Central Region boys: Records—even 25-0—are irrelevant

Coming through the regular-season and Central District tournament undefeated is a fine statistic for which the Petersburg Crimson Wave can be proud.

The glowing 25-0 mark means nothing now.

The Central Region boys basketball tournament starts tonight.

"Everybody's zero and zero," Petersburg coach Bill Lawson Jr. said. "If you lose now, you go home. We are working on the present and the future."

The present is Petersburg's opening game against James River (12-12). Tonight's first round consists of eight games played at the sites of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. Pairings match teams from the Capital and Colonial districts and the Central and Dominion districts.

The regular-season district champions earned No. 1 seeds. All won their district tournaments as well. Highland Springs, state champion in 2003 and 2007, won the Capital handily again. John Marshall beat Douglas Freeman for the third time this year in the Colonial. The Justices did it with University of North Carolina coach Roy Williams in attendance (to watch Travis McKie). Dominion champ Huguenot squeaked past Cosby by a point.

Petersburg, John Marshall, Highland Springs and Huguenot are the top four boys teams in the final Times-Dispatch Top 10. Barring a surprise, Petersburg and Huguenot and Highland Springs and John Marshall will meet in the semifinals Friday night at the Siegel Center.

A loss in the region tournament means elimination unless you make the final. John Marshall is the defending champion.

"It's our time of the year," Quantae Cooley said. "We know what we have to do, and we're trying to proceed."

McKie says the Justices need "to get better on defense. We have to rotate tough on defense and crash the boards harder."

Unlike the recent past, Highland Springs is winning with defense and without a superstar. Huguenot boasts guard David Brown and huge post player Jonathan Crawley.

Who could challenge the big four?

Douglas Freeman could. The Rebels have lost four times this year, three to JM and one out of state. The Rebels could be Petersburg's foe tomorrow.

Huguenot could see Henrico in the quarterfinals, but the Falcons have to get by Thomas Dale tonight.

As Petersburg's Lawson said, "We aren't looking ahead at anybody."