Aldie, Va. — After watching their girls team drop a heartbreaker to rival Freedom High School just minutes before, the John Champe High School boys basketball team found themselves in an unfamiliar position—trailing the Eagles by as many as 10 points in the first half.
The culmination of senior night, a late-season district contest, and a crosstown rivalry got the Knights off to a shaky start, but a collected second half effort proved to the difference as they used double-digit scoring efforts from junior forward Ralph Martino and freshman forward Kade Sebastian off the bench to escape the Eagles, 51-42, on February 3 in South Riding.
“A win is a win. I just wanted the seniors to win. A lot of the time, we ask for the opportunity, but when the opportunity is there, we don’t always take advantage,” John Champe head coach Walt Webb said. “Tonight, we took advantage, and I think we’re one step closer to where we want to be.”
[adrotate banner=”53″]In the win, the Knights celebrated seniors Jaaden Campbell, Ryan Grzesiak, Adu Habte, Allen Jones, Daniel Josef, Sean Kelly, Kaushal Poreddy, and Jaden and Jalen Smith.
“It’s senior night so it’s a lot of emotions. Our nine seniors have been in the trenches putting in the work since day one, so I wanted to make sure they had their night and that they got an opportunity to play,” Webb said. “Senior night happens once a year, so it was a little different coming out of the starting block, but we made the adjustment, settled down, and got back into the flow.”
Grzesiak, Habte, Poreddy, and the Smith brothers got the start in place of the Knights’ regular starting lineup, and the Eagles took advantage of the Knights’ unfamiliar start.
Freedom spread the scoring around as junior guards Akhil Kalyan and Dylan Kehrer gave the Eagles a spark off the bench with 7 points and 6 points respectively in the first half, after junior guard Jack Robertson scored 5 in the first quarter.
Trailing 26-18 at the half, the Knights came out firing on all cylinders to start the third quarter, opening the second half on a 21-5 run thanks to the play of Sebastian, Martino, and Jalen Smith, who contributed 6, 6, and 8 points in the second half, respectively.
That run to open the half, not only swung the momentum in John Champe’s favor, but also gave the Knights’ a 37-31 lead after the third quarter.
With the lead and the momentum, John Champe (10-2, 13-4) cruised down the stretch and escaped the 8-point halftime deficit to defeat Freedom and maintain the No. 2 spot in the Cedar Run District. If John Champe wins out—or they win one and Battlefield drops their final game—the Knights will secure the No. 2 seed heading into the district tournament. But at this point in the season, they’re still taking it one game at a time.
“We have to play Gainesville on Monday. Coach [Justin] Powers is a great coach, and they did a great job against us at their place,” Webb said. “We know wherever we play, no matter how well the other team plays, they’re going to give us their best. We’re not looking past anyone at this point, so our priorities are in order.”
Derrick Jerry captured 150+ photos at the game!
John Champe Stats
| John Champe | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Kade Sebastian | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Ralph Martino | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4-for-5 |
| Jalen Smith | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Kaushal Poreddy | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-for-3 |
| Sean Kelly | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Ryan Grzesiak | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-2 |
| Daniel Josef | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-for-0 |
| Trever Savage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Gregory Spiller | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Jaden Smith | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jaaden Campbell | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Jerome Thompson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Adu Habte | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 51 | 25 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 9-for-17 |
Freedom Stats
| Freedom | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | FT |
| Akhil Kalyan | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Myles Powell | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1-for-1 |
| Dylan Kehrer | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-1 |
| Jack Robertson | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Taharka Siaca Bey | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-2 |
| Zachary Cook | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1-for-2 |
| Anthony Pang | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Brent Taylor | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3-for-4 |
| Havish Rallabandi | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Peter Hoenig | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Jacob Wolin | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0-for-0 |
| Totals | 42 | 22 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 5-for-10 |
