This is what happens when a program makes a serious run at a Virginia Group AAA state championship.
It might be a whole new season. But that doesn’t make Herndon any less of a target. The defending Northern Region champions saw that firsthand Thursday night against Notre Dame Academy.
The Dragons withstood an early Herndon scoring outburst and then went toe-to-toe with the Hornets in a physical 59-57 victory on Thursday in a Hubert Davis Tournament of Champions semifinal at Lake Braddock.
It was the first loss of the season for Herndon (6-1), which was coming off another nailbiter on Wednesday when it beat KIMA Charter, 56-53. Notre Dame Academy (13-0), a catholic school located in Middleburg, Va., is off to a tremendous start under first-year coach Tim Fudd.
“I don’t think they were ready for us at the start, but after that they were right there with us the whole time,” said Herndon senior forward Danny Jones.
Notre Dame was led by junior Andrey Semenov (game-high 16 points). The 6-foot-8 forward took over in the third quarter with seven straight points to help fuel a 16-2 Notre Dame run and put the Dragons up, 46-35.
“That could have been the game,” said Jones, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. “But this team has too much heart to stop playing. We knew we could come back.”
With Semenov on the bench with three fouls, Herndon took advantage with a run of its own. A tip in by senior forward Richard Gore finally tied the game at 53 with 3 minutes, 8 seconds to play. Notre Dame took the lead for good on a nice feed from Semenov to senior forward Ralph Temgoua under the basket with 35 seconds left and Herndon failed to get a quality shot off in the final moments.
