Prep boys basketball: Osbourn tops Stonewall Jackson

When Osbourn and Stonewall Jackson met three weeks ago, the Eagles jumped to a big lead early and held off a late Raider rally to take the lead in the Cedar Run District.

In the rematch at Osbourn Friday, the host Eagles found themselves in a dogfight early, but a 15-4 spurt to open the second half put Osbourn in control and en route to a 74-59 victory in the regular season finale for both teams.

Robert Carter scored 18 points to lead Osbourn (19-1, 10-0 Cedar Run), which had already clinched the top seed for next week’s district tournament. Cedrick Delaney, Corey Bedford and Raphael Edwards each added 14 points, while Jay Lane contributed all 10 of  his points in the second half.

Mustafa Ali paced Stonewall Jackson (16-6, 7-3 Cedar Run) with 19 points, including 14 in the first half. Marquis Yates added 14 points and Diandre Stubbs had 12 for the Raiders.

Osbourn and Stonewall Jackson each earn byes in next week’s Cedar Run District tournament. The Eagles will host the winner of the Broad Run-Freedom game on Wednesday, while the Raiders will entertain the Battlefield-Freedom winner the same night. The highest remaining seed will host the district championship game Friday.

The Raiders shook off the “big game” jitters they experienced three weeks earlier and came out ready to play Friday. Stonewall shot 64 percent (16 of 25) from the field in the first half, and a 10-2 run to open the second quarter gave the Raiders a 30-22 advantage with 4 minutes, 46 seconds left in the half. Ali scored nine points in the second quarter and helped Stonewall take a 36-35 lead at intermission.

“Defensively, we did a good job of getting them out of their rhythm in the first half,” Raiders head coach Marcus Lawrence said. “Mustafa didn’t play very well against them the first time we played, and he came out wanting to prove himself. We believe in him, and he showed why we have that faith tonight.”

The Osbourn team stayed on the bench during the halftime ceremony to retire the football jersey of former Eagles star Brandon Hogan (see separate story), and it may have inspired them. The Eagles came out of the locker room for the second half reenergized and forced Stonewall into five turnovers and limited the Raiders to just one-of-four shooting in the opening four minutes of the third quarter.

By the time J.R. Washington (limited to just eight points on the night) hit a layup with 3:35 left in the third, Osbourn had taken a 10-point lead and control of the game.

“I didn’t like our first-half performance, but we were only down one,” Osbourn head coach Mike Dufrene said. “We got tough in the second half and did a great job of rebounding and playing defense and got back in it.”

“We knew it would be a dogfight and they gave us a good game,” Carter said of the Raiders. “We knew we needed to step up. The difference in the second half was our rebounding and me, Jay and Cedrick getting out and running. When everybody is doing their role, it’s hard to stop us.”

“We lost our focus on defense,” Lawrence said. “Our rotations were bad and we were trapping where there weren’t any traps. When facing elite teams, you have to constantly be on your game. When [Osbourn] gets its mojo going, they’re tough to stop.”

Osbourn entered the fourth quarter with a 56-49 lead and Carter expanded it to 10 with a three-point play. He scored half of his points in the final period, spearheading an Eagles push that gave them an unbeaten record in Cedar Run District play for the second straight season.

“Robbie Carter played a great game tonight,” Dufrene said. “He was focused from the get-go and wanted this one badly.”

Dufrene was pleased with the atmosphere in the Osbourn gymnasium, as a capacity crowd came not only to salute a former star, but also the current stars on the basketball court for the Eagles.

“I wanted to keep our guys on the bench for the ceremony to thank Brandon,” Dufrene said of the halftime celebration. “Every team at Osbourn struggled when we first went to the AAA level, and when Brandon did what he did to elevate the football team, it gave confidence to all of the teams. It helped us as a team to enter the spotlight and enable us to do what we have been able to do the last few years.

“This was a special night for our seniors and for our Osbourn community,” he continued. “It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and be content with where we are, but our guys understand the bigger picture. They expected to win the regular season, and they expect to win the district and even the region and get to states again. They’ve worked hard and stayed together as a family, and we just want to finish the journey together.”

OSBOURN 74, STONEWALL JACKSON 59

STONEWALL JACKSON (16-6, 7-3)

Stubbs 5 2-4 12, Lett 3 0-0 6, Ali 7 2-2 19, Yates 5 3-4 14, Stroman 0 0-0 0, Finzel 0 0-0 0, Washington 3 1-2 8, Frye 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 8-12 59.

OSBOURN (19-1, 10-0)

Delaney 6 0-0 14, Carter 5 8-10 18, J. Lane 4 2-2 10, Bedford 5 2-3 14, C. Lane 1 0-0 2, Edwards 5 4-5 14, Quinn 0 0-0 0, Dufrene 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 16-20 74.

Halftime – Stonewall Jackson, 36-35. 3-point goals – Stonewall Jackson 5 (Ali 3, Yates, Washington), Osbourn 4 (Delaney 2, Bedford 2).