Jags Benefit from Inelgible Edison Player, but Drop District Title Game

Late Thursday evening, Falls Church head coach T.C. Papageorge received a surprising phone call from league official notifying him that his team would be playing in Falls Church’s first National District championship since 2003.

Having lost 83-50 to Edsion in Wednesday’s semi-final, Papageorge and his staff had already shifted their focus to preparing for the winner of the Liberty District tournament for their regional matchup. However, when it was revealed the Edison had played that game with an ineligible player, not only did the Jags jump a seed to match up with a different opponent, but they also had the daunting task of taking on the two-time defending champ Mount Vernon Majors and District Player of the Year Jesse Konadu.

Sachin Gangele, Nizar Alalmin, and Romeo Kc score 13, 11 and 10 points respectively, but Konadu dropped in a game-high 25 to lead Mount Vernon to the 83-49 victory.

“Everyone was really excited,” Papageorge said. “No matter how we got in, it was a great experience for us.”

Unfortunately, the Jaguars would have to experience the tenacious pressure of the Majors from the opening tip. A relentless press forced the Jags into seven first-quarter turnovers and allowed the Majors to jump out to the early lead. Alamin did all he could to keep his team in the game, but his six points were all Falls Church could muster in the opening period.

It would get worse in the second. The Majors went deep into a talented bench and they didn’t miss a beat. Alamin and Kc were using all their energy to break the press, but they had little left to create in the half court. Errant passes and travelling violations proved costly as what started as a quick 8-2 run by Mount Vernon turned into a complete quarter of domination. They Jags were outscored 24-7 in the quarter and fell behind 40-13 at the break.

“We are really struggling with a lack of depth,” Papageorge admitted.

One bright spot of the bench was the fearless play of Tommy Troung. The six-foot senior had a handful of rebounds and blocks to go with a career high six points against a much bigger and more athletic Mount Vernon frontcourt.

“Tommy was the manager last year,” Papageorge said. “He worked hard and got on the roster this year. We’ve had a few players leave the team for various reasons, and he stepped in and gave us some solid minutes.”

It looked at the start of the second half as if the Jaguars still believed they could make the miraculous comeback. They hit three shots from behind the arc and matched their 13 first-half points in the first 3:30 seconds of the third quarter. However, they still had no answer for the Mount Vernon offense. As a result, the Jags were unable to chip away at the lead, and instead were outscored 43-36 in the second half en route to the 34-point defeat.

“I think we got a good chance to see the intensity of playoff basketball,” Papageorge reflected. “But this year we won our first district playoff game since 2003, so were just going to stay positive going into the regional tournament.”