With The Garden packed for senior night, it was fitting that T.C. Williams would get big performances from four of its seniors. Titans’ veterans Jamal Pullen, Tyrell Sitton, Rick Mathews and Tyler Driver all scored in double figures to lead a balanced offensive attack over West Potomac, 62-42 Friday night.
For Titans coach Julian King, that is the way his team needs to play.
“We don’t have the one guy that you can put the ball in his hands and he can go out and score 30,” said King. “We have to have several guys score close to double figures for us to be successful.”
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West Potomac, dictating the early tempo, jumped out to an early 12-8 lead behind four straight 3-pointers by senior Daryl Copeland. King believed his team’s defense wasn’t to blame for Copeland’s hot start.
“He was just unconscious, when a guy like that gets hot there is not much you can do,” said King. “You have to get a hand up and pray that he misses one or two and gets out of his rhythm. Once he gets rolling, there is nothing you can do.”
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Copeland finished the night with a game-high 22 points, eclipsing the 1,000-point mark for his career. The senior point guard needed 15 points to reach the milestone.
The Wolverines, who were at a severe size disadvantage against the much bigger Titans, attempted to push the pace of the game in the first quarter to take the Titans out of their comfort zone. The up-and-down action didn’t seem to bother Sitton, who scored nine of his 11 points in the quarter, or his teammates too much.
“We just knew we had to keep shooting and keep scoring,” said Sitton. “Just follow-up, when they make a shot we make a shot.”
West Potomac’s hot start wouldn’t last long enough, as the Titans took control of the game with an 18-6 run to end the quarter up 24-18. Sitton and Pullen combined to score 19 points in the quarter.
The fast pace of the first quarter didn’t carry over into the second as the teams only combined for 13 points allowing T.C. Williams a 31-24 halftime advantage.
The Titans opened the second half on a 13-2 run behind four of Pullen’s team-high 19 points and was punctuated by a Mathews’ dunk that pushed the lead to 44-26. Mathews finished with 11 points on the night.
The Wolverines, who fell to 12-9 overall on the season and 6-8 in the Patriot District, would never get closer than eight points the rest of the game as the Titans closed out the game on an 18-8 run that included another Mathews monster dunk in traffic and eight of Driver’s 12 points on the night.
The victory capped a special night for coach King and the Titans, who finish the regular season 17-5 overall and 12-2 in the Patriot District.
“You always want to send the seniors out with a win,” said King. “With a packed house and all of the support you don’t want to let anyone down.”
The Wolverines will face Annandale in the first round of the Patriot District tournament next week.
