Boys’ Holiday Basketball: Pohanka Chantilly Basketball Tournament

West Springfield 62, Jefferson 48

In the 16th Annual Pohanka Chantilly Basketball Tournament, West Springfield senior guard Jordan Massey led his team to a 62-48 victory over his former AAU teammate, Jefferson senior center Spencer de Mars.

“They didn’t have many good ball-handlers to bring it up the court, so we figured if we jumped on them early, we could force mistakes,” Massey said. “And it worked, we won the game. I’d say it worked pretty well.”

The Spartans came out to start the game with a full court press.

Their relentless defense led to steals and easy lay-ups; however, De Mars used his 6-feet-9-inch frame to muscle his way down low to score seven of his game-high 17 points in the opening quarter.

The Spartans led at the end of the first period, 16-13.

In the second quarter, the Colonials continued to attack by going to De Mars in the post.

De Mars and sophomore swingman Daniel Barnes were able to convert offensive rebounds to second-chance points, allowing the Colonials to hold a 32-27 halftime lead.

As the third period started, West Springfield aggressively attacked the paint, allowing them to take the lead on a decisive, 12-2 run.

Massey held de Mars scoreless during their one-on-one match-up in the quarter on both ends of the floor.

In the final period, the Spartans were able to pull away with their press defense.

The team forced seven steals — nine overall turnovers — in the period. The Spartans started the quarter on a 16-2 run that gave them a 55-38 lead with three minutes left.

Led by Massey, who tied with De Mars for a game-high 17 points, West Springfield was able to keep their lead.

With their pressure defense, the Spartans forced 21 turnovers.

“We got the ball and changed the tempo of the game,” West Springfield coach **** Wickline said.

“I was just talking to our kids, I really thought we did not play so well tonight,” said Chantilly Coach Jim Smith, still able to find points of improvement in a 33-point win. “I thought defensively we didn’t play with great effort, not really alert out there, they beat us to a lot of loose balls.”

The Chargers got off to a slow start with an ineffective press and efficient offense by the Mustangs, which left heavy-favorite Chantilly with only a two-point advantage through the first quarter.

But before halftime, Manning and senior guard Justin May were able to muscle down low to lead the team to a 20-3 run.

Their strong offense was backed with a stingy defense, giving up only six points in the quarter. Manning used his height to allow him to have six of the team’s seven blocks.

Chantilly built their lead to 40-20 as it went to the locker room.

The second half was more of the same, as May and Manning had their way in the paint with offensive rebounds and second chance points.

May ended the game with 13 points as Manning added ten. The Chargers extended their lead to 33 by the end of the game, and won 65-32.

Chantilly (8-0) prepares to face the West Springfield (2-5) in the semifinals of the 16th Annual Pohanka Chantilly Classic. The team has yet to face much of a challenge — winning by an average of 28.6 points per game — as they look forward to the rest of their season.

When asked about the team’s goals for the season, May’s words were simple: “Win a state championship.”