varsity.roanoke.com

Photos by KYLE GREEN The Roanoke Times

William Fleming's Stephon Anderson (right) tries to beat John Marshall's Tahir Little to a loose ball during Wednesday's Group AAA semifinal at the VCU Siegel Center in Richmond.

KYLE GREEN The Roanoke Times

William Fleming's Troy Daniels (right) shoots over John Marshall's Tahir Little during Wednesday's Group AAA semifinal game in Richmond.

RICHMOND -- Let a guy enjoy a big win, OK?

William Fleming shocked Richmond metro prep power John Marshall with a 65-62 victory in a VHSL Group AAA semifinal Wednesday at VCU's Siegel Center, and Colonels coach Mickey Hardy immediately fielded questions about Friday's championship game:

"Who do you think you'll see, Petersburg or King's Fork?"

Hardy was ready with the answer.

"I kind of hope both of them lose," he said.

No such luck. Fleming (24-4) will face King's Fork at 9 p.m. Friday for Virginia's biggest prep basketball prize. The boys from Roanoke will likely be the underdog in many offices, locker rooms and barber shops throughout the state.

The Colonels, who won the 2007 Group AA title on the same floor, are getting used to these close shaves.

"We played here before," Fleming senior Troy Daniels said. "We know what it takes to win a championship. The levels change, but the game doesn't. It's still a 94-foot court.

"I don't think any team in the state is respecting us. We're going to have to earn it like we did in 2007. ... And we're going to do it."

Fleming certainly earned Wednesday's victory.

The Colonels trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half before holding a 65-59 lead with 30.8 seconds to play. Fleming then survived a wild final half-minute which ended when John Marshall's Tahir Little -- under defensive pressure from Tre Jones -- bounced a 3-pointer off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

"My stomach was on the floor," said Daniels, who played all 32 minutes and scored 21 points. "I thought it was going in, but it didn't."

John Marshall, which knocked out defending champion T.C. Williams in the quarterfinals, left the floor stunned. The Justices were not expecting to lose to a team that just two years ago was playing in the Group AA ranks.

"Going into every game, we feel as a team that we can beat anybody if we just play our ball," the Judges' Randall Ward said. "Coming into the state, nobody's not good. Everybody's got a good team. I won't say they're better than we thought. I just say that we played down to our competition."

The Justices did plenty of looking up, especially at Fleming players grabbing rebounds. The Colonels had a 44-29 edge on the boards and everyone in a white jersey contributed.

Center Jamelle Hagins led the way with 10 rebounds. Daniels had nine. Eric Thomas had eight, including seven on the offensive end. Reserve center Marcus Johnson grabbed seven boards in 14 minutes. Guards Shaquan Manning and Stephon Anderson had four apiece.

Thomas matched Hagins with 14 points and all of the 6-foot-3 senior's five buckets came on stickbacks.

"This is my last year. I didn't want it to be my last game," Thomas said.

John Marshall coach Frank Threatts Jr., in his 36th year, knows how to read a stat sheet.

"It broke our backs," Threatts said. "They did it all night long. We just stood around when they went to the boards."

Nevertheless, the Colonels trailed 42-37 when the 6-foot-7 Hagins went to the bench after picking up his fourth foul with 3:40 left in the third quarter.

"It was torture," he said.

Thomas and Johnson had to share the defensive assignment on Marshall's 6-foot-6 junior Travis McKie, who finished with 27 points, 13 rebounds and three dunks.

"He could play with any team in the country," Hardy said. "It caused us some problems on the defensive end. We had to make some changes. But I thought he played smart down the stretch and didn't pick up that fifth foul. I thought our guys adjusted."

Big time.

With Hagins on the bench, Fleming closed the quarter with a 12-1 run for a 49-43 lead. Manning got it started with back-to-back layups, followed by 3s by Daniels and Anderson.

Fleming extended the margin to eight points and seemingly had a safe lead at 65-59 after a three-point play by Hagins with 30.8 seconds left.

Ward drilled a 3-pointer for John Marshall, then Anderson lost the ball out of bounds on the ensuing inbounds play with 4.3 seconds to play after being buried in what looked like a rugby scrum.

"Those final minutes, we all had injuries and blood on our jerseys, but we stuck it in and kept fighting," Daniels said. "We knew we had to fight coming into the game. Sometimes it's good to be on the bottom so you can come up and rise to the top."

JOHN MARSHALL (26-5)

Cooley 2-8 2-2 6, Little 1-5 1-3 4, McKie 9-18 9-13 27, Ward 7-13 0-1 19, Maurice Johnson 3-8 0-0 6, E.Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Braxton 0-1 0-0 0, Vaughan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 12-19 62.

WILLIAM FLEMING (25-4)

Daniels 6-16 4-9 5-6 21, Thomas 5-9 4-5 14, Hagins 6-13 2-3 14, Anderson 3-11 0-1 8, Marcus Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, D.Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Preston 0-0 0-0 0, Tucker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 13-17 65.

John Marshall 18 12 13 19--62

William Fleming 13 16 20 16--65

3-point-goals -- John Marshall 6-18 (Ward 5-10, Little 1-2, Cooley 0-1, McKie 0-5), William Fleming 6-17 (Daniels 4-9, Anderson 2-6, Manning 0-2). Rebounds -- John Marshall 29 (McKie 13), William Fleming 44 (Hagins 10). Assists -- John Marshall 10 (Cooley, Little 4), William Fleming 9 (Manning 5). Total fouls -- John Marshall 21, William Fleming 17. Fouled out -- Thomas, Maurice Johnson.