools were members of the same district. The loss tonight marks the second year in a row where the Rebels lost to the Stallions 3 times in one season. Another streak continued tonight as well, and this one is not a good one either. That is, for the last several games the team has gotten off to a very poor start, looking out of rhythm offensively and falling behind on the scoreboard. Coach Barbee used his first timeout tonight with 2:00 remaining in the first period and his team down 8-1. Duly chastised, the team went on a mini 7-0 run, featuring 3-pointers by Abtew and Ackerman and a free throw by Lewis. The period ended with the Stallions up 9-7; with one exception, that was as close as the Rebels would get. The Stallions scored the first bucket of the 2nd period to go up 11-7, but 2 mfree mthrows by Mbangue and then baskets by Peters and sophomore sparkplug Greg Williams, sandwiched around a Stallion tally, knotted things up at 13. That didn't last long though. SCounty scored 8 points in succession to go up 21-13 before Fairfax ultimately cut the lead to 5 at 19-24 by halftime. Josh opened the 3rd quarter scoring with his 2nd 3-pointer of the game, narrowing the gap to 22-24. A bit later, Chase hit his 2nd 3-pointer to bring Fairfax back to within 4 at 27-31 but the Stallions continued to attack the rim and led 39-30 at the final break. Daniel's lone basket of the contest cut the deficit to 4 again at 40-44 but time was not on the Rebels' side. The Stallions shot their lead back to 8 at 48-40 and Lewis hit 2 free throws to cut it to 42-48 and with 18.7 seconds remaining, Chase hit another 3-pointer to cut the lead to 3 at 47-50. In the remaining time, South County twice hit the front end of a one-and-one but missed the second, the last time with 2.6 seconds remaining. I don't think the Rebels could even get a shot off in the scant time remaining and thus went down to defeat to the Stallions for the 6th time in a row, this time by a score of 52-47. On the night, both Chase and Josh hit 4 3-pointers to lead the team with 12 points. For Chase, the 4 makes represented a career-high in that category, while for Josh, his 4 successful attempts gave him 49 on the year, tying him for 4th place among the all-time program leaders for single-season made 3-pointers while he chases down the record for career made trifectas. After enduring an 8-game stretch where he went 5 for 37 (13.5%) from outside the lines, Josh has gone 6 for 15 (40%) in the 2 most recent games; welcome back, Kotter! Josh also had a career-high-tying 7 rebounds to lead the squad in that category, while Daniel grabbed 6 boards to go along with his 6 assists and 2 blocked shots. So the record drops to 17-7 and the team must wait several days to see who and where they play in the first round of the Northern Region tournament. Which is actually a good thing cuz it gives them some time for practice and for the coaches to figure out how to light a burner under their their bums to get them to come out of the chute on fire for the next game. Wherever it might be, hope you can fine a way to be there; the team will appreciate your presence.

Playing at home in the LPL Ice Arena, in front of the Rowdy Rebel Rooters for likely the final time this season, the Fairfax Rebels hosted the Vikings of Woodbridge High School in Prince William County, VA in the opening round of the Occoquan Region tournament. For the newbies out there, this tournament used to be called the Northern Region tournament, but the VHSL thought that made it too easy to figure out which bracket avid followers should look at to discern where their favorite team might be playing next, so they changed the name. This game was the first-ever meeting between the two schools in boys' basketball, and the Rebels were not very gracious hosts, turning back the invaders by a final score of 67-42. Although the score was close at the end of the first period, with the Rebels leading 14-12, the outcome of the game was never really in doubt. And, boy, did the Rebs need a game like this to boost their confidence. Christian Lewis led the way with 6 points in the period and Ryan Pelczynski, Vanna White's favorite player, canned a 3-pointer. Fairfax took command in the 2nd period, out-looting the visitors 18-11 in the period. This time, Daniel MBangue got in on the act, scoring 6 points in the period, followed by Chase Scorerman who tallied 5. The lead stood at 9 points, 32-23, at the break. In the third period, Fairfax blew the doors open on the contest. Led by Josh Abtew, who appears to have found his shooting touch buried under a rock somewhere, the Rebs outscored the visitors by 10 points in the period. As part of his 8 points in the stanza, Josh knocked down his 2nd and 3rd three pointers of the game. Shortly thereafter, Coach B handed the game over to the reserves and they continued to rack up the points to extend the lead to the final 25-point margin. Ackerman continued his redemption tour, registering a game-high 15 points, with a career-high 9 rebounds. Once again worthy of being called Abthree, Josh totaled 12 points, including 3 3-pointers. After enduring an 8-game stretch during which he tallied only 5 triplets, Josh has made 9 in the last 3 games. MBangue shot 5-6 from the field as part of his 12 points, all the while wiping the boards clean 11 times for his second double-double of the season. Wiki had 4 assists, Lewis was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line, and he and Daniel each had 4 steals. So while the W-L record has now climbed to 18-7, the Rebels next face a tall task in the all-too-familiar Patriot District champion Lake Braddock Bruins, on their home court. When asked if he thought his squad had a chance of beating them this time around, Coach B profoundly said, "Well, we're the only ones who have a chance of beating them cuz we're the only ones playing them." Tough to argue with that logic. Game day is still up in the air due to the snow-related school closings, so check the website periodically for updates. And drive safely getting there.