Brunswick High’s third consecutive appearance in a state boys basketball tournament final was not the charm. The Bulldogs were on the short end of the score against Cave Spring of Roanoke, losing 39-33 in overtime in the Virginia High School League Group AA, Division 3 championship game before a crowd of about 3,500 at the Siegel Center.

The Mustangs outran and outshot the Buffaloes and have the VHSL Group A, Division 2 girls basketball tournament title to show for it. The Mustangs are from George Mason High of Falls Church. They won their second state championship (1998) and denied defending champion Floyd County a second in a row. The Buffaloes were the 2007 runners-up as well.

Brunswick High’s third consecutive appearance in a state basketball tournament final was not the charm. The Bulldogs today were on the short end of the score against Cave Spring of Roanoke in overtime in the Virginia High School League Group AA, Division 3 boys championship game before a crowd of about 3,500 at the Siegel Center. Brunswick lost to William Fleming in 2007 and Millbrook last year.

Colonial Beach opened the second half with a 15-0 run and went on to nip Eastern Montgomery 77-75 in the Group A, Division 1 boys basketball tournament championship game yesterday at the Siegel Center. The Drifters won their first state title behind the one-two scoring/rebounding combo of T.T. Carey and Dylan Farinet. Carey had 37 points (23 in the second half) and 16 rebounds. Farinet scored all 18 of his points in the second half and hauled in 19 rebounds. The Drifters outrebounded the Mustangs 52-31.

Defending state champion Buffalo Gap outscored Bland County by 12 points in the first period of the Group A, Division 1 girls title game en route to a 50-40 victory at the Siegel Center. The Bears never recovered from the early deficit. Bland trailed by 20 points with four minutes remaining and cut the lead in half with a minute to play, but could get no closer.

Defending state champion Floyd County opened a 16-point lead over Lee in the first half of the girls Group A, Division 2 semifinal at the Siegel Center and went on to win 62-47. Floyd plays George Mason on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Siegel Center. The Buffaloes won the 2008 title over Lancaster and were the runners-up in 2007. For more on the state basketball tournament, check back at TimesDispatch.com and read the Richmond Times-Dispatch.—Andee Sears

Chantal Thomas snapped a tied game by making a pair of free throws with 2:35 remaining in the first Group A, Division 2 girls semifinal today at the Siegel Center and George Mason beat Lancaster, 54-52. Lancaster’s Andrea White hit a long 3-pointer as time expired. The Mustangs play the winner of the Floyd County-Lee game on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Siegel Center for the state championship.

T.T. Carey continued to move up the VHSL single-season and career scoring record lists while leading Colonial Beach to the Group A, Division 1 boys basketball tournament championship game. Carey, a senior, scored 23 points yesterday in the Drifters’ 55-36 victory over Altavista, the 2004 state champions, at the Siegel Center.

The next step in Cosby’s first foray in the Virginia High School League Group AAA girls basketball tournament is a meeting with one of the commonwealth’s top teams the past eight years. The Titans have been around for three years. Their semifinal foe tonight at 7 at the Siegel Center is Princess Anne of Virginia Beach, which won the state title in 2002 after squeaking by Meadowbrook in the semifinals, and again in 2005. The Cavaliers were the favorites last year but were ousted, much to their dismay, in the semifinals by Forest Park.

Trailing for most of the game, the Freedom High School Eagles mounted a fourth-quarter rally—sparked by a block from Kelsey Buchanan and a 3-pointer from Meixandra Porter—and surged to a 50-43 victory over the Millbrook Pioneers today at the Siegel Center in Richmond. The Freedom girls will play for the state championship Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at the Siegel Center. Their opponent will be the winner of the this afternoon’s game between Lord Botetourt and Lee-Staunton.

Tickets are on sale at John Marshall High, Petersburg High and Cosby High for the schools’ semifinal games Wednesday in the Virginia High School League state Group AAA basketball tournament. Tickets cost $10 each. There are two sessions for Wednesday’s games. Each session requires a ticket. The game time for the John Marshall boys meeting with William Fleming of Roanoke has been moved up to 3:45 p.m. to accommodate the session break. It’s the last game of the morning/afternoon session. The Siegel Center will be cleared, then reopened for the Cosby girls’ game with Princess Anne (Virginia Beach) at 7 p.m. and Petersburg’s game with King’s Fork (Suffolk) at 9.

Nationally-ranked Petersburg is in the semifinals of the Virginia High School League Group AAA tournament for the second year in a row because of its talent. Hayfield, the Northern Region runner-up, challenged the Wave with a scrappy, quick-hands defense last night in a state quarterfinal at the Siegel Center. The Hawks forced the Wave into 21 turnovers and drew six offensive fouls, but the Hawks shot just 37 percent.