Capital Classic Preliminary
District Stars Ditch Flash For Tight Defense in Clutch
District All-Stars 131, Suburban All-Stars 128
Jasper Williams of Progressive Christian goes to the hoop against Erik Etherly of Annandale. Williams's game-high 23 points led the District stars to victory.
(By Katherine Frey -- The Washington Post)
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Monday, April 14, 2008
It's supposed to be an exhibition, but even in all-star contests like the preliminary game of the Capital Classic, the scoreboard is working. And, as Garvey Young watched his District All-Stars' 17-point fourth quarter lead gradually slip away yesterday, he became concerned.
What if he and his teammates lost to the Suburban All-Stars?
"When they were making that run, I've got to admit, I was getting a little worried," said Young, a Georgetown Prep senior who has signed with the University of Vermont. "We actually had to start playing some defense and stop them."
After the Suburban stars cut the margin to two with 1 minute 35 seconds on a four-point play by Bethesda-Chevy Chase's Austin Cooley, Young hit a tough layup and drew a foul the next trip downcourt. Although he missed the free throw, the District stars got the rebound and Gonzaga's Rodney Gould hit a driving layup with a minute to go to all but clinch a 131-128 victory.
The rarest of all-star-game resources -- defense -- helped bring a sparse Comcast Center crowd alive in the final few minutes. Trailing 109-93 with a little more than seven minutes to play, Annandale senior Erik Etherly said he and his Suburban teammates really had no choice if they wanted to make the game exciting.
"As funny as it sounds, we started playing defense" said Etherly, who scored 21 points, and has signed with Northeastern. "It's an all-star game, so for the first three quarters, we gave the fans what they wanted to see. But we needed to play some defense to come back."
The Suburban stars went on a 17-2 run in just over three minutes to cut the District team's lead to 111-110, but they couldn't get any closer. Gwynn Park's Harold Washington (Quinnipiac) hit a three-pointer and was fouled with 3.2 seconds left to make it a three-point game. He intentionally missed the free throw, and the Suburban stars got the rebound but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Progressive Christian's Jasper Williams (Chattanooga) led all scorers with 23 points for the District stars, and Good Counsel's Jordan Clarke (Vermont) added 20. Washington led the Suburban stars with 22.
