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Senior Robert Coleman (left) and sophomore Jesse Konadu talk with DigitalSports.com after the Majors' 79-52 victory over Fairfax in the first round of the 34th Annual Mount Vernon Holiday Tournament.
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34th Annual Mount Vernon Holiday Tournament -- Opening Day

** Click the links above to access a photo gallery and video highlights of Fairfax, Hayfield and Mount Vernon.

Game 1
McKinley Tech 64, Yorktown 49

McKinley Tech arrived at Mount Vernon's on Friday more than 20 minutes after its game against Yorktown was supposed to have started. But if the Trainers felt rushed in pre-game, they never showed it after tip-off.

McKinley Tech of Washington, D.C. kicked off the 34th Annual Mount Vernon Holiday Tournament with a convincing, 64-49 victory over Yorktown.

"We got off the bus kind of late, so we didn't get to stretch," said junior Antonio Jeniter, who pounded the ball inside for seven first-quarter points and finished with a team-high 19. "If we got here earlier, we would have started off better.
 
"I just tried to play hard. I could have played better, but I just tried to play my best."

Although the Trainers were a little sluggish coming off the bus, they still held a nine-point lead at half time. And in the third quarter, Jeniter and senior Anthony Myers (12 points) proved too much for Yorktown. The duo combined for 15 points in the quarter as McKinley Tech doubled its lead to 18 points.

In the fourth quarter, the Trainers rested most of their starters with the outcome of the game already decided.

McKinley Tech advances to face Wise at 7 p.m. Saturday in the second round of the championship bracket; Yorktown will face Marshall at 3 p.m. in the consolation bracket.
--By Jeffery Gibert (DigitalSports intern)

Game 2
No. 7 Wise 104, Marshall 45

Seventh-ranked Wise made a huge statement with its 104-45 victory over Marshall in the second game played at Mount Vernon on Friday.

"We came out with a lot of intensity [and] a lot of energy," said senior Phil Wood, who totaled 14 points. "We just didn't under-estimate our opponent."

Added Pumas Coach O.J. Johnson: "I thought we came out and executed very well tonight on the offensive end. We were able to knock down a lot of jump shots. We were able to put a lot of pressure on Marshall, which was causing them to turn the ball over early."

The tone was set when Wood threw down an alley-oop dunk on the first play of the game.

"It was just a connection between me and my teammate," Wood said. "He saw it was there, I asked him to throw it, and he threw it up."

This was just the beginning of a long night for the Statesmen. Wise finished the quarter with a 33-8 lead, just four points shy of the tournament record for most points in a quarter, which was set by the Mount Vernon against the T.C. Williams in 1981.
 
Wood and senior Jojo Woodruff combined for 14 second-quarter points as Wise took a 60-15 lead into the locker room at half time.

 In the second half, the Pumas showed the rest of the field that they have depth. To Marshall's misfortune, Wise's reserves were almost as good as their starters.

Wise had 11 players score on the night, with Wood, Woodruff (14 points), senior David Golladay (16), senior Delonta Boyd (14) and senior Edward Thomas (12) all scoring in double-figures.

"We all look to play as a team," Wood said. "In order to be a great team, you have to play as a team. Nobody is really selfish on this team."

Wise advances to face McKinley Tech at 7 p.m. Saturday in the second round of the championship bracket; Marshall will face Yorktown at 3 p.m. in the consolation bracket.
--By Jeffery Gibert (DigitalSports intern)

Game 3
Eastlake 58, Hayfield 52

Hayfield suffered its first loss of the season in the third game of the Mount Vernon Holiday Tournament, falling 58-52 to Eastlake High of San Diego, CA, the only out-of-area team in the field.

The Hawks were short-handed, playing without the services of starting junior guards Rayshawn Rigans and Brandon Winbush. Rigans was forced to sit out one game after picking up two technical fouls in a win over Fairfax last week; Winbush is out-of-town visiting his mother for the holidays and will miss the entire tournament.

"Two less bodies meant more pressure on the five or six guys that I played," Hayfield Coach Ron Palmer said. "And it showed. We ran out of gas near the end of the first half. So I'll credit the effort of the kids who played for hanging in there. But they had a little better substitution pattern than we were able to have."

Still, the Hawks held a slim lead for most of the game and were up at the end of the first (13-10), second (27-22) and third (44-43) quarters. But Eastlake took its first lead of the game at 45-44 with 4 minutes, 24 seconds to play and made the most of its opportunities down the stretch.

Leading Hayfield 51-50 with 51.9 seconds to play, the Titans' leading scorer, junior guard Felix Dion, was fouled and sent to the free throw line. Dion, who finished with a game-high 19 points and four three-pointers, missed the front end of the one-and-one but junior guard Trevon Ash got the rebound -- and made his two ensuing foul shots -- to extend Eastlake's lead to three with less than a minute remaining.

"I hate to say it, but we lost the game because of close-outs," Palmer said. "We gave them six points because we knocked their shooter down after he released the basketball. Unbelievable. That cost us six points with the clock stopped. And then we didn't screen off late in the game where their best shooter missed the front end of a one-and-one and they got the ball back. That hurt, too.

"I think the kids understand the mistakes that we made. We didn't play smart at all for a large portion of the game. But I think you learn -- or at least I hope we learn -- from those lessons."

Hayfield, which was led by senior swingman T.J. Wilson with 18 points and junior forward Chad Canady with 11, will face Fairfax at 5 p.m. Saturday in the consolation bracket while Eastlake advances to face host Mount Vernon at 8:45 p.m. in the championship bracket.
-- By Angela Watts (DigitalSports.com)

Game 4
Mount Vernon 79, Fairfax 52

Mount Vernon Coach Alfonso Smith rewarded his players who did not miss a single practice over the holidays with a start in its first game of its Mount Vernon Holiday Tournament, the longest running holiday event in the Northern Region.

The Majors' team chemistry could have been adversely affected by the change, but, instead, it appeared to be enhanced.

Mount Vernon jumped to a six-point lead at the end of the first quarter and eased to a 79-52 victory over Fairfax. All 11 players dressed for the Majors played, and 10 scored in the win. Senior forward Robert Coleman, who came off the bench in this game, led all scorers with 18 points while sophomore Jesse Konadu -- another typical starter who instead came off the bench -- finished with 14 and senior guard Derek Pruitt added 10.

"We had a couple of really good practices this week, so we wanted to reward the guys that who were there and really stood out," Smith said. "But the entire chemistry of the team has changed recently. They're finally buying into the team concept. The fact is we have about eight guys who could legitimately be starters on a lot of good teams and all of them, of course, can't start.

"But I think that they're starting to appreciate each others' talents, and as they're starting to appreciate it they're starting to share the ball more and communicate better on defense. So that chemistry we were lacking early is slowly but surely starting to build no matter who is one the floor."

The Rebels were paced by senior forward Kabel Moody with 10 points while junior guard Patrick Beam and senior guard Gian Bretana added nine and eight points, respectively.

Fairfax will face Hayfield at 5 p.m. Saturday in the consolation bracket while Mount Vernon advances to play Eastlake at 8:45 p.m. in the championship bracket. The host Majors last won their own tournament in 2006 and are looking to make another run at the title.

"We want to win our tournament, make no mistake about that," Smith said. "Going into the year that was one of our goals -- one of the five championships we set as a goal to win this year. We don't take it lightly. We want to go at it hard, but we also know we've got to bring our 'A' game tomorrow and continue to build on what we're trying to do.

"Hopefully, we can get to the championship game and get a chance to knock off a really good team."
-- By Angela Watts (DigitalSports.com)

Email: awatts@digitalsports.com