When his team’s need was most dire, when the 1,800-plus screaming fans in attendance were at full throat, when prospects appeared bleak for Varina boys basketball in the fourth quarter of Monday’s Class 4 semifinal against King’s Fork, Blue Devils senior guard Jerome Conway could do no wrong.
“The coaches told me I had to step up second half. That’s exactly what I did,” said a breathless Conway following Varina’s come-from-behind 40-34 victory to secure a chance to defend its Class 4 crown in Thursday’s final at 8 p.m. at the Siegel Center.
“They wrote us off when we lost four starters from last year. And we’re still here. We’re going back, and we’re going to go back-to-back.”
Conway, who finished with 16 points and 5 assists, reeled off 11 straight points in a seemingly magical run during the final minutes of a game in which offense was at a premium throughout.
People are also reading…
When asked what gave him the confidence to keep shooting when all the pressure was on, he could only credit a higher power.
“God. I prayed to God this morning. I pray every day. I knew my time was coming, and I just had to keep going,” Conway said as teammates and supporters celebrated around him.
“It felt like the world to me. I needed this one. ... I’ve worked for this. But I dream about this. This morning, I prayed for this. Every night, I work hard, this is what it’s for.”
Bulldogs senior point guard Samuel Brannen (13 points) made a pair of free throws with 4:20 remaining in the fourth quarter of a knock-down-drag-out defensive battle to give King’s Fork a 29-23 lead.
Varina junior point guard KJ Wyche, the Region 4B player of the year, had been largely held in check as the Bulldogs worked tirelessly to deny him the ball.
Wyche, who finished with 9 points, picked up his fourth foul around the same time Brannen put King’s Fork up 6 and went to the bench. Varina desperately needed somebody else to step up.
And Conway answered the call with aplomb.
The smooth left-hander put his head down and drove to the cup twice, finishing through contact on either side of a Bulldogs free throw to make it 30-27.
Then he stepped into a catch-and-shoot, transition 3 from the left wing, sinking it to tie things up at 30 with 2:55 to play, at which point the gym at host site Highland Springs exploded.
But Conway wasn’t done, even as Brannen hit more free throws to give King’s Fork, which Varina beat at this same stage in last year’s title run, the lead back not once but twice.
Conway hit a pull-up jumper for 32-32, then a transition layup for 34-34. And with a minute remaining, Conway banked in a long 2 from the left wing, giving Varina a 36-34 lead.
Blue Devils assistant AT Taylor said, before the game, fellow assistant Kennard Wyche Sr. told the team that somebody other than Kennard Wyche Jr. would have to step up because the Bulldogs, whose coaching staff is very familiar with Wyche, were sure to focus defensive attention on Varina’s leading scorer.
“Rome [Conway], he took it and ran with it,” Taylor said. “We kept saying throughout the game, ‘Keep on digging, our time is going to come.’”
King’s Fork coach Rick Hite is the longtime friend and mentor of Varina head coach Kenneth Randolph, and the two programs know one another well. Randolph was not available for comment after the game.
“This is where players are made, this is the stage, he [Conway] stepped up,” said Hite, who has coached Wyche Jr. since third grade and called him Varina’s “general.”
“I love [KJ Wyche] to death. He allows guys like Conway and [senior guard] Myles [Derricott] to have games because he creates so much pressure and gets so much attention.”
Hite called the Varina coaching staff his “brothers.”
“They’re family, KJ texted me last night,” he said. “We knew it [the matchup] was gonna happen, we talked about this years ago. It’s always going to be like this [the intensity] because we have so much of the same DNA.”
The Blue Devils clamped down defensively to keep King’s Fork at bay in the final moments, particularly senior forward Josh Hughes (4 points). He had a couple vital blocks down the stretch and proved a pivotal rim protector all night. Junior wing Malachi Cosby scored all 6 of his points in the third quarter.
Derricott (5 points) finished through contact after a cross-court find by Conway to make it 38-34 with 22.8 seconds left, then Derricott sealed the deal with a transition layup for the final margin.
“He couldn’t miss, we just had to give him the ball,” a smiling Derricott said of Conway, adding that the intensity of Varina’s practices prepares them to perform in pressure-packed moments.
“We’ve always got faith in Rome, and he showed why tonight. We just kept getting stops, gave the ball to Rome and he did what he had to do to get us the W.”
After a 5-5 first quarter that probably belongs on a defensive clinic tape, King’s Fork took its first lead at 7-6 early in the second period.
The Bulldogs led 14-8 at the break and by 27-19 early in the fourth. The Blue Devils didn’t regain the lead until Conway’s run at the end, a sequence that will long live in Varina lore should Wyche and Co. go on to finish the job Thursday night.
“They kept coming, they’re the state champs, we had to come in here and take it,” Hite said.
“We were close to taking it, but that’s what champions do, they put up a fight. We went toe-to-toe with them, and they made more plays down the stretch.”
King’s Fork 5 9 10 10 — 34
Varina 5 3 11 21 — 40
King’s Fork — Darden 6, Lucas 3, Walker 4, Bolton 6, Brannen 13, Brown 1, Hite 1. Totals: 10 (2) 12-19.
Varina — Cosby 6, Derricott 5, Wyche 9, Conway 16, Hughes 4. Totals: 17 (3) 3-6.
PHOTOS: Varina wins Class 4 boys basketball championship
Varina's players and coaches celebrate their Class 4 boys basketball championship over Loudoun County, Richmond, Va., on Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Varina's players and coaches celebrate their Class 4 boys basketball championship over Loudoun County, Richmond, Va., on Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Varina’s players celebrate their Class 4 basketball championship over Loudoun County at The Siegel Center. The Blue Devils took control of the game by outscoring the Captains 19-2 in the third quarter.
Varina’s Kennard Wyche Jr., left, shoots against Loudoun County’s Jack West during the first half of the Class 4 boys basketball championship at VCU’s Sigel Center, Richmond, Va., on Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Varina’s Kennard Wyche Jr., left, shoots against Loudoun County’s Braxton Griffin during the first half of the Class 4 boys basketball championship at VCU’s Sigel Center, Richmond, Va., on Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Varina’s head coach Kenneth Randolph is at the Loudoun County’s game during the Class 4 boys basketball championship at VCU’s Sigel Center, Richmond, Va., on Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Loudoun County’s Nicholas Alexander, left, and Varina’s Amari Baylor battle for a rebound during the second half of the Class 4 boys basketball championship at VCU’s Sigel Center, Richmond, Va., on Thursday, March 10, 2022.
Varina’s Alphonzo Billups throws down one of his four dunks as Loudoun County’s Brendan Boyers watches. Billups, a VCU recruit, had 18 points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
