And they win the second half.
Since that night, Tuscarora hasn’t missed a beat. It enters the heart of Dulles District play 13-1 with 12 wins by double-digits.
Johnson has been nearly immaculate in second halves, a testament to offseason conditioning on top of his mentality. In a recent game against Champe, he was scoreless at halftime. He finished with 26 points, six rebounds and four assists.
“It’s a pleasure to coach Jayden every single day,” Coach Michael Newkirk said. “When a college coach gets him, they’re going to feel blessed with him still being available. Without the portal, he would not be available.”
Newkirk compares his team’s success at its size to Florida Atlantic’s NCAA tournament run last year. Joining Johnson (26 points per game) in the backcourt is sharpshooter TJ Duggan and a coach on the floor in point guard Payton Williams. But Johnson said not to discount the rest of the roster.
“That first game, I think it really also made us understand that everybody has a role in this team,” Johnson said. “So I think our bench really took that into consideration, so when they do get in, they’re always ready. And if they don’t, they’re cheering on our teammates.”
Last year was Tuscarora’s first state tournament appearance. The Huskies eye a trip to the state final in Class 4.
“We’re hungry,” Johnson said. “We want to be in VCU this year.”
Sherwood thriving since ‘turning point’ win
Sherwood girls’ Coach Tammy Ross nearly ruined her team’s Dec. 19 win over Richard Montgomery. With just seconds remaining, junior Avery Graham, one of the fastest players on the team, put her head down and drove to the basket.
As Graham tossed up a layup, Ross moved to call a timeout and give her team a set play. But the referee didn’t notice, so the basket counted as the deciding points in the Warriors’ 51-50 win.
Sherwood’s victory, part of its 10-3 start, already has it just two wins shy of meeting last year’s total. Ross has overseen the turnaround in her first year as coach after spending the last five as a Whitman girls’ assistant.
She called the win over Richard Montgomery a “turning point.” The Warriors lost by 22 in their season opener to the Vikings, won two straight but then fell short in a disappointing offensive effort against Damascus.
Richard Montgomery is among Sherwood’s toughest tests, and the Warriors’ celebration — “they were screaming” Ross said — reflected their elation.
Sherwood is 6-1 since, in part because of senior Taylor Corrothers, who didn’t play last season with a torn ACL but has come back this season to lead a balanced offensive attack. The injury created a shared experience between Corrothers and her coach, who has torn her ACL twice.
A frustrated Corrothers came to Ross for guidance in the fall after she was not cleared for open gyms. Ross reminded her the extra time was for her benefit and she should focus on being ready for the season.
Corrothers sat out for Sherwood’s fall league but was a “superstar cheerleader” throughout the process. Now, she’s shining on the court.
“She’s an amazing driver, a really strong leader for our team and she’s just been super impressive,” Ross said.
Sabina Niedrick, W.T. Woodson: The senior guard helped the Cavaliers spoil Robinson’s senior night, as she scored 23 points in a 58-56 overtime win to knock the Rams out of the Top 20.
Nyk Lewis, Gonzaga: The junior guard reached 1,000 career points in the Eagles’ win over St. Mary’s Ryken on Saturday.
Dante Mayo Jr., Richard Montgomery: The senior entered Thursday’s game against Kennedy needing 30 points to hit 1,000. He met that number exactly, making five threes in the Rockets’ 89-80 win.
Noa Gordon, Jackson-Reed: The sophomore scored 18 points and seven rebounds in the Tigers’ 57-32 win over Banneker Wednesday.
Largo girls at Gwynn Park, Tuesday, 5:30 p.m.
Magruder boys at Churchill, Tuesday 7:15 p.m.
Paul VI boys at Bishop O’Connell, Friday, 7 p.m.
Hayfield girls at Edison, Saturday, 12:30 p.m.
Bowie forward settles into starring role
Bowie boys’ Coach Tremaine Price noticed something different about senior Julian King as he ran up and down the court against C.H. Flowers on Thursday. King looked looser and more relaxed, Price said, and he even played with a smile on his face for the first time all season.
King had plenty to smile about — the 6-foot-5 forward dropped a team-high 24 points in the Bulldogs’ 59-57 win. More importantly to Price, King played with conviction, a confidence he had struggled to maintain early in the season.
King is no stranger to scoring 20-plus points — he has done it many times since he started playing basketball at age 5. He admitted he had fallen victim to “overthinking” in specific moments early this season, which put the Bulldogs (10-3) behind against talented opponents such as Archbishop Carroll and Jackson-Reed.
“There were times where I’ve had shots and I would pass the shot up to give it up to our shooters, but I can shoot, too, so it’s like, ‘Why am I not shooting the ball?’ ” King said. “Even my own teammates got on that, because they were like, ‘Ju, shoot the ball.’ ”
With advice and encouragement, King has embraced his role as the Bulldogs’ go-to scoring option. Price knows the offense runs through his star forward and tries to get him going early each game so the rest of his offense can find its rhythm.
“As a team we obviously want to win states and play in the Xfinity Center in March,” King said. “We just have to keep working hard and playing together, and I have to keep performing for that to happen.”
Visitation navigates uneven start
Before they played Sidwell Friends on Saturday, the Georgetown Visitation Cubs found themselves in a lengthy pause. They had last played Jan. 7, meaning almost two weeks had passed between contests. The rare, midseason hiatus was caused by a number of factors — exams, heavy rain, snow. All of it conspired to keep the Cubs off the court.
Longtime Coach Mike McCarthy tried to utilize the scheduling quirk as best he could.
“We’ve been trying to use it as a reset,” he said. “Because I think we’re better than our record right now. Obviously we started the season with a tough schedule, but we’re just getting into league play now, and I think our league is the best it has ever been, top to bottom.”
After falling to the Quakers on Saturday afternoon, the Cubs sit at 6-8. It’s a vastly different position from last season, when they hung around the top of the Independent School League standings all winter and then upset Sidwell to win the tournament title. In fact, Visitation only knows success this time of year. Before Sidwell won the league in 2022, the Cubs had captured 14 straight ISL championships.
But McCarthy knows every team is different. This one, led by seniors Emma West and Toby Nweke, is mostly young. So far this winter, they have shown they have the talent to compete with the best, but not the experience to close games.
“This is a young, enthusiastic group — I love how hard they work,” McCarthy said. “But good teams find ways to win, and for whatever reason we’re getting close but not finding those wins right now.”