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By Kyle Gotimer
LoCoSports Assistant Editor
Ashburn (March 1, 2015) — 50. He scored 50.
On Saturday night, Thomas A. Edison High School was set to play Stone Bridge High School in a boys basketball match up in a VHSL 5A North region quarterfinal. Stone Bridge senior guard Jason Jolly gave every fan in attendance a show they won’t ever forget in his team’s, 88-83, come-from-behind victory.
“If [Jolly]’s not the player of the year in the state of Virginia that’s the biggest travesty in sports: what he has done for this team, for this school and this community,” Stone Bridge head coach Corey Stitzel said. “I have coached at every level. I have never seen a guy score 50 points with 9 assists to go with it. [Jolly] puts more work in than any kid I’ve ever coached at any level and that’s the result you get. He deserves every bit of credit and every bit of glory he gets.”
“I worked for a guy by the name of Herb Magee — who just got his 1,000th win — and he always said, ‘be ware of the early lead,’ and I knew we had a long way to go. But again, these kids, the way they persevere and fight through adversity. To get a win is something that will never be forgotten,” Stitzel said. “If our student section and our fans don’t go crazy and don’t go nuts we don’t win this game. You and I are having a different conversation, so what they did will never be forgotten by me and this program.”
Heading into the half down 29-25 though, Jolly had not scored since his three straight three pointers early in the first quarter.
“It was big. We fed off the energy from the crowd. We got the big dunk and then they made big plays. The big threes help but they fought hard, we fought hard, it was a close game,” Jolly said.
Coming out of the locker room for the beginning of the third quarter the Bulldogs proved their will to win their 23rd consecutive game — having not lost since their second game of the season on Dec. 5.
“We just have to continue to get better. I don’t think about the winning streak, but I’ll tell you this 23rd one is something to remember for a long time,” Stitzel said. “Monday we’ll have a shoot around, and we be prepared for Potomac.”
Jolly scored 11 of his school record 50 points in the third quarter.
Then it turned into the Jason Jolly show. The 5-foot-7 guard scored 30 more points in the fourth quarter and overtime as he led his team to victory after trailing by double-digit points at the four minute mark in the fourth quarter.
“We knew they were gonna be very athletic: they’re very fast, well coached, great players. We knew we were going to come out and play hard and play fast and play aggressive. We jumped on them and then they came back,” Jolly said. “Coach called timeout when we were down 13 with four minutes left. He told us we were gonna win this game and we fought and started pressing, and we made big plays down the stretch, and fortunately we came out victorious.”
Boys Basketball: After @GQJolly's 50pt performance & huge @SBHS_Basketball comeback, Bulldogs will host a #VHSL5A North region semi Monday!
— LoCoSports (@LoCoSports) March 1, 2015
Throughout the region quarterfinal, Stone Bridge High School was shaking. The Dog Pound was in full force and with the win will have another chance to pack the gym in Ashburn as the Bulldogs host the Conference 15 champion Potomac High School on Monday, March 2 at 7 p.m in a VHSL 5A North region semifinal with a chance to earn a berth to the VHSL 5A state tournament.
Kyle Gotimer is a sophomore at Heritage High School in Leesburg. Follow LoCoSports on Twitter (@LoCoSports) for up-to-date news and scores from around Loudoun County.
Stone Bridge Bulldogs Stats
Jason Jolly 50 points, 3 rebounds, 5 steals, 9 assists, 20-for-24 free throws
Nick Barnes 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4-for-6 free throws
Julian Albizo 14 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 2-for-2 free throws
Luke Rody 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist
John Bohanon 5 points, 1 assist
Colin Jachimowski 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal
SBHS Totals
88 points, 16 rebounds, 7 steals, 11 assists, 26-for-32 free throws
Edison Eagles Stats
Tyvez Monroe 27 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 5-for-6 free throws
DJ Jones 24 points, 5 rebounds, 11-for-16 free throws
Langston Gaither 10 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot, 2-for-5 free throws
John Ukpaiama 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 blocked shot, 2-for-2 free throws
Drew Lakey 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1-for-2 free throws
Eric Martin 5 points, 1 steal, 2-for-2 free throws
Yonis Mohamud 3 points, 3-for-3 free throws
EHS Totals
83 points, 15 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocked shots, 1 assist, 26-for-36 free throws
