Magruder Boys Advance in 4A West Basketball Semi-Final

Magruder will face Bethesda Chevy-Chase in the championship round of the 4A West Boys Basketball Final on Monday evening at Blair High School. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

Before Magruder advanced to the finals it had to survive a nail biter of a semi final round against cross-town rival Quince Orchard. This game had already been postponed twice due to Thor (remember the weather system that dumped 8 inches of snow in the DMV). So on a bright and seasonably cold Saturday afternoon these two rivals met for the 3^rd time this season in front of packed gym in Gaithersburg. My estimates placed the crowd at about 900.

A home team student body that dressed in tropical attire as if attending a Jimmy Buffett concert cheered on Magruder. Quince Orchard students however arrived in their home Red Army shirts and were lead by seven mustached students decked out in khaki pants, sweater vests, white shirts and ties – known as the Foringers – a tongue in cheek bow to long time QO head coach Paul Foringer.

Magruder got off to a fast start and lead after the 1^st period by a score of 17-10. Quince Orchard turned the ball over numerous times and struggled to capture their share of the loose 50/50 balls in the second quarter while Magruder never folded and went into half time leading 24-18.

Magruder stretched their lead to 10 by the end of the 3^rd quarter mostly a result of the defensive play by Joe Hugley. With Magruder holding the score at 33 to 23 QO needed a stop. Quick hands by QO guards Matt Kelly and Damon Daniel began the turnaround in the 4^th with defensive stops and a few steals. At the other end of the court scoring picked up once Sam Ling reentered the game after sitting with 3 fouls. Small forward Johnny Fierstein also contributed. By the 3:54 mark in the 4^th QO had tied the score at 35 apiece on Ling’s foul shot, making 1 of 2 from the line.

But down the stretch Magruder’s Hammond and Chouili were too much for the Cougars and the Colonels closed out QO by outscoring them 10-4 in the final 3 minutes of the game.

Magruder advances to play Bethesda Chevy-Chase.

Here is a gallery of photos from Saturday’s Semi-Final match.

Phil Fabrizio

@Photoloaf

About Phil Fabrizio

Phil Fabrizio is an event, news and sports photographer in the Washington D.C. Metro area. He lives in North Potomac and has operated Sugarloaf Photography since 1985. He is a member of the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of the Glen Echo Partnership for Arts and Culture, Inc in Glen Echo. Stop by Phil's PhotoLoaf site or follow him on Twitter @Photoloaf. Find Phil's blog on MyMCMedia here.

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