Chargers Still Can't Solve Hornets

Austin Hamilton led a second-half charge and made as strong a case as he could in his quest for Northern Region Player of the Year, and Herndon rallied from a 12-point deficit to beat Chantilly 64-58 to claim its first Concorde District title under Chris Whelan.

Chantilly’s big men John Manning and Jake Wiegand controlled the paint in the first half as Hamilton struggled to find a rhythm, even missing the rim completely on his first 3-point attempt and picking up his third foul with just less than two minutes remaining in the first half. The Chargers led 33-22 at the break and built the score to 38-26 in the third quarter before the Hornets responded.

“I told them to just push through,” Whelan said. “Austin’s the one that kind of sparked it. He hit a couple big shots and that caught on quickly with Raleigh [McKenzie] and Jonathan [Beltran].”

In less than three minutes, Hamilton hit long range shots on consecutive possessions, and after Jonathan Beltran hit a runner in the lane and Wiegand missed on the other end, Hamilton struck again from deep to give the Hornets their first lead since early in the first quarter at 40-39.

The tempo dipped after that as neither team was able to make a run. The Hornets hit six consecutive 3-pointers spanning the third and fourth quarters, four from Hamilton, and one each from Beltran and McKenzie. The Chargers were able to counter everything the Hornets threw at them though, and never trailed by more than one possession until the end of the game.

Chantilly only managed a single basket in the final five minutes, but Herndon was unable to capitalize until Beltran was fouled with less than 30 seconds remaining on what Charger fans couldn’t believe wasn’t called as a push off. With a chance to essentially clinch the title, Beltran calmly knocked down both free throws, and McKenzie added a layup in the final seconds to punctuate the win.

“Those three guys on the floor, it’s so calming to be up by two with a minute to go,” Whelan said. “I really feel good about it, and I know those guys will take care of the basketball.”

Hamilton finished with 27 points and a rare team-leading five rebounds, and Beltran added 14.

Wiegand led the Chargers with 13 points and eight rebounds, and Manning finished with 11 points, six boards and five blocks.

With Friday’s victory, the Hornets completed the double after earning the regular-season crown with an undefeated season.

“I’m at a loss for words. It’s a special win,” said Hamilton, a near lock for Northern Region Player of the Year.

The senior trio has played together since long before high school, and each of the three knew their role and expressed confidence in the others to produce when it mattered.

“We’ve been in this situation way too many times,” Hamilton said. “We’ve got that chemistry where we can trust each other to make big plays. All three of us did, and we got the championship.”

“I know my role is to play defense, get a couple stops,” McKenzie added. “I don’t look at my points, I don’t care about that. We worked so hard ever since we were little kids. Me, Austin and Jonathan will go to the gym early, leave late, we do everything together.”

“[We said] it’s our championship to win,” Beltran concluded.

The Chargers will host Lake Braddock in the first round of the Northern Region tournament, while the Hornets earned the right to host a second regional game if they beat Woodson in the first round on Monday.