Fort's Cruz Stuns Cougars With Late 3, Gladiators fall at Central

STUARTS DRAFT – Miracles just aren't reserved for Christmas. They will crop up when least expected. Ask Fort Defiance.

The Indians were eight minutes away from packing up the basketball uniforms and equipment for the spring sports gear when a late February miracle paid them a visit.

Trailing by 15 going to the fourth quarter, Gio Cruz's 3-pointer with 6.2 seconds remaining capped a stunning comeback to hand the Stuarts Draft Cougars a shocking 62-61 loss Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round of the Region 2B boys basketball tournament.

It was a rally for the ages that kept the season for Fort (13-9) alive and within one more victory of gaining a Class 2 state berth. The fifth-seeded Indians hit the road to top-seeded Central Woodstock on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in another win-or-go-home battle. The Falcons manhandled Riverheads 99-59 their Tuesday quarterfinal.

Cruz, who had essentially missed the last two regular-season games, both losses, with an ankle injury, reintroduced himself in a big way, especially in the final quarter.

Cruz actually provided the spark that lit the fire at the end the third period by hitting a half-court shot after the Cougars had taken their biggest lead of the game seconds earlier, 55-37, following a 3-pointer by Derrick Moore.

The Cougars still seemed to have the situation under control, leading by 12 with five minutes left. Then the roof, building and everything else collapsed on Draft.

Fourth-seeded Draft (14-9) committed seven straight turnovers, and the Indians pounced on the opportunities. Cruz's 3 at the 4:49 mark started the onslaught. The next nine Fort points came thanks to turnovers. Tripp Hanger's triple, his only basket of the game, and Bradley Hebb's driving layup got the Indians within 59-58 with 2:05 left.

Rhylan Martin's free throw tied the game at 59-all with 1:06 remaining.

The Cougars ran the clock down, setting the stage for Moore's drive to the basket and a 61-59 advantage with 18.5 seconds.

Fort head coach Mike Gale elected not to call a timeout, and Cruz made him look like a genius, pulling up from the left side of the key and drilling the game-winning 3.

As a fitting end for the Cougars, they were called for a walking violation in the front court along the left sideline with .2 left. All told, Draft turned the ball over 13 times in the fourth quarter, including on eight of its last nine possessions.

“I debated whether to call a timeout after Draft went ahead because it was pretty chaotic, but I'm glad I didn't,” Gale said. “Gio got an open look and he hit it.”

Gale said he didn't remember what he told the team after the third quarter, trailing by 15.

“I didn't think we were completely out of it,” he said. “I knew we needed a run, but I wasn't sure if we could make that much of one. I am proud of the guys. All you can ask going on the road for a playoff game is to give yourself a chance.”

Cruz said the shot to end the third quarter gave him an extra boost of confidence.

“I was feeling it after that,” the junior said. “I found my groove and I wasn't going to be stopped.

“I shot the ball with confidence in the fourth, but I will be honest, I didn't think that last shot was going in,” he said. “But I am really glad it did.”

Cruz finished with 10 fourth-quarter points, including the 3s that started and capped the game-ending 15-2 blitz.

Cruz's final quarter mirrored the one Moore had in the third for the Cougars. The junior erupted for 16 points in the period, including a stretch of 10 straight when Draft took a 50-35 lead, which he turned into 55-37 with a 3 in the closing seconds.

Unfortunately all the good karma abandoned the Cougars over the final eight minutes, getting outscored 22-6.

“It was a combination of turnovers and missed shots at the rim,” Draft head coach Brad DeWitt said. “We knew they were going to pick up the defensive intensity, and we got sloppy with the ball. They gained the confidence and got on a roll.

“We needed to handle the adversity better,” he said. “We were playing to win, and then we started playing not to lose.”

Cruz finished his return to the floor with a team-high 21 points, and Hebb added 14.

For the Cougars, Moore tallied a game-high 22, while seniors Landon Graber and Donovan Jenkins had 18 and 11, respectively, in their final game. The team's two other seniors were Christian Moats and Ryan Ramsey.

“The seniors have the program turned in the right direction, and they have shown the younger players how to keep it going,” DeWitt said.

FORT DEFIANCE (62) – Hebb 5 2-3 14, Ransome 1 3-4 6, Cruz 7 4-5 21, Braun 2 0-4 4, Berry 2 0-0 4, Martin 1 1-2 4, Pultz 1 0-0 2, Hanger 1 0-0 3, Gutshall 2 0-0 4, Batten, TOTALS 22 10-18 62.

STUARTS DRAFT (61) – Moats 2 0-0 5, J. Diggs 1 0-0 2, Ramsey 0 1-2 1, Graber 7 2-3 18, Moore 9 2-3 22, Jenkins 5 1-3 11, D.Diggs 0 2-2 2, Hymes-Williams, TOTALS 24 8-13 61.

Central 99, Riverheads 59
By Tommy Keeler Jr. / Courtesy Northern Virginia Daily

WOODSTOCK – Riverheads saw its season come to an end on Tuesday night in the Region 2B quarterfinals.

The eight-seeded Gladiators fell to top-seeded Central 99-59 in boys basketball action.

The Gladiators, who never led in the contest, hung with the Falcons for most of the opening period. Five points from Riverheads’ William Gardner cut the Central lead to 8-7 with 3:02 left in the first period.

Central closed the period out with a 14-5 run to take a 22-12 lead after the first eight minutes of play. A 3-pointer by Riverheads’ Grayson Ward cut the lead to 24-15 with 6:58 left in the first half. Central’s Jonathan Akasa, who had a game-high 21 points, scored on a layup to give the Falcons a 26-15 lead with 6:11 left in the second period. Central led by double-digits the rest of the game.

Riverheads was led by JP Crawford and Henley Dunlap with 14 points each. Jackson Brammer finished with nine points, and Gardner had eight for the Gladiators. 

Riverheads finished its season with an 11-13 record. It was the third time this season Central beat Riverheads.