King’s Fork keeps on rolling; Landstown, Lake Taylor fall
Class 4 quarterfinals
King’s Fork 79, Matoaca 57: Sam Brannen scored 18 points to lead four double-figure scorers as the Bulldogs continued their postseason domination in a Class 4 quarterfinal Friday night at Nansemond River High.
King ’s Fork (22-3) has won 17 consecutive games, and its only losses this season have been to teams outside Virginia. The Bulldogs outscored their Region A tournament foes by an average of 29 points.
Elijah Walker scored 10 of his 13 points in the first quarter as the Bulldogs raced to a 26-14 lead. Brannen finished with seven assists, while Adarius Boston added 13 points and Kaleb Brown (10 points, six assists) and Ryan Hite (10 points, five rebounds) also contributed.
King ’s Fork plays a semifinal at 7 p.m. Monday in Highland Springs’ gym against Varina, the defending state champ. The Blue Devils knocked out the Bulldogs in a semifinal last year, but Varina lost four starters from that team.
If King’s Fork can upend Varina, the Bulldogs figure to be favored in the championship game against whoever survives the contest between E.C. Glass of Lynchburg and Tuscarora of Northern Virginia.
Varina 69, Heritage 63: The Hurricanes, who made a surprise run to the Region A final under first-year coach Dimitri Batten, led 30-29 at halftime on Highland Springs’ court before yielding a 19-6 run to Varina.
Heritage pulled even at 54 with five minutes remaining and was down only 62-60 with 2:48 to go.
Myles Derricott, the starting quarterback for the first football state champion in Varina history in 2021, hit a one-and-one to extend the lead to 66-63 with 40 seconds remaining. He then hit another one-and-one to clinch the contest.
Class 6 quarterfinals
Patriot 52, Landstown 36: The Pioneersended Landstown’s season in a quarterfinal in Gainesville.
Patriot led 23-10 and never trailed to advance to Monday’s semifinal against Oscar Smith.
Landstown finished 19-7 as it adjusted to life without Donald Hand, the Eagles’ star in recent previous years, who plays for Boston College but saw his freshman season end early because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Class 3 quarterfinals
Skyline 66, Lake Taylor 64: Zack Diggs scored 19 points and Dlijah Cabness added a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in unbeaten Skyline’s quarterfinal win over the Titans in Front Royal.
Elijah Washington scored 19 points for the Titans (17-8), who earned Region A runner-up honors with a relatively young team, and Elias Carter scored 17 points for Skyline.