June 22, 1998 - The Vienna Warhawks 12 Year Old Boys County Select Team opened their summer season last night at Marshall High School with a dramatic come from behind 54-46 win over arch rival Chantilly.

This was a true grudge match in the making. Chantilly beat Vienna in the Championship Game of the regular season tournament and the Warhawks were looking to even the score. It would be an up hill battle for Vienna though. After the regular season, Chantilly formed their own AAU basketball team that kept their group together as they played in tournaments around the area. The majority of the Vienna players play baseball in the spring, so last night was the first time they have played together since the end of the regular season. To make things worse only 7 out of the 15 Vienna players showed up for the game due to other sports commitments. In the end, it was the right seven players that came to play.

Chantilly came out hot and posted an early 9-2 lead. Chantilly’s Brandon Reid blocked the first three Vienna shots to set the early tempo of the game. After a time out, the Warhawks regrouped and came back strong to take a one point lead at 10-9. Chantilly finished the half strong though, with a 12-6 run down the stretch to lead by six points, 21-15 at the half.

Even though the Warhawks were playing tough, with only seven players in the rotation, they looked worn out by half time. The coaching staff reminded the players that they were still in the game (only down 3 baskets) and as long as they continued to play hard on defense and worked the ball around on offense, good things would happen. And good things did happen.

Down by seven at 28-21, Vienna got their second wind, half way through the second half and began to fly. Chantilly tried to wear the Warhawks down by switching to a trapping defense. Vienna remained composed, driving to the basket and pounding the ball inside to counter the Chantilly attack. Vienna went on a 21-8 run to go up by six points, 42-36 with 5 minutes left in the game. Vienna held off a barrage of three point attempts in the remaining minutes to win by the final margin.

Derek Feussner along with the great off the bench performance by Mark Gentry lead Vienna’s comeback with drives, dishes and clutch baskets. The main reason Vienna prevailed was that all seven players contributed. The Warhawk’s center, Brent Locey scored 17 of his game high 23 points in the second half. Ryan Boyer did it all, rebounding, defense, and scored 7 points. Brock Boone was all over the court on defense and contributed 6 points. Brendan Hanifin scored and helped shut down Chantilly’s inside players, and Stuart Rawlinson came in and moved the ball well and scored a clutch basket. Feussner and Gentry each scored 7 points in the game.