Petersburg Beats No. 11 Hayfield in Virginia AAA Boys' Basketball State Quarterfinals, 59-48

RICHMOND, March 6 -- As he used a shake-and-bake move to leave a Petersburg defender helpless at the three-point line, Hayfield junior guard Rayshawn Rigans drew an energetic reaction from the crowd of 5,200 at Siegel Center during the third quarter.

The energy built as he approached the backboard for what looked to be an easy layup. But by the time Petersburg 6-foot-9 senior center Cadarian Raines finished rejecting his offering, Rigans knew that in one play he had ended up on the wrong end of the crowd's approval.

On the next possession, teammate Brandon Winbush suffered the same fate as Raines swatted his offering. In all, four different Hawks fell victim to Raines's block party -- a dominant effort in which he swatted four shots and altered many more to lift Petersburg to a 59-48 Virginia AAA state quarterfinal victory on Friday night.

Nationally ranked Petersburg (28th by ESPN Rise) remained undefeated at 29-0 and will face the winner of Saturday night's quarterfinal between GW-Danville and King's Fork. No. 11 Hayfield had its season ended at 21-8.

"That's my job down there," said Raines, a Virginia Tech-bound senior who entered last night averaging 16 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4 blocks. "If my guards get beat to the hole, to be there for them."

Hayfield senior forward Laurent Newsome held his own in the first half, dropping in all 10 of his points on a series of crafty moves that kept Raines, who finished with 12 points, and 6-6 senior forward Chris Evans off-balance.

"The game came down to the fourth quarter and we ran out of gas and height," said Newsome, who had six rebounds. Hayfield was outrebounded 30-24.

Raines's intimidating inside presence held Hayfield -- a team that averaged 61 points per game this season -- 13 points below its scoring average and nine points above its season low, which came in a 41-39 loss to Lake Braddock in which the Bruins held the ball for much of that game.

Raines slammed home back-to-back baskets to kick-start a decisive 16-10 fourth-quarter run during which Evans (13 points), 6-5 junior forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell (13 points) and Raines attacked the rim, rarely attempting a shot other than a highlight-reel above-the-rim finish.

"They overpowered us with about four minutes to go," Hayfield Coach Ronald Palmer said. "It's kind of hard to prepare for a team that's bigger than you."

Petersburg 59, No. 11 Hayfield 48 Nice Run: In gaining a state tournament berth, Hayfield, which entered the Virginia AAA Northern Region seeded third, upset then-No. 11 Chantilly (23-2) and No. 14 Mount Vernon (21-5). Gone Cold: Before last night's 1-for-12 shooting from the three-point line, Hayfield had made 107 three-pointers.