Dazzling 2nd Half helpsYorktown improve to 3-0 withwin over Falls Church

ARLINGTON, Va. — On a rainy and gloomy day in Arlington, it was anything but gloomy inside Wakefield High School. It was a packed day of basketball for the Wakefield Varsity Fall League season, with 15 matches played on Saturday. There was a buzz in the school, and it was a fantastic day of high school basketball. Yorktown had two matches scheduled, and after winning their first one against South Lakes High School, they squared off against Falls Church for the second half of their doubleheader. After a competitive first half, Yorktown ran away with the game and ended up winning 55-34.

The first half of the game was extremely uncharacteristic on offense for Yorktown. They were not great with their passing, and it looked disjointed. In addition, their shooting was off the mark. Yorktown struggled to make shots, and while the defense was sound, the offense lacked the finishing touch on multiple occasions. The only thing that kept them in the game was their tremendous defense. The defense continued to produce steals, get rebounds, and they kept Falls Church from scoring, which made up for the offense not being able to make buckets. A theme that is displayed in Yorktown’s basketball throughout all games is their rock-solid defense and aggressive rebounding. It is difficult for their opponents to get second-chance opportunities, and Yorktown does a world-class job of shutting down inside lanes. For the majority of the half, Falls Church were kept to the outside, and while they were able to hit some three-point shots, it was hard for them to get into a rhythm, since all the “easy” layup areas were being closed off by the Yorktown defense. It was 21-19 in Yorktown’s favor at the half, and the margins were close.

The second half was a whole different story, as within the first eight minutes of the second half, they outscored Falls Church 18-5. The offensive game finally woke up, and Yorktown began to run away with the game. Ozan Terzi-Rowe, one of Yorktown’s main contributors with 10 points, spoke about their drastic change in the way they played between halves.

“At halftime, our Coach [Luke Moritz] and our star players, Walt [Butler] and Sam [Roosa], told us to keep playing and shooting because we were getting good shots,” said Terzi-Rowe. “The shots finally fell, and we eventually kept scoring and pulled away.”

“The shots finally fell, and we eventually kept scoring and pulled away.”

— Ozan Terzi-Rowe

Even after a disappointing first half where Yorktown had a ton of chances and could not convert, the team did not lose faith in their abilities. Leaders on this team reassured their teammates, and the halftime talk led to a smooth all-around performance in the latter part of the game. They made the right adjustments at halftime on offense, and that spurred a gargantuan 34 second half points. Terzi-Rowe also spoke about what Coach Moritz said to them at halftime.

“He told us to keep trusting our shot, making sure that we’re in help on defense and we’re switching off our man in the paint,” Terzi-Rowe said. “He also just said to keep playing as hard as you can, and it’ll eventually work out.”

This team is built on trust and hard work, and all five players on the court played 100% on both ends of the court. The offense scored 13 points in the second half more than in the first half, and the defense allowed four fewer points as well. These transformations put Yorktown into a whole new gear, and they played lights-out in the second half.

All around, Yorktown looked excellent, and they were firing on all cylinders. Even after playing a game in the morning, they looked fresh in this one and ended up dominating the encounter against Falls Church, with a thumping 21-point blowout. This win took them to three wins and no losses, and through two weeks, there is not much going wrong for them. Next weekend, they have another doubleheader against Robinson and South County High School. Will this Arlington team be able to keep chugging to two more wins and keep their win streak going?