Schools
McLean Wins Rotary Cup in Annual Against Langley
Cross-town rivalry ends in two varsity wins for McLean basketball
Last night’s varsity boys basketball matchup at McLean High School between the Highlanders and the Saxons was everything a basketball fan could hope for in a rivalry. In an exciting back and forth contest, the McLean varsity boys were victorious, winning the game 49-44.
The gym was packed to capacity per usual, with the McLean varsity girls coming off of a 43-29 win against the Saxons just minutes before the boys game was set to begin. The student section of McLean wore all black with Langley’s dressed in white.
“I go to all the games every year. I love the competition, with all the cheers going back and forth,” said Azita Peters, an 8th-grade student at Longfellow Middle School and future McLean Highlander.
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Langley’s Daniel Dixon was the first player to put points on the board. Dixon proved to be the star player and highest scorer of the game, scoring a team high of 21 points for the Saxons. McLean quickly countered his points, making it 9-2 with less than four minutes to go in the first quarter.
Just before the end of the first quarter, McLean senior Sango Amollo took an aggressive hit to the floor by Langley junior Brad Dotson, who by the end of the game was served with a technical foul and later fouled out. Amollo quickly recovered, scoring 12 points for McLean. The cheer “Sango, baby!” was heard throughout the game.
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McLean was up by four points at halftime, with a score of 22-18. By the end of the third quarter they began to pull away from the Saxons, making it 41-28. Langley began to make a comeback in the fourth period, closing McLean’s lead to 46-41 with 59 seconds to go, but it was not enough to trump the Highlanders.
“The next game is a district game. If you can’t be hyped about that, I don’t know what else there is,” said McLean senior Gordon Rogo. “Win or go home now. We just have to be ready to play hard every game.”
Other key players of the game were Langley senior Joey Robinson with 12 points, Langley senior Tristan Evans with 8 points, McLean senior Thomas Van Wazer with 9 points, and Rogo with 8 points.
