July 27, 1998 - The Vienna Warhawks 12 Year Old Boys County Select Team overwhelmed James Lee 84-42 Monday night in the Fairfax County Summer Basketball League at Marshall High School.

This is the second blow out in as many games for Vienna. From start to finish, the Warhawks were just too much for James Lee to handle. Vienna started out in a 1-3-1 full court press that gave the Warhawks an early lead that just got bigger as the game went on. Vienna set up the traps and then just swarmed the ball to create turnover after turnover. The Warhawks were bigger and faster than the players from James Lee and the Vienna players sensed it, and used it to their advantage. They did an excellent job of getting in the passing lanes and moving into position to pick off passes, and then getting the ball down court fast for the easy lay-up.

In fact , it seemed like that’s all Vienna was shooting all night, lay-up after lay-up. If the fast break wasn’t there, then someone would become wide open underneath the basket for the easy lay in. The Warhawks took off the press in the first half and went to a half court man-to-man defense the rest of the way. It still didn’t seem to matter, Vienna would force the turnover that would result in another lay-up at the other end. At a point in the second half, with the game out of reach, the Vienna coach called for no more fast breaks and to work the half court offense only. This strategy pretty much had the same result , open players and easy shots around the basket.

The Warhawks again rotated new players in every four minutes throughout the game, keeping the players fresh. Everyone of the eleven Vienna players scored. Kwame Safo led the scoring with 20 points followed by Brent Locey (16), Ryan Boyer (8), Brian Landry (8), Daniel Pitcher (8), Sawyer Sams (7), Jeff Manthe (6), Ray sparrow (4), Mark Gentry (3), Hugh McCarthy (2), and Brock Boone (2).

The win improves the Warhawk’s record to 5-3 with two more games left in the regular season. The final tournament will be held August 3-7, with trophies going to the first and second place teams. Go Warhawks!