Sophomore guard Simeon Moore and junior forward Torian Younger provided a potent one-two punch for the Magna Vista boys basketball team against William Byrd on Friday night.
The duo combined for 45 points in the team’s 73-66 victory over the Terriers in the first round of the VHSL Region 3D Tournament.
Moore led the Warriors (8-16) with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists while Younger added 22 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Landon Hall hit six three-pointers for 18 points and 6 rebounds.
Isiah Board scored a team high 27 points for the Terriers and Jahdai English chipped in 11.
Landon Hall nailed a pair of three-pointers and Younger and Hall chipped in six points each to give Magna Vista a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Both teams scored eleven points in the second quarter with Magna Vista going into halftime with a 31-22 lead.
The Warriors led by as many as sixteen points in the third quarter when Hall hit a second three-pointer at the 4:26 mark to put Magna Vista up 43-27. However, William Byrd came charging back. A three-pointer by junior guard Drew Lindsay and a three- point play by sophomore forward Luke Helton kicked off a 13-2 run that cut the Warriors lead to 45-40 at the 2:02 mark. A pair of free throws in the final minute by Simeon Moore put the Warriors up 47-40 at the end of the third period.
The Terriers and Warriors traded mini runs in the final period. Magna Vista scored the first nine points to rebuild their lead to 56-40 at the 5:50 mark. A steal by William Byrd’s Isiah Board started a seven -point mini run by the Terriers that cut the Warriors lead to 56-47 with three minutes left in the game. However, Magna Vista answered back with an 8-point run to make the score 64-47. William Byrd’s Jahdai English hit two 3-pointers in the closing seconds, but the Terriers still came up short, 73-66.
Both teams scored 26 points in the final period with William Byrd nailing five three-pointers. The Terriers tallied a total eight three-pointers in the second half. Moore, and Younger scored a combined total of 27 points for the Warriors in the second half. Hall added nine points on three-pointers.
Magna Vista Coach head coach Ty’Quan Graves said he knew this would be a tough team to beat at home and that the game plan was simple: compete for four quarters, do the small things right and most importantly “Believe! believe in yourself, your team, and your coach and everything else will work out.”
“I have voiced the importance of doing the small things (box out, close out, hustle, make free throws, execute, and minimize turnovers and second chance opportunities) all season and tonight the small things helped them finish on top,” Graves said.
“I am extremely proud of them,” he added. “Magna Vista is a fairly young team full of players seeking to learn the game. Our guys competed from start to finish and wanted to win this game badly. Moore and Younger came to play tonight and Hall had 18 points on 6 three-pointers… the execution of the offense opened up a lot of opportunities, and these guys aggressively took advantage of those opportunities.”
Magna Vista will head to Roanoke to face Blue Ridge District champs Northside (22-3) on Tuesday Feb. 20 at 6:00 p.m. in the semi-finals.
“Northside is a really good team and well coached,” Graves said. “Northside shoots the ball extremely well and plays aggressive on both ends of the court so it’s imperative that we take care of the ball and limit them to one shot opportunities.”
