Double Trouble

Langley varsity basketball has always drawn a decent crowd in the past, but with both girls and boys varsity teams being top contenders for the Liberty District, the stands are becoming packed. The Langley boys varsity team has a 12-1 conference record, which has earned them the top seed entering the postseason. Similarly, the girls varsity comes into the playoffs in second with an 11-3 conference record in the regular season.

A major key to the success of both teams is the leadership and experience brought to the table by seniors. For the boys varsity team, the six seniors are Finn Gunderson, Chris Miner, Carson Pearce, John Rau, Nate Shafer, and Tavon Tarpley. Similarly, the girls varsity has six seniors playing this year: Sarah Flatley, Paige Galiani, Lindsey van Houten, Jackie Litschewski, Stephanie Sipple, and Lizzy Shamloo. Not only do all these boys and girls contribute to the skill of the team, but also they help lead and build chemistry among the players. The Washington Post summarizes it very well when they state, “With Nate Shafer manning the paint, shooters like Chas Battaglia manning the three-point line and Tavon Tarpley handling everything in between, the Saxons have the depth and chemistry to make a run at the region title.”

After asking Ariana Aulisi, Junior on the Langley Girls varsity team, what she thinks makes her team play so well, she comments, “we have been growing together for three years and this year we just jelled like no other.” For the boys team, Jay Goettman, Junior, discusses their keys to success and he states, “not only do our seniors bring a lot of skill and leadership to the table, but our juniors and sophomores provide immense depth.”

Straying away from the overall team success, multiple individuals of Langley’s varsity teams have received awards or broken records this year. On the boys side, Nate Shafer was awarded both Liberty Conference Player of the Year and Liberty Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Tavon Tarpley was named Frist Team All-Conference. Not only that, but Grant Hughes, junior, received an award for Defensive First Team All-Conference and an honorable mention for his offense. Lastly, Coach Scott Newman was awarded Coach of the Year after leading his team to an overall 16-5 record. On the other hand, although the end of the season awards for the girls teams has not been publicized, Paige Galiani broke the all-time scoring record in Langley girls varsity history to top off an amazing career. Although despite these accolades, a combination of skill, chemistry, teamwork, and depth has all been major contributions to Langley’s success.

To start off the Conference playoffs, both the boys and girls won by sizeable amounts against Mclean (boys) and Yorktown (girls). Then after the boys defeat Washington and Lee, and the girls beat Yorktown, both teams were set to play in the championship game. Both Langley teams finished the night by cutting down the nets in victory, with the boys team winning 52-49 against South Lakes, and the girls team winning against Fairfax. For the girls team, this was the first time since 1988 that Langley won the Conference championship.

Sadly, for the varsity boys basketball team, their incredible run ended with an overtime loss to Herndon in the first round of the regional tournament. Despite their loss, the team ended with an overall 20-6 record which is definitely something to be proud of. On the other hand though, the girls team is still going strong in the regional tournament after defeating both Centreville and West Springfield. With those two wins, the girls team has officially clinched a state tournament-birth. Yet, no matter what happens at the State tournament, both teams had extremely successful seasons.DoubleTrouble