Senior Travis Berry scored the final nine points for the Titans in a 67-59 victory over the visiting Atoms. Berry finished with a game-high 19 points.
By Phil Murphy
DigitalSports.com
**Thirteen Minutes of Game Highlights Below the Story, plus Post-Game Interviews with EJ and Travis**It was a different Annandale team that took the floor Monday night at T.C. Williams. This was not the same one that lost at home to the Titans just three days after the New Year's Eve celebration.
Sure, they wear the same jerseys numbers and look eerily similar to those 15 players. They even ran the same offense.
But these couldn’t be the same Atoms. Could they?
Sixth-ranked
Annandale, which began the season just 3-6, had won six consecutive games since that Jan. 3 encounter with top-ranked
T.C. Williams. The Atoms' streak was snapped at the Garden on Monday, 67-59, but this rejuvenated team showed the poise of a true Patriot District contender.
"[We knew] they were going to come to play," said Titans' guard
Ed Jenkins, who scored 12 points in the victory. "Every team comes to play T.C. Williams because everybody wants to beat us. It's like a state game for everybody.
"So we just have to come out here and ... take care of business and just do the small things: rebounding, talking on defense and just play ball."
The Atoms trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, but rallied to grab a 56-53 lead with 5 minutes, :37 seconds remaining in the game. Annandale outscored the T.C. Williams 25-9 over a nine-minute stretch that spanned from the end of the third period into the fourth.
Arkansas-transfer
Jordan Anderson led the Annandale charge, scoring 10 of his team-high 16 points in the third quarter.
"That's just how I play basketball," Anderson said. "I came out ready to play."
T.C. Williams, though, came roaring back and showed just why they are the two-time defending Patriot District champions. The Titans closed the game on a 14-3 run, with senior guard
Travis Berry scoring his team's final nine points en route to a game-high 19.
"I just felt I had to turn it up," Berry said. "It was time to turn it up."
T.C. Williams (14-2 overall, 9-0 Patriot District) has not lost to a district opponent in 37 games, dating back to a Feb. 17, 2005 loss to
Lake Braddock.
For Annandale (10-7, 7-2), the defeat halts its winning streak, but not its confidence.
"I'd go back and play [T.C. Williams again]," Anderson said. "It's just basketball. You win some, you lose some. It's just a game. I'd go back and play them the same way that I did today. My team will come back and do the same thing."
Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com
Annandale 13 18 17 11 -- 59
T.C. Williams 22 16 13 16 -- 67
Annandale -- Anderson 8 0-0 16; Etherly 4 3-7 11; Washington 4 0-0 10; Boyce 3 0-0 8; Robinson 2 0-0 4; Stalp 2 0-0 4; Booker 1 0-0 2; Bush 1 0-1 2; Iqbal 0 2-2 2.
T.C. Williams -- Berry 8 0-0 19; Jenkins 5 0-0 12; Winbush 4 2-2 10; Camara 4 2-3 10; Campbell 2 0-0 4; Jordan 1 2-2 4; Yates 1 2-2 4; Lewis 1 0-0 2; Peterson 0 1-2 1; Colbert 0 1-4 1.
Three-pointers -- Annandale 4 (Washington 2, Boyce 2); T.C. Williams 5 (Berry 3, Jenkins 2).