Scrimmage Play correspondent Emmy Franklin contributed to this report.
At least four things had to break Loudoun Valley’s way on the final play of the game with 7.8 seconds to play against Western Albemarle to put the Vikings over the top.
Every single one of those did.
First Loudoun Valley had to avoid an Isaac Sumpter steal as the Western senior applied all kinds of ball pressure. Then Nathan Boner’s no-look pass near halfcourt had to find the hands of Cole Kielhorn. Then Landen Conrad had to catch the feed from Kielhorn. Then Conrad had to knock down the shot.
Conrad delivered from well behind the arc on the wing and lifted Loudoun Valley to a 49-48 win over Western ending the Region 4D champion Warriors’ season in the Class 4 state quarterfinals.
The buzzer-beater ended an impressive season and the careers of a large group of seniors who’ve played a major role for the Warriors over the last four years including Sumpter, Andrew Barrese, Lucas Farmer, Luca Tesoriere, Ross Hardy and James Meenan.
“They own a place in my heart that’ll never go away,” said Western coach Darren Maynard. “They’ve been through a lot of stuff with COVID, injuries this year. We’ve missed about 25 different games from one player or another and to still be 23-2 is pretty amazing.”
Sumpter kept the Warriors in it, knocking down five of his seven 3-point attempts while Sime had 12 points including a go-ahead layup with about two minutes left. They both factored into Western’s explosive 23-point third quarter with Sumpter scoring 12 of his 18 points in that frame while Sime had six points.
But the game bogged back down in the fourth after Western took a 41-40 lead into that final frame and while the Western defense tried to make Sime’s final bucket standup over the last two minutes and the Warriors nearly did, until the chaotic final play.
Conrad finished with 25 points, including an incredible seven 3-pointers. Jayden Johnson finished with 15 for the Vikings, with the two sophomores accounting for the bulk of the scoring in a low-scoring, defensive struggle. Loudoun Valley outscored Western just 9-7 in the fourth quarter.
Tesoriere finished with nine points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals while Farmer notched six points, eight boards and four blocks.
Loudoun Valley advances to the state final four and they’ll face rival Loudoun County for the fifth time this season in the Class 4 state semifinals.
Western boys basketball falls on a buzzer beating three. pic.twitter.com/5PC9tnHQVs
— scrimmageplay (@scrimmageplay) March 5, 2022
