Osbourn Falls to Gar-Field in Regional Title Game

The environment at Gar-Field High School on Saturday night was as good as it gets for high school basketball.

The Eagles of Osbourn made the trip to Woodbridge to take on the Indians in the regional championship game.

The stands were packed on both sides of the gym and everyone was looking forward to a great game between the two northern Virginia teams.

Gar-Field came into the game with only one loss while Osbourn suffered two during the regular season. Osbourn is a very explosive, fast-paced team while Gar-Field likes to play a much slower, half-court style of game.

That distinct difference in the two teams made for a very entertaining contest. Not to mention, both teams knew they would be going to the state tournament so they were able to play a more relaxed game without having to worry about the season ending on Saturday night.

Garfield used the home crowd to their advantage and they jumped out to a first quarter lead early on. The Indians were able to slow the pace of the game down and prevent Osbourn from running a lot in transition. At the end of the first period, Garfield led 18-11. 

The Indians continued to control the game early on in the second quarter before Osbourn started to get it going offensively. For the last four minutes of the first half, the Eagles clamped down on defense and went on a 15-8 run to cut the lead to 34-30 at the half.

At the start of the third, Osbourn came out hot and cut the lead to one before Gar-Field took the momentum back. The Indians went on a run in the last part of the third quarter and took a commanding 54-41 lead into the final period.

Still, Osbourn's players, coaches, and fans knew they could not be counted out, despite being down by 13 at the start of the fourth quarter.  Garfield also knew  their lead was not safe and Osbourn was able to muster up a rally to eventually cut the lead to two points.

Osbourn came up just short in the end, despite an extremely impressive fourth quarter. Garfield was able to create a couple big turnovers and turn them into easy baskets. The Indians won the game by a final of 76-64, which does not reflect how close the game really was. 

The star of the game for Garfield was junior guard, Zach Fong, who knocked down eight three-pointers on his way to a game-high 31 points.

The leading performers for Osbourn were:

Jay Lane with 16 points

Robert Carter and Landon Dufrene who both scored 10

Corey Bedford and Raphael Edwards both tallied 9 points

Cedrick Delaney notched 8 points

It was a very hard-fought game by both teams and both teams will now prepare to head into the state tournament with plenty of confidence.

Both Garfield and Osbourn will play their state quarterfinal game against a team from the Eastern region. The game day and time have yet to be determined as the Eastern region plays their championship game on Monday night. Be on the look-out for details on when and where the Eagles will play next.