While Clarence Martin very much enjoyed both of his jobs at Wakefield High School, he recently made the decision to concentrate on just one of them.
Martin has stepped down as the head varsity football coach for the Warriors after three seasons in charge.
The basketball battle for first place in the Liberty District, with three Arlington boys varsity teams included in the chase, is getting interesting.
Heading into Jan. 20 action, the McLean Highlanders were atop the standings with a 5-0 league mark, and Arlington’s Yorktown Patriots were tied for second at 4-1 and 11-4 overall.
A 12-3 overall record against difficult competition has led to a national ranking for the Bishop O’Connell Knights boys basketball team.
The private-school team was ranked 15th in the most recent national poll by MaxPreps, and second in Virginia. Some of O’Connell’s opponents are or have been ranked nationally, as well.
Despite days of preparation under their new head coach, the Washington-Liberty Generals came away unsatisfied in a recent match against a perennial Liberty District girls basketball power.
The visiting Generals led the Langley Saxons by five points early in the third quarter, but lost 49-41 to the defending district and 6D North Region tournament champions in the Jan. 5 high-school contest.
With productive scoring and some strong shutdown defense, the Yorktown High School varsity ice-hockey club team is enjoying a 5-1 start this season.
The winning record is no surprise — Yorktown has become one of the top teams in the Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League in recent seasons and has an experienced lineup this fall, including eight seniors.
There wasn’t a local champion, but the annual George Long Holiday Hoops Tournament again proved a popular boys high-school basketball event, with multiple side stories emerging.
The 23rd annual tourney, which has included eight teams every year, has been held at Wakefield High School each time, this year Dec. 26, 27 and 29.
The solid 9-1 start enjoyed by the Washington-Liberty Generals this season is the best in at least 35 years for the girls high-school basketball team.
After a season-opening 10-point road loss to the Oakton Cougars, the W-L squad has run the table with nine straight victories.
Of the two Arlington squads that played in the annual eight-team George Long Holiday Hoops Tournament, the host Wakefield Warriors placed highest.
The boys high-school basketball team (8-2 overall) ended up in fifth place with a 2-1 record, playing in three close games in the popular 23-year-old holiday event, the only one of its kind in the county.
Grant Siebert didn’t realize at the time that learning to play center in youth flag football would pave the way for significant achievements as a high-school senior.
The Washington-Liberty Generals’ captain recently was chosen to the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 first-team on offense as the lone center. He is the first W-L offensive lineman chosen first-team all-state at any position in Josh Shapiro’s 19 seasons as the Generals’ head coach.
After the Wakefield Warriors went 0-3 to open the 2002-03 boys basketball season, new head coach Tony Bentley grew increasingly anxious about getting his first victory.
In the squad’s fourth game of the season, the Warriors managed to eke out a win over the Marshall Statesmen, 61-60.
A holiday boys basketball competition is set to tip off in Arlington this Friday at Wakefield High School.
The eight-team George Long Holiday Hoops Tournament, which will run through Monday, Dec. 29, is under the leadership of Warriors’ head coach Tony Bentley. He founded it and has served as event director the past 23 years.
The rivalry is decades old, but there was something brand new in this season’s first of two regular-season all-Arlington girls neighborhood basketball clashes between the Washington-Liberty Generals and Yorktown Patriots.
The head coaches of both high-school teams are brand new this season as they led the Dec. 19 showdown at Washington-Liberty.
