The two schools are separated by one and a half miles and a city boundary. John Marshall High School occupies the northern tip of Richmond, while Henrico High is a few neighborhoods over in the adjacent county.
They’re two schools rich in basketball talent. And on Friday, they’ll play for a third and final time to determine the Group AAA state championship. That much was assured when John Marshall defeated Wakefield 66-46 in the semifinals Monday night. Henrico did its part by beating W.T. Woodson earlier in the day.
“They know us; we know them,” John Marshall coach Ty White said. “It’s going to come down to who’s the tougher team.”
Gerard Dean-McBride continued his postseason tear, scoring 26 points. In his past five games, Dean is averaging 20.4 points per game. Wakefield (25-6) often left the lane open for him, so he zipped his way to the basket, going over, under and around the arms of his defenders.
As of late, the Justices (26-5) have tried to shoot fewer 3s and score more in the lane. They got 36 points in the paint and were 4-10 from behind the arc. Brian White, the Colonial District player of the year who has given a pledge to The Citadel, added 18 points and 11 rebounds.
John Marshall led the whole game. In the fourth quarter, Wakefield mustered only nine points as the Justices’ lead stretched to 20. Wakefield coach Tony Bentley unloaded the bench in the final minute.
The Justices forced the Warriors to take longs shots away from the basket. And Wakefield couldn’t get in a rhythm that way. Wakefield converted 17 of 58 from the floor (29.3 percent).
“We took too many jump shots,” Wakefield coach Tony Bentley said. “We didn’t get here by shooting a lot of jump shots. Tonight we felt like we were a jump shooting team and we weren’t successful doing that tonight.”
Khory Moore led Wakefield with 22 points. Dominique Tham added 10. The Norther Region runner-up, the Arlington-based team reached the semifinals by beating Mountain View in the first round.
“We didn’t play our best basketball,” Ty White said. “That being said, we held a very good team to 46 points.”
There has never been an all-Central Region state final, though the region got close in recent years. It also will be the last all-Central Region final. In September, the VHSL will realign. Starting next year, Henrico and John Marshall will pursue separate championships.
Henrico is 2-0 against John Marshall this season, winning the Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament semifinals and the Central Region final.
“They got the better of us two times,” Ty White said. “The most important thing is that it only takes one.”
