John Marshall overcomes T.C. Williams

FAIRFAX -- As John Marshall coach Frank Threatts said, "The guys have something to do next week."

The Justices withstood tremendous defensive pressure and foul trouble to defeat T.C. Williams 72-61 before a noisy crowd of about 4,000 last night at Robinson Secondary School in a quarterfinal game of the Virginia High School League Group AAA tournament.

John Marshall joined fellow Central Region mate Petersburg in the semifinals at the Siegel Center on Wednesday at 5 p.m. against William Fleming of Roanoke. The Justices are in the semifinals for the second year in a row.

Getting there could not have been tougher.

Although there are seven new players and a new coach this year, T.C. Williams was the reigning state champion.

"That's the most aggressive team we played all year," said senior guard Randall Ward. "That's the toughest team we've played. Defensively, they made us work for everything. To win was really big."

The Titans caused 24 turnovers, and the Justices were whistled for 24 fouls, some of a questionable nature. Maurice Johnson fouled out.

"We can't worry about the calls. We had to play through them," said Johnson, who finished with nine points.

JM committed seven turnovers and had an offensive foul in the first quarter when the Titans took a 14-9 lead. John Marshall battled back midway through the second quarter but needed a technical foul by the Titans to close the deficit to four points at the break.

"The turnaround came in the third quarter. After a few calls went against us, we realized what was on the line," Quantae Cooley said. "We made better passes and started taking care of the ball."

The Justices weren't turnover-free, but they scored the first eight points of the third quarter to take a lead they held until midway through the fourth quarter.

The Titans' Gavin Peterson sank a jumper with 3:28 left in the game to even the score at 58. Ward assisted on a field goal by Travis McKie and sank a free throw to put JM ahead 61-58. The Titans tied it again and called a timeout with 2:02 remaining.

T.C. Williams didn't score again. The Justices ran off the last 11 points.

A lack of concentration "has been our problem all year. We just have been able to overcome it sometimes, and we fell short against a good team," Titans coach Julian King said. "You know when you run against a superior team, and you make those mistakes, you can't always rebound from it."

The Titans also missed 15 free throws.

Cooley led the Justices with 19 points and eight rebounds. McKie had 15 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks and four assists. Ward finished with 13 points.

"We fought hard as a team. They played solo and a team is going to beat solo everytime," Cooley said.

JOHN MARSHALL (26-4)

Ward 13, Johnson 9, Cooley 19, Little 5, McKie 15, Brown 6, Braxton 5, O'Neil 0. Totals 26 20-29 72.

T.C. WILLIAMS (27-3)

Peterson 16, Via 4, Taylor 4, Chambers 8, Moses 0, Copeland 0, Sitton 2, Jenkins 16, Porter 1, Rowland 4, Yates 6. Totals 20 15-30 61.

John Marshall ------------------------- 9 19 20 24 -- 72

T.C. Williams ------------------------- 14 18 11 18 -- 61

3-point goals: TCW -- Jenkins 3, Peterson 2, Via.