With the regular season past the halfway mark, the improved Wakefield Warriors girls varsity basketball team has a 7-7 overall record, leaving the squad in a positive place it hasn’t been in a while.
The .500 mark through 14 games is Wakefield’s best start since being 8-6 back in the 2019-20 campaign.
Arlington public-school basketball teams had the opportunity to square off against one another in action over the past week.
As the regular season passed the halfway mark and playoffs began to loom on the horizon, Liberty District games involving the Wakefield Warriors, Washington-Liberty Generals and Yorktown Patriots were played over a three-day stretch.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Azzi Fudd was swarmed by fans seeking selfies and autographs as she walked off the court at the Washington Mystics’ home arena, her last time playing in front of a hometown crowd in a UConn uniform.
A star on the local hoops scene since she was named the national girls’ player of the year as a sophomore at St. John’s College High School in 2019, Fudd indulged in a bit of nostalgia before the top-ranked Huskies improved to 20-0 with Thursday night’s 83-42 dismantling of Georgetown.
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.
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.
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.
