The bench perspective

“When you play Wakefield it’s just constant pressure, wave after wave from the opening tip. But West Springfield has played T.C. Williams two times this year so that may not bother them like it would some other teams. The thing for Wakefield is to find someone who can guard [West Springfield senior guard] Kevin Kilday. Wakefield likes to rotate different defenders and they need to find one who can slow him down a little because he’s a great scorer.”

» Matt McKeag, Robinson

“West Springfield does two things really well. They’re very calm at the offensive end and they get the right kids to take the right shots. When [senior forward Brandon] Allen is playing well that really gets them going. If Wakefield gets loose defensively with Kilday and doesn’t force him into taking bad shots then they’re in trouble. West Springfield is pretty good once it gets into its half-court sets and that offense is designed to slow teams down. They held T.C. under 70 points both times and forced them to get the ball into [senior center Mike] Davis inside. Wakefield doesn’t have that kind of post presence, but they do have some tough kids who can score inside.”

» Doug Craig, W.T. Woodson

“Wakefield has a ton of experience and I think the expectations were so high for them early that everyone forgot about them when they lost to Edison and Yorktown during the regular season. Well, [senior guard] George Johnson is one of the best players in the region. They have guys who fill their roles perfectly. It will be interesting to see who Wakefield uses on Kilday. People don’t understand how good a player that guy is. He moves a 100 mph at all times and if he misses 10 shots the 11th one is going up. West Springfield will probably use [junior forward] Scott Williams on George Johnson and that’s a great matchup. Williams has good size and he might be able to bother Johnson a little bit.”

» Brian Metress, Lake Braddock

“The last couple of weeks is really the first time all year West Springfield has been completely healthy. At the beginning of the year, [senior point guard] Kosar Amin was still hobbled somewhat [from an ACL tear last February]. He’s driving the ball to the basket now much harder. He’s more active and energetic and that’s changed their lineup. A game like this really comes down to how Wakefield defends Kevin Kilday and how West Springfield matches up defensively with George Johnson.”

Chantilly vs. T.C. Williams

» Matt McKeag, Robinson

“If Chantilly can handle T.C.’s pressure then they have a chance. But T.C. will come after them for 32 minutes. [Senior guard] Ben Wheeler is a great player. [Sophomore guard] Justin May is playing tremendous basketball. Inside they aren’t very big, unfortunately, and that’s going to hurt with a guy like [senior center] Mike Davis inside. [Senior guard Jake] Nolan has been their primary ballhandler and they rely on May and Wheeler a lot to bring the ball up the court. Wheeler is a great passer out of traps and double teams and their best ballhandler under duress.”

» Doug Craig, W.T. Woodson

“The first thing you have to do against T.C. is contain the tempo of the game. That’s not something many teams in our region could do this year. A lot of teams have tried a lot of different strategies against them and not many had success. Chantilly needs to keep the game in the 50s. That’s something Lake Braddock and West Springfield wereboth able to do this year. The most important thing for Chantilly is to understand that shooting is the great equalizer. They will get open shots against the pressure. They have to make them. If they do that anything can happen.”

» Brian Metress, Lake Braddock

“We felt the best way to attack T.C.’s pressure was to use our bigger guys to help bring the ball up and make their big guys more involved in the pressure. Now, we played them three times and lost all three so it doesn’t automatically translate to victory. But it’s putting your fingers and toes in the dike. Also, a lot of teams in the Northern Region will fan you to the outside once you get the ball across [halfcourt] and beat their pressure. T.C. will steer you into the middle towards Davis.”

» Doug Ewell, Westfield

“The depth T.C. has is amazing. I was kidding around that we hardly mentioned [junior guard Travis Berry] on our scouting report and he knocked down four 3-pointers against us [in Tuesday’s 82-55 region quarterfinal loss]. You don’t want to fall into the trap of playing at their tempo. Our kids thought they were in good shape down 21-18 after the first quarter. But that’s an 80-point game and no one around here is winning a track meet against T.C. Chantilly is the underdog, but that team is better than people think. May has developed into a very good basketball player. He really helps Ben Wheeler a lot. And while their inside kids aren’t that big, they play big.”

SEMI-TOUGH

» What: Northern Region Tournament semifinals

» When: Tonight at Patriot Center

Game 1

Chantilly vs. No. 5 T.C. Williams, 7 p.m.

Game 2

Wakefield vs. West Springfield, 9 p.m.