For most of those seven minutes, Scott sat parked next to Coach Mike Desmond, their necks occasionally craning to watch the time tick down. When he went to the bench, the Seahawks were up five. At halftime, South Lakes (25-2) led by six. Hayfield (22-8) never got any closer.
“We survived,” Desmond said.
Next Saturday at VCU’s Siegel Center, South Lakes will play Patriot, looking for an elusive state title that not even Grant Hill accomplished during his time in Reston. The celebration Friday was brief.
“It’s been [21 years] since we’ve been down there, and we’ve never won it,” Scott said. “It would be great for the community if we got it.”
“What’s there to celebrate?” Desmond said. “The job’s not done.”
South Lakes emerged this season as a logical successor to Hayfield, which beat the Seahawks in the state semifinals the past two seasons. It took a page out of Hayfield Coach Carlos Poindexter’s book in managing personalities and expectations. But every opportunity had a cost for South Lakes: Everyone got better, but there wasn’t always enough playing time to go around. The Seahawks had plenty of talent — enough that they could coast to regular season wins if they needed.
In January, Desmond saw his team doing just that. Senior Tyler Andre noticed, too. After one unconvincing win, as the Seahawks danced on the bus, he fumed. So Desmond leaned into it: He sarcastically high-fived players, threw away scouting reports and said they could beat everyone on talent alone. And then he turned to Andre, whose fists shook and eyes watered, and asked for his thoughts.
Andre ripped into everyone, from Scott down to the last player on the bench. He talked about what his final season meant to him. He didn’t want it to end early because they had become complacent.
“Just what we were willing to do for each other,” senior Brian Kennedy said. “At first, it was more ‘We want to win, but we want to post our highlights.’ … Now it’s more so that we want to win for each other.”
It paid dividends. In the second quarter, they were fine because high-profile transfer David Rochester, who had missed significant time this season, made key defensive stops; because senior Aiden Billings set the right screens; because junior Sol Vita thrived on both ends; and because Kennedy, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half, made body-contorting layups to keep them ahead.
Those selfless tendencies carried over when Scott (14 points) checked back in after halftime as they conceded just five third-quarter points to seal it.
The Patriot boys handled Oscar Smith, 55-44, in the other Class 6 semifinal to put the No. 9 Pioneers (23-4) back at VCU for the second straight year and one win away from their first state title. Seniors Tey Barbour and Isaiah Vick lead one of the area’s deepest rosters.
In Class 4, the Tuscarora boys defeated Loudoun Valley, 65-40. Senior Jayden Johnson and the Huskies (25-3) will face Hampton at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the program’s first state final game.
Both area Class 6 girls’ basketball representatives — No. 6 Osbourn Park and Centreville — fell to Richmond-area powers. The Yellow Jackets (24-4) reached their fifth straight state tournament (and did so under Coach Chrissy Kelly’s youngest roster in a while) and lost to Thomas Dale, 58-55, after falling to the Knights by 41 earlier in the season. Coach Jo McLane’s Wildcats (23-4), a first-time state semifinalist, dropped a 62-38 contest to Manchester.
In Class 4, the No. 4 Woodgrove girls rolled past Tuscarora, 49-29. Sadie Shores, Angelina Nice and the offensively-inclined Wolverines (28-1) will play Hampton at 12:30 p.m. Friday, eyeing their first state title.
In a Class 3 semifinal, the Meridian girls bested Lake Taylor, 59-53. The Mustangs (22-5) will play Liberty Christian at 6 p.m. Friday with a chance to claim the program’s sixth state title and first since 2021.