Boys' basketball outlook: Talented Handley looks for deeper postseason run

The ending of the 2023-24 season was about as frustrating as it gets for the Handley High School boys’ basketball team — the Judges lost 79-67 in the Region 4D semifinals in a road game at Charlottesville after being whistled for 32 fouls and seeing three of their five starters foul out.

Handley lost some valuable seniors from that team, but the Judges return most of the talent from a squad that went 18-6 and came up one win short of its third state tournament berth in four seasons. The Judges are off to an impressive 2-0 start in 2024-25, defeating Brentsville 97-18 last Friday and Huguenot 75-49 on Saturday.

Chief among the returnees is sophomore Will Braun-Duin. The 6-foot-3 guard earned Winchester Star and Class 4 Northwestern District Player of the Year honors last year after leading the area with a 23.5 scoring average, 84.6 percent foul shooting and 70 made 3-pointers. Braun-Duin ranked fifth in the area in rebounds (6.0), tied for eighth in assists (2.5) and tied for third in steals (1.8). Braun-Duin was also named First Team All-Region 4D and Second Team Class 4 All-State.

Braun-Duin didn’t take his foot off the gas pedal in between seasons. Over the summer, he received scholarship offers from NCAA Division I programs Tennessee at Martin, Old Dominion and American. Handley coach Zach Harrell-Zook said Braun-Duin is the first player from Winchester or Frederick County to have at least three scholarship offers from D-I schools prior to their sophomore year. Braun-Duin has 44 points through two games this season.

The Judges also feature 6-4 junior forward Kyren Oglesby (10.9 points, led the area with 6.7 rebounds per game) and junior guard Jaevon Brisco (2.8 assists, 35.7 3-point shooting). Oglesby was selected First Team All-Class 4 Northwestern District and Second Team All-Region 4D, and Brisco was named Second Team All-District and Honorable Mention All-Region 4D. Brisco has scored in double figures in both Handley games.

The Judges’ starting lineup in the season opener also featured junior forward Christian Dinges (17 points against Huguenot) and junior guard Dontrell McCreath (11 points, six assists against Huguenot), a junior exchange student from Canada. Junior guard Amari Brown (11 points, five assists, four steals against Brentsville) is also back.

The Charlottesville team that ended Handley’s run last year lost all three of its All-Region players from last season, including Player of the Year Aidan Yates. The Black Knights also have a new coach in former Duke player Andre Dawkins.

Each of the other four area teams will look a lot different this year. They all had three players receive All-District honors last year, and all of those players have graduated.

Sherando lost all three of its double-digit scorers and Class 4 Northwestern District First Team selections from a team that went 15-8 overall last year and went 0-3 against Handley, including a defeat in the Region 4D quarterfinals. Trey Williams — who ranked second in the area with 19.0 ppg and led the area with 3.7 assists — is at NCAA Division III Roanoke. The Warriors also lost Drew Tyson (13.6 ppg, fourth in area, 6.5 rebounds, second in area) and Cassius Williams (10.7 ppg).

The Warriors — who opened their season with a 55-40 loss against Central on Wednesday — will likely need some time to gel after not having their full allotment of players until Monday as a result of the football team’s run to the Class 4 state semifinals.

Junior Joshua Miller (4.2 ppg) is Sherando’s top returning scorer after connecting on 46.1 percent of his field goals (35 of 76) last year. Junior Peyton Sullivan, a first-year varsity player, scored nine points while Miller had six against Central. Senior Landon Dahlinger is back after averaging 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

Millbrook (7-15 last year) lost all three All-District players from last year in Chase Ford (12.5 points, 2.8 assists), Cohen Creswell (10.1 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Andrew Henry (8.3 points, area’s leading 3-point shooter at 44 percent). Another graduate, Darius Banks, was not All-District but ranked second in the area with 3.2 assists.

The Pioneers improved to 1-3 on Wednesday with a win over Turner Ashby. This year’s Millbrook squad is led by senior Shawn Rooks (8.7 points, second in the area in 3-point shooting at 41.8 after making 28 of 67 attempts). Rooks has led the Pioneers in scoring twice this year (22 against Turner Ashby) while senior Kyle Arthur has also accomplished that feat twice (15 in the second Broad Run game). First-year varsity player Daniel Clater, a sophomore, has scored in double figures three times this year.

James Wood (7-15 last year) has a new head coach in Ben Bates after Tim Wygant’s contract was not renewed after 11 seasons at the helm. Since coaching at Millbrook in 2016-17, Bates has been the lead assistant coach at St. James School in Hagerstown, Maryland, and the head JV coach at Loudoun Valley.

The Colonels lost their three All-District players in Ashton Kees (14.2 points, third in area, 5.3 rebounds, now at Hagerstown Community College), Brandon Waters (9.1 ppg) and Kemper Omps (7.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.9 assists).

James Wood is off to an 0-3 start, losing each game by single digits. This year’s Colonels feature junior Brodie Sirbaugh (7.5 ppg last year), who scored 14 points in the opener against Clarke County and 19 points against Central. Junior Michael Bell, a first-year varsity player, had 16 points against the Eagles.

Clarke County (20-9) made the deepest postseason run of any area team last year before seeing its season end in the Class 2 state quarterfinals against powerhouse John Marshall, which went on to win its third consecutive state title.

The Eagles lost five of their top six players from last year’s squad, including four players who averaged double digits in points in Will Booker (12.6 ppg, First Team All-Region 2B), Moses Day (11.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, Second Team All-Region 2B), Louie Marino (11.5 ppg, 3.1 apg, Second Team All-Region 2B) and Caidan Broy (10.3 ppg). Michael Kerr-Hobert (3.0 assists) also graduated.

Clarke County is currently without the other player from its top six in Tanner Sipe (6.5 ppg), who might be out until January as a result of an injury suffered during football season. The Eagles (1-2) have received double-digit points in every game so far from Colton Johnson (17 against James Wood, 13 against Skyline, 15 against Fort Defiance), and Isaac Nei had 15 points against the Colonels and 16 points and the Hawks). Returning junior Lincoln Booker is averaging nine points per game.

The Bull Run District figures to be competitive again. The top five teams all won at least 13 games and had winning records in district play.

The following is a glance at each area team:

Handley

Coach: Zach Harrell-Zook, fifth season

Last season: 18-6 (7-1 Class 4 Northwestern District, first in district); lost to Charlottesville in Region 4D semifinals.

Key losses: Kaplan Ambrose, Breylon Miller, Quincy Dinges.

Key returners: Will Braun-Duin, So., G; Kyren Oglesby, Jr., F; Christian Dinges, Jr., F; Brendan Campbell, Sr., F; Jaevon Brisco, Jr., G; Amari Brown, Jr., G.

Key newcomer: Dontrell McCreath, Jr. G.

Harrell-Zook’s outlook: “I have a ton of respect for our area coaches. [Sherando] coach [Garland] Williams has coached for a long time and has always instilled strong values in all of his teams. [Millbrook] coach [Erick] Green coached me growing up and taught me what hard work looks like. Coach Bates has been a long-time mentor to me and a great friend. As much as I respect those coaches, we focus on ourselves and not them. Our expectations are the same as they always are — to be the hardest-working, most prepared, most conditioned, and most cohesive team on the floor night in, night out. I can’t speak for other programs, what they have, or how good they will be. We really trust our process. This is our fifth year with our staff. In four years we’ve been to a state final, won a regional title, made two state tournament appearances, and won the district three of the four years, and sent several players to the next level. We really trust our formula of focusing on ourselves, our standard, and our locker room. Those results have been good for us and we are excited to continue to grow as a staff, as players, and as a program.

“We will be better from being older and more mature. We started for a majority of last season a freshman and three sophomores. Naturally, the older and more experienced your program is, the better. We went 18-6 with that youth and are excited to see what adding a year of experience to our core does for us. I am really excited to see the hard work and dedication of Christian Dinges, Isaiah Baxter and Brendan Campbell flourish. At times Brendan was the only senior with us the entire off season and I’m excited for his senior campaign. Christian and Isaiah, who both spent time on JV at times last year, have developed at a rate that will highly impact our program. I am expecting big seasons and bigger roles than last year from these guys.”

Next game: vs. Manassas Park, Friday

Sherando

Coach: Garland Williams, 28th season

Last season: 15-8 (6-2 Class 4 Northwestern District); lost to Handley in Region 4D quarterfinals.

Key losses: Jack Dicken, Cassius Williams, Trey Williams, Drew Tyson, Charles Lease.

Key returners: Micah Carlson, Sr.; Landon Dahlinger, Sr.; Rayan Hussain, Sr.; Blake Sneddon, Sr.; Joshua Miller, Jr.; Jackson Ogle, Jr.; Reth Puller, So.

Key newcomers: Angel Guzman, Jr.; Mason Hamm, Jr.; Avery Tann, Jr.; Carmelo Copeland, Jr.; Peyton Sullivan, Jr.; Braeden Allen, Jr.; Braedon Symons, Jr.; Treyvonne Washington, Jr.; Sean Benton, Jr., (transfer from Musselman, W.Va.).

Williams’ outlook: “We have been working our players hard on team defense. We feel if we can be a solid team on defense, hopefully, that will lead to some offense for us. Offensively, we will try to push the basketball up the court when we have opportunities. We feel our group will gel together to put our team hopefully near the top area of the [region/district] standings. We know Handley has a very strong team. They are the team everyone will be chasing. Millbrook has some very good athletic players. James Wood with their new coach, Ben Bates, his players will play very hard for him. We are working hard on ways to score the basketball and hopefully, we will be better as the season progresses.”

Next game: at James Wood, Friday

Millbrook

Coach: Erick Green, Sr., second season

Last season: 7-15 (4-4 Class 4 Northwestern District).

Key losses: Chase Ford, Jaylen Shifflett, Cohen Creswell, Rich Pell, Andrew Henry, Darius Banks.

Key returners: Shaun Rooks, Sr.; Dreyton Bailey, Sr.; Kyle Arthur, Sr.; Trey White, Sr.; Sammy Marta, Sr.; Rylee Baker, Jr.; Keon Lewis, So.

Key newcomers: Daniel Claytor, So.; Isiah Charles, So.; Braylon Fauver, Fr.; Keanan Dennis, Fr.

Green’s outlook: “The team possesses multiple talented players that have brought into the program. ‘We Believe’ is our motto and we’re working hard every day to improve our skills. Hopefully, it will bring about a successful season. The goal is to advance to the regional playoffs. The district should be very competitive, and the district championship is up for grabs. When [I] took over as the head coach, I told the players it takes a year to fully understand my system and expectations. The returning players have a better understanding and should effectively be able to execute the offense and defensive schemes.”

Next game: vs. Brentsville, Friday

James Wood

Coach: Ben Bates, first season

Last season: 7-15 (2-6 Class 4 Northwestern District).

Key losses: Ashton Kees, Brandon Waters, Kemper Omps, John Copenhaver.

Key returners: Brodie Sirbaugh, Jr., G; Ronnie Barrett, So., F; Paul Brooks, Sr., G; Alex Gritton, Sr., Post; Alex Evans, Sr., Wing; Zach Woskobunik, Sr., G.

Key newcomers: Michael Bell, Jr., F; Ashby Copenhaver, Jr., G; Ethan Tran, Jr., G; Aidric Yurish, So. G.

Bates’ outlook: “It is too early to tell how we will match up. Our focus is on ourselves right now, competing and getting better each practice. Coach Harrell-Zook does a fantastic job with Handley, Coach Green and [assistant] Coach [Andrew] Oates will have Millbrook ready, and Coach Williams and Sherando always play extremely hard. We just want to prepare and compete. Right now we need to improve on everything. The players have been receptive to a coaching change but it is a lot of teaching and learning of a new system when a change happens. Brodie has accepted the challenge in being a leader both on and off the court.”

Next game: vs. Sherando, Friday

Clarke County

Coach: Kent Auslander, second season

Last season: 20-9 (11-3 Bull Run District); lost to John Marshall in Class 2 quarterfinals.

Key losses: Michael Kerr-Hobert, Louie Marino, Moses Day, Will Booker, Caidan Broy.

Key returners: Tanner Sipe, Sr., PG/SG; Lincoln Booker Sr., PF/C.

Key newcomers: Isaac Nei, So., PG/SG; Colton Johnson, So., PG/SG; Wilson Taylor, Sr., SG/SF; Wyatt Palmer, Sr., PG/SG.

Auslander’s outlook: “We have a relatively young and inexperienced team, but I do think we have some talent. I am not going to put heavy expectations on us but I do think we can compete with pretty much everyone. Our district has some solid teams this year but I think when we play hard and are at the top of our game, we can compete with anybody. I think we have a chance of improving on the defensive end. We have a lot of speed/quickness across the board, and I think that can help us force a lot of turnovers. With having so many players graduated from last year, we have a lot of new rotation players to count on. Across the board, I have been impressed with the progress of several players and have high hopes for continued development.”

Next game: vs. James Wood, Saturday

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