TC Williams Captures 2009 Patriot District Championship

By Sean Frye

(BURKE, VA) -- After winning the state championship last season, the TC Williams Titans have been looking to repeat all season long. They took their first major step in doing so Friday night, as they defeated the Annandale Atoms by a score of 76-57 to capture the Patriot District title. 

The Titans took no time to set a fast paced tempo to the game, a tempo the Atoms were simply unable to handle. Edward Jenkins of the Titans put up six points, including 4 of 4 on foul shots. Taryon Chambers added four more to help the Titans to an 18-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

The offensive pressure produced by the Titans only increased during the second quarter. Gavin Peterson put up nine points on the quarter alone for the Titans. On the other end, the Atoms continued to struggle to simply maintain control of the ball. The Titans held a 39-20 advantage going into the locker room at halftime. 

After the way the first half had gone down, the game appeared all but over. However, the Atoms came out of the locker room with a swagger, and quickly turned the momentum of the game into their favor. Joe Turner lit up the scoreboard with seven points in the quarter. On the other hand, the Titans as a team were held simply to 12 points, which helped the Atoms close in on the Titans. The Titans held a 51-41 lead going into the final eight minutes. 

Billy Rowland saw his team's 19 point halftime lead erased to 10 in just one quarter, and took action, by scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter. Jenkins added six more to all but seal the deal for the Titans. The Atoms struggled with foul shots in the fourth quarter, which allowed for the Titans to run away with a 76-57 victory, giving them the 2009 Patriot District title. 

One of the keys to the Titans victory was the ability to hold of  D'Angelo Boyce of the Atoms, who didn't find the scoreboard until the fourth quarter. Boyce had put up 27 points in the district semifinals just the previous night.