For the first time since the 2019-20 season the Wakefield Warriors will play for a district-tournament championship.
The top-seeded boys high-school basketball team earned that opportunity thanks to a 69-59 Liberty District tourney-semifinal win on Valentine’s Day over the No. 4 seeded Yorktown Patriots in an all-Arlington contest.
Wakefield (19-4) was ahead by just two points at halftime, then built a 48-35 lead late in the third quarter and maintained the advantage from there. Wakefield outscored Yorktown, 24-14, in the third quarter.
Yorktown fell to 14-10. Liberty District Player of the Year Carlton Young led Wakefield in scoring. The senior forward had 22 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and one steal.
“We amped it up more in the third quarter, switched up our defenses some and we attacked more,” Wakefield coach Tony Bentley said. “We were us in the third quarter and played like that.”
Guard Jeremiah Poole scored 12 points for Wakefield, B.J. Willis and Miles Hancock 10 each and Kevin McLinton Jr. nine. Derrick Bailey and Willis made early thee-pointers.
Wakefield lost to Yorktown, 64-62, the last time the teams met this winter in regular-season action.
Wakefield now faces and hosts the defending champion and No. 2 seed Marshall Statesmen (19-5) in the title game, at 7 p.m. Feb. 16. The teams split two regular-season meetings, with Marshall winning the last, 48-32. Wakefield won the first meeting, 52-50.
Marshall and Wakefield have met often over the years in district-tournament play.
As the No. 1 seed, Wakefield received a first-round bye in the district tournament.
The last time Wakefield played in a district tourney final was in the 2019-20 season when the Warriors were members of the National District.
No matter what happens in this year’s district final, both teams advance to the boys 6D North Region tournament, as does Yorktown, which did not qualify last season.
NOTE: Back in the 2013 season, Wakefield also met and defeated Yorktown in a district-tournament semifinal game on Valentine’s Day.
• In the Liberty District girls basketball tournament semifinals the night of Feb. 14, the No. 2 seed and host Washington-Liberty Generals (11-9) lost to the No. 3 seed McLean Highlanders, 36-33, and the Yorktown Patriots (8-15) fell to the host and top seed Langley Saxons, 46-35.
Washington-Liberty led for much of the second half, but was outscored 7-0 over the final four-and-a-half minutes of the game. The Generals attempted a desperation three-point in the final seconds that fell short.
The score was tied at 9 at the end of the first quarter, with McLean leading 19-17 at halftime. The Generals rallied to lead 31-26 at the end of three periods, but scored just two points in the final quarter.
Yorktown was within a point of Langley, trailing 33-32, early in the fourth quarter, then gradually started falling behind. Langley grabbed multiple offensive rebounds and converted a number of foul shots in the final period.
Both Washington-Liberty and Yorktown advance to the girls 6D North Region tournament, which begins next week. The Generals will be the third seed from the district and Yorktown the fourth.
Neither team qualified for the region tournament last season.
With first-year head coach Maddy DeCou leading the way, Washington-Liberty's winning regular-season record is its first since the 2012-13 season, which also was the last time the Generals qualified for the region tourney. They played in the region during the COVID season, when all teams automatically received berths.
