Petersburg beats John Marshall for Central Region title

Chris Evans' soaring dunk late in the first quarter brought the house down.

Travis McKie's thunder jam just before the first-half buzzer raised the roof.

From the start of last night's Central Region tournament final at the Siegel Center, Petersburg and John Marshall kept the overflow crowd estimated at 8,500 entertained and in the game.

Petersburg won 68-58, because the Wave defense kept the ball out of McKie's hands in the second half and held the Justices scoreless the last four minutes of the game.

"You could see it in their eyes in the fourth quarter," Petersburg coach Bill Lawson III said. "They were ready to play some defense."

Evans, whose offensive prowess and dunking ability draws more attention than his defense, was the ringleader.

"He's really vocal. He saw we had to play better defense," Lawson said.

The victory earned unbeaten (29-0) and nationally-ranked (28th by ESPN Rise) Petersburg its first region championship since 1998. This was the third year in a row the Wave played in the title game.

"I really wanted this game," Lawson said. "I didn't want to get cussed out at home. I've missed my daughter's birthday party the last two years."

Lawson was an assistant on his father's staff when Petersburg won in 1998, a year after a John Marshall team won the region championship with an unbeaten record. Next up for the Wave is a Group AAA quarterfinal tomorrow night against Northern Region runner-up Hayfield. Game time at the Siegel Center is 8:45 p.m.

JM (25-4) entered last night's game as the defending region champ. The Justices travel to Robinson High in Fairfax on Saturday to play Northern winner and reigning state champion T.C. Williams at 8:15 p.m.

The Wave's powerful inside triumvirate of Virginia Tech-bound center Cadarian Raines, Evans and Du'Vaughn Maxwell sparked Petersburg to a 23-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.

They were forceful all night and had to be because perimeter-scoring threat Drejon Scott was 0 for 10 from the field and scored one point.

Winning the title "is much bigger than me," said Scott, a senior. "It's just another example that anyone on this team can fill in and get the job done. Cadarian [Raines] always steps up against the big competition."

Raines scored 20 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and had seven blocks. Two of his three assists went to Maxwell, whose back-to-back buckets with 3:14 and 2:30 remaining gave Petersburg the lead for good at 61-58.

John Marshall outscored Petersburg 22-11 in the second quarter to take momentum into the break. McKie scored 13 of his 17 points in the first two quarters. He took only two shots from the field in the second half, and his only points came on four free throws late in the third quarter.

"We could have given him the ball more," JM coach Frank Threatts Jr. said.

Petersburg rallied from a 44-36 deficit in the early stages of the fourth quarter to take the lead as JM coped with foul trouble for several players. McKie had three fouls in the first half and picked up No. 4 early in the fourth quarter.

JM re-gained the lead thanks to McKie's free throws, two of which came on a technical foul. Randall Ward knocked down a jumper on the technical possession to give JM a 52-49 edge.

JM's last lead was 58-57 before the drought hit.

"We made some mistakes we haven't made all year, and that was the difference," Threatts said. "We were up by eight and made four mistakes. It was something we did. And they beat us up in the middle."

Evans paced the Wave with 21 points. He also had eight rebounds. Maxwell supplied 12 points.

Ward finished with 15 points and Quantae Cooley, who also was in foul trouble, added 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Contact Arthur Utley at (804) 649-6559 or .

JOHN MARSHALL (25-4)

Ward 15, Johnson 4, Little 7, Cooley 10, McKie 17, Brown 2, Braxton 3. Totals 25 13-16 58.
PETERSBURG (29-0)

Moore 2, Desmore 3, Scott 1, Evans 21, Raines 20, Maxwell 12, K. Green 9, Mason 0. Totals 26 16-28 68.
John Marshall ------------------------- 17 22 13 6 -- 58
Petersburg ------------------------- 23 11 17 17 -- 68

3-point goals: JM -- Ward 2, Cooley, Little, McKie.