So why have the Yorktown Patriots been so strong in boys basketball so far this season?
The reasons for the high-school team’s success are multiple.
Through this past week’s action, Yorktown had a 15-2 overall record, was alone in first place in the Liberty District at 7-0 and had won six games in a row. The start is the Patriots’ best since the 2019-20 campaign, when Yorktown won its first 11 games and finished 20-6 with a district-tournament championship.
Yorktown was 14-11 last season, 7-5 in the district.
Experienced players are one reason for Yorktown’s success, as well as being accustomed to second-year head coach Joe Keimig’s coaching style and system.
There are eight seniors on the team, including four in the starting lineup: guard Nick Senkus and forwards Brennan Pilot, Jack Rubin and Austin Barbieri. The other starter is junior guard Jake Coulam, another returner from last season.
Other seniors are Mason Wing, Colin Madden, Jack Freeman and Jonah Sullivan.
Sophomores Sam Roosa and James Davis have been productive players off the bench. Davis scored eight first-half points with two rebounds in a recent 51-37 home victory over the Washington-Liberty Generals in an all-Arlington rivalry game.
Keimig has said since the start of the season, when Yorktown rallied to defeat the Madison Warhawks in the Patriots’ second game, that team has played well together and is unselfish.
Those are other reasons for the winning start, along with balanced scoring. A different player can be the scoring leader in any game.
Opposing coaches have praised the Patriots, pointing out that Yorktown is physical in its style of play and strong defensively. The Patriots have held five teams to fewer than 40 points.
“Yorktown is very good in many ways. The real deal,” Washington-Liberty coach Bobby Dobson told ARLnow.
The Patriots also are a very good three-point shooting team, among the best in the state. All five starters have the green light to shoot threes.
“If it’s a good shot, they can shoot it,” Keimig said.
In that win over Washington-Liberty, four of the five starters attempted three-pointers in the first half.
“If they are hitting their threes, it’s a big problem for your defense,” Wakefield Warriors coach Tony Bentley said.
Wakefield lost to Yorktown, 67-32, when the Patriots made nine threes, three each by Rubin and Coulam.
Yorktown’s two losses were to Woodson, 49-47, and South Lakes, 65-54.
South Lakes is the defending Virginia High School League Class 6 state champion. The Patriots fell behind by double digits early against South Lakes when the teams met in December, then rallied within four points in the second half.
Yorktown has shown the ability to rally from behind a number of times.
Washington-Liberty had early leads against Yorktown, which rallied and was ahead for good by halftime. Pilot and Rubin were leading scorers with double-digit point totalss in that victory, each making three-pointers. Rubin and Barbieri were top rebounders.
Mitchell Tuvshin made multiple three-pointers and was a leading scorer for W-L in the loss to Yorktown. Carmichael Williams, Roy Smith and Luke Jones were other top scorers.
