Although some events were postponed because of the recent snowstorm, the sports schedule for varsity high-school teams in Arlington is back in full force for the coming week, weather-permitting.
The action begins Friday (Jan. 10) with a full slate of basketball games and swim and dive meets, continues Jan. 11 with a variety of sports, then every day next week is scheduled to be full of games and events.
A significant milestone occurred when the Washington-Liberty Generals won their one of three games during the George Long Holiday boys basketball tournament.
W-L’s victory over the Osbourn Eagles at Wakefield High School was the 350th of Bobby Dobson’s 30-plus-season high-school career as the head coach of the Generals. Dobson began as W-L’s head coach during the 1993-94 campaign.
The opening month of the girls basketball season was an accomplished and championship time for the Washington-Liberty Generals.
In December, the high-school team compiled a 7-4 overall record, including a 3-0 mark to win the Boltball Holiday Invitational tournament Dec. 26-28 at Lightridge High School in Aldie.
Two Washington-Liberty High School athletes in different sports have been chosen to all-state teams for their performances during the fall season.
Generals’ junior golfer Finn Watson and senior cross-country runner Emmett Engelhardt earned those Virginia High School League Class 6 all-state honors.
With the holiday breaks over, the sports schedule for varsity high-school teams in Arlington rebounds in coming days, including this weekend with basketball games, wrestling matches and an indoor track-and-field meet.
In one of those boys basektball games, the Yorktown Patriots play on the road against the defending Class 6 state champion South Lakes Seahawks at 7:30 p.m. in a big non-district showdown.
The Washington-Liberty Generals finished ranked 10th, 26th and 31st in three different final statewide high-school football polls for the 2024 season, as compiled by MaxPreps.com.
In the public-school-only poll of Class 6 — schools with the highest enrollments — the Liberty District champion and 6D North Region runner-up Generals (12-1) were ranked 10th.
In its 22-year history, the George Long Holiday boys basketball tournament has become a popular annual high-school sporting event in Arlington County — and beyond.
Each season, eight teams from different jurisdictions, public and private, have participated in the three-day event at Wakefield High School, usually beginning Dec. 26 or 27.
The coaching staff of the Washington-Liberty Generals frequently has used a dozen or more players in games early in the 2024-25 boys basketball season.
The Generals (4-8) did so again in all three of its contests in the recent George Long Holiday Tournament at Wakefield High School, finishing sixth with a 1-2 record.
Jon Malatesta and Ian Crowley, top players for the Washington-Liberty Generals 2024 district-champion football squad, were Virginia High School League Class 6 all-state selections.
Each was chosen to the second team, Malatesta as a wide receiver on offense and Crowley as an all-purpose player on defense.
With the Christmas and New Year’s holidays ongoing, the sports schedule for varsity high-school teams in Arlington continue to be limited, but there are basketball and wrestling tournaments that involve local teams.
The Wakefield Warriors are hosting the three-day, eight-team George Long Holiday boys basketball tournament that includes Wakefield and the Washington-Liberty Generals.
The Wakefield Warriors (3-4) defeated the host Westfield Bulldogs, 51-39, in non-district girls high-school basketball action Dec. 19.
Wakefield began strong in the game, taking a 6-0 lead on two three-pointers by Lucy Strawn. Harris added four points in the early going and Ryan Seeley made a three-pointer as the Warriors led 22-9 at halftime.
With the winter break kicking in, the sports schedule for varsity high-school teams in Arlington will be limited until Dec. 26, but there are some games and events this weekend.
The Yorktown girls and boys teams and the Bishop O’Connell boys have basketball games Friday (Dec.20) and there are other sports that day, plus a few on Saturday. There is then a lull until things pick up post-Christmas.
