After a rough start, the Chantilly Chargers finished second at the George Long Holiday tournament at Wakefield High School.
The boys basketball team finished fifth with a 2-1 record at the eight-team, three-day event held Dec. 26-28 in Arlington.
The Chargers (6-4) lost badly to the champion and undefeated Oscar Smith Tigers, 76-38, in the first round. Chantilly then bounced back to win its next two games, 54-46, over the West Springfield Spartans, then 58-41 over the Washington-Liberty Generals in its final contest.
The win over West Springfield snapped Chantilly’s three-game losing streak.
Senior point guard Najilah Bey led Chantilly in the tournament and was chosen to the all-tournament team. He scored 23 points in the three games, had 10 assists and made five three-pointers. Bey added five rebounds in the win over West Springfield.
Jordan Davenport had a strong game against West Springfield, with 15 points, four rebounds and three steals, and he made two three-pointers.
Also in that win, Patrick O’Rourke had nine points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists, and Vivaan Desai scored seven with two steals. Mateo Alvarado-Gallego added six points and four rebounds.
In the victory over Washington-Liberty, Desai scored 12, Bey 10, Sahas Manchireddy and Jayden Wade eight each and O’Rourke seven. Desai had a double-double as he pulled down 12 rebounds, and also had three steals.
Chantilly rallied to defeat W-L after trailing 20-13 at the end of the first quarter. The game was tied at 27 at halftime, then Chantilly was ahead 40-35 after three quarters and led the rest of the way. Wade’s three-pointer gave Chantilly the lead for good at 37-35.
Ney scored eight of his points against W-L in the fourth quarter, including a three-pointer.
Oscar Smith was 3-0 in the tournament, and Chantilly and third-place South County had the next best records at 2-1.
