This Week in Sports - Week #16

Dave Levy, Athletic Director
Basketball is in full swing! Our varsity boys won in lopsided fashion this week at home against WCDS while the Middle School Girls played a tight match on the road with Covenant. The Varsity girls play their home opener this evening vs RMA in the Badger Den!

Don’t forget to email me your spring sports signups!

Three Point Barrage: Varsity Badgers Earn Big Win in the Den! - 12/4/24

With Sin representing Tandem at a prestigious Student Diversity Conference in Colorado, Mason was pressed into duty for his first start of the season. Only fifteen seconds into the game, Amir swung the ball to Mason on the wing.  With his feet square to the basket, Mason did not hesitate. He shot the ball with the kind of confidence that only comes from hard work and repetition. The bench leapt to their feet as Mason's three point shot squeezed its way through the twine - a perfect swish to open our first December home game in the Badger Den!
 
Determined to control the pace, Tandem came out with full court pressure, keeping the action in front of them.  On the rare occasion WCDS was able to get into the front court, they ran into elite man to man defense. An absolute pest, Quis was locked in on the defensive end. He rotated over from the opposite side to block a shot in the first quarter, and went on to have five steals throughout the game, simply picking the pocket of his very frustrated opponent.
 
 
With Sean at the high post, Quis cut from the wing and drew a foul, earning a trip to the foul line. Sean did it all this afternoon - he scored 18 points and had 6 assists - setting up his teammates - delivering a pass to Mason from one block to the other.  Once the defense was focused on Sean, Derion was left open.  BIG MISTAKE. Holding his follow through in the air, the crowd erupted. Derion was on fire - and he went on to knock in back to back three pointers, and Tandem led 16-9 after the first period.
 
The second quarter was more of the same, as WCDS doubled Sean in the post and they left Derion open again on the wing - his favorite spot. The disrespect! Derion took his time and looked at the defense as if to say "are you sure you want to give me this much space?"  He shrugged, squared his feet and launched from the wing and made another three, as the lead began to balloon to double digits.  After a WCDS timeout, Amir got red hot as well - draining consecutive threes of his own, and Tandem was on a roll.
 
Quis then knocked the ball away from the opposing point guard and dove on the floor for the steal. With his body horizontal on the floor, Quis kept his dribble,  got up, and went the length of the court for a lay-up.  As Tandem extended their defense, more transition opportunities came our way.
 
Sean got a rebound and threw a dime to Quis who ran the floor for a lay up.  Sean then threw an outlet pass to Derion - who showed the versatility of his game. Yes - he is absolutely dynomite from downtown - but he also split the defense, putting some spin on the ball and finishing in the lane.  After Sean knocked down a three and Amir went baseline for a beautiful reverse lay-up, the Badgers led 39-17 at the half.
 
To quote Lili, "when Quis jumps he looks like an astronaut in outer space." The third quarter was full of Quis highlights and Mason setting up Sean as the Badgers maintained a lead of more than twenty points.  In the final period, Anthony assisted Shaan who put in a big time three from the corner, Seamus got going from the middle of the lane (his teammates loved it!) and Tre'Sean dropped in a difficult floater from fifteen feet late in the fourth. 
 
The Badgers earned a key win on their homecourt! Sean led the team in scoring with 18, Derion had 15 and Amir 8. The team returns to action on Tuesday at St Michaels at 6.  Hope to see you then!

JV & Varsity Boys Take on CHS Basketball Teams - 11/25/24

Curling off a flex spot to the block, Sean sealed his defender behind him.  On the wing, Amir faked a pass to the corner, and the opponent jumped, giving Amir a perfect lane for an entry pass.  Once Sean had the ball on the block, it was over for CHS.  There were three possibilities:
A) Sean turns to the basket and scored easily.
B) Sean is fouled and sent to the line.
C) All of the above -  Sean takes the contact, cashes in the field goal, and makes one of his 6 foul shots en route to a career high 27 point total on the night!
 
Charlottesville High School enrolls 1300 students, more than five times the number of students at Tandem Friends. It's nearly thirteen times the number of students in our upper school. Were the Badgers intimidated? Absolutely not! That is nonsense! 
 
Tonight, CHS hosted an exciting JV/Varsity Double Header, and they needed every seat of their large gymnasium! Tonight, our community truly Badgered Up: we had an enormous student section, tons of alumni, faculty, and lots of families and friends were on hand to see our student-athletes play! The Badgers competed without an ounce of fear - leading to a tight battle against a much larger foe.
 
In the opening quarter, Quis and Amir worked together to break the press. Quis split the defense and drew a foul, making both of his attempts at the line.  Moments later, Quis found Amir streaking down the sideline - Amir finished off the play with a smooth lay-up at the rim.  The rest of Tandem's offense came from Sean, who proved to be a matchup nightmare.  He scored at least six points in each quarter.
 
Amir was a defensive juggernaut. On three separate occasions, Amir forced turnovers when his lateral quickness, intensity and agility forced CHS into five seconds closely guarded, drawing an enthusiastic shout of "yeeeahhhh" from his fired up teammates - and the Badgers in the stands!  When CHS did get into the paint, Sean blocked their shots into next week! He combined with Mason to dominate the boards - Mason got consecutive rebounds on one possession and earned a trip to the line!   Sin then scored off a baseline drive and followed that up by setting up Sean for a three! The Badgers played CHS within 1 point in the second quarter, 10-9.
 
Running a beautifully designed play out of a timeout, Sean set a screen for Quis and opened up towards the wing - ready for another entry pass.  He scored the first four points of the period off that same play.  With the defense focused on Sean, Quis attacked the rim, and Sin followed that up by earning a trip to the line of his own. Quis also had a smooth pull up jumper. The period featured a third five second call - a true sign of Amir's elite perimeter defense.  Tandem finished the third quarter down 15-14.
 
The Varsity Badgers had a great experience this afternoon - they took on an enormous school and played them within 1 point in three out of the four quarters! What an absolutely extraordinary effort for the small and incredibly special school on Tandem Lane! The team impressed us all - they showed poise and played under control with great execution.  They are ready for the conference schedule - coming your way after Fall Break!
 
Our JV Badgers came out in a tough 2-3 zone defense.  Seamus scored an early basket off a beautiful baseline inbounds pass from Anthony.   Tre'Sean was able to turn defense into offense, getting a big steal and taking the ball to the rim in transition.  In the half court, Derion showed off his beautiful ball handling skills, all while communicating to his teammates offensive instructions.

Defensively, Asher extended the pressure, forcing the CHS guards to set up their offense far from the basket.  Dalin and Amare competed down low for rebounds, while Otis and Anthony provided great pressure at the top of the key.  
 
Offensively, Henry extended the defense - making smooth passes and shooting the ball from the outside, while Shaan took the ball the length of the floor - going behind the back and between the legs -and then drew a foul, knocking in a free throw with perfect form! What an incredible play! The final quarter also included Tre'Sean drilling a deep jumper, Asher getting to the line on a home run pass from Anthony, and Shaan finding Seamus for a 5-4 lead in the quarter.

The JV Badgers have proven they can hang with tough competition, and they'll be ready for their December contests after the break.  Tonight, they dove on the floor for loose balls, passed with precision, and attacked the basket with force!
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Tandem Friends School is a co-ed Quaker day school for grades 5-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
 
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