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By Dan Sousa
LoudounPrepSports.com Senior Content Editor

Ashburn (Feb. 26, 2009) - The Broad Run High School boys basketball team erased an 11-point second half deficit against Orange County Thursday night, but the Spartans couldn't hold off the Fighting Hornets down the stretch and fell 65-59 in a Region II Division 4 semifinal.

The Dulles District tournament champion Spartans (20-6) fall just short of the school's first ever state tournament basketball bid. Orange will face Jefferson District foe Charlottesville Saturday at 8 p.m. at Monticello High School in the regional final.

While Broad Run had a balanced attack with four players in double figures including Will Field who had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Breon Earl who had 15 points and six assists and Kevin McGaughey and Taylor Johnson, with 10 points each -- Orange relied on the spectacular play of 6-foot-3 swingman Quintin Hunter, the UVA-bound football recruit who poured in a game-high 28 points Thursday.

During one stretch in the second half, Hunter scored seven of nine Orange field goals as he kept his team in the game after Broad Run had erased a 41-30 deficit to take the lead at 47-46 with two minutes to play in the third quarter.

"I'm proud of the way my kids played, especially in the third quarter," said Broad Run coach John Costello, who posted one of the school's best ever basketball seasons in his first year as varsity head coach.

The 17-5 Spartan run had the Maroon Crew fan section and home crowd rocking, but Broad Run missed a great opportunity to take control of the contest as the Spartans had turnovers on three straight possessions while nursing a one-point lead.

Hunter's deep jumper at the end of the third quarter put Orange ahead,48-47, heading into the final quarter.

Broad Run took the lead, 49-48, on a Johnson follow and once again had an opportunity to pad the margin but two missed free throws allowed Orange to go back up on a basket by 6-foot-5 Dennis Brown.

The Spartans battled back with Earl hitting a jumper but Orange posted Hunter on the block the next three trips down and he muscled his way in so deep that he couldn't be denied. Broad Run, meanwhile turned the ball over again.

With Orange up 54-51, Earl made a nice feed to Field to trim the lead but a Hunter field goal was followed by another Spartan turnover and this time it was a huge momentum swing as Brown blocked a shot from the lane, sprinted to pick up the ball and then took it all the way to the other end for a massive dunk to make it 58-53 with 2:36 left.

Broad Run, which shot better than 50 percent from the field (26 of 51) started misfiring and then had to put the Hornets on the line. Michael Nixon didn't have the best foul shooting form, banking in three of four shots he made, but the result was a 62-55 Orange lead with 55.8 seconds left.

The Spartans kept battling with McGaughey scoring off a turnover and Johnson and Field hitting put-backs but Orange was just good enough from the line (7 of 11 down the stretch) to maintain a more than one possession lead.

Orange started the contest far from cold after the long bus ride as the Hornets hit just about every jumper they took in the first quarter with four different players hitting 3-pointers as they jumped out to a 12-3 lead before Broad Run could narrow it to 22-17 heading into the second. McGaughey scored 7 of his 10 points in the first quarter but the Hornets paid close attention to him after that and he didn't get his next field goal until there was a minute left in the game.

The Hornets transition game in the second quarter gave Orange its biggest lead of the night, 37-24 after three straight fast break layins capped a 13-1 run.

Orange 65, Broad Run 59
Orange: Hunter 11 5-6 28, Nixon 3 5-6 11, Braxton 3 0-0 7, Brown 3 0-1 7, Jarrell 2 0-2 6, Seal 2 0-0 4, Wright 1 0-1 2, Galimore 0 0-2 0. Totals 25 10-18 65.
Broad Run: Earl 7 1-1 15, Field 6 2-4 14, Johnson 5 0-2 10, McGaughey 4 1-2 10, Saidi 2 0-0 4, Snow 1 0-0 2, Sandersen 1 0-0 2, Zafar 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 4-9 59.

3-Point Field Goals
Orange 5 (Jarrell 2, Hunter, Braxton, Brown), Broad Run 1 (McGaughey).

Score by Quarters
Orange      22   15   11   17 - 65
Broad Run 17    9    21   12 - 59