Boys Hoops: Battlefield 69, Osbourn Park 62

If the first round of the Cedar Run District boys basketball tournament tipped off just a few days earlier, the Battlefield Bobcats’ triple-threat on offense would have been a one-man show. 

“I’ll say this, I’m glad our next game is on Monday,” said Battlefield head coach Al Ford after the Bobcats’ regular-season finale against Loudoun Valley on Feb. 11. In that game, senior forward Dion Romeo left early in the first quarter due to an ankle injury. Senior forward Tim Horn was also sidelined for that game against the Vikings thanks to an elbow in the face a week earlier. The Bobcats’ five-day break gave both seniors a chance to get healthy. Monday night’s game against Osbourn Park showed just how important those five days were.

Romeo and Horn joined junior guard James Robinson to combine for 46 of the Bobcats’ 69 points in their 69-62 win over the Yellow Jackets at home.  

“To his credit, he stepped up and fought through it,” said Battlefield assistant coach Ray Chambers of Romeo. “He just went through the pain. That’s what we expected from him.” 

“There was a lot of pain,” confirmed Romeo, who finished with 13 points. “I just had to play through it.”

Horn and Romeo were also key on defense, helping guard against Osbourn Park’s Andrew Brookins, who was held to just four field goals on the night.

Earlier in the day, Ford and his coaching staff made the Bobcats’ practiced playing with a lead. The Bobcats did beat the Yellow Jackets twice during the regular season, but the two team’s most recent meeting needed overtime to decide a winner. 

“We practiced being able to close it out and part of that is getting it on the free throw line,” said Chambers. 

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Bobcats held a nine-point lead. Just like in practice a few hours earlier, the Bobcats’ spent the majority of the final quarter at the foul line. Battlefield took 22 shots from the charity stripe, hitting 15 — which included going 8-for-10 down the stretch. 

“We just had to get our key players in the game so we could knock down the free throws,” said Robinson, who finished with a game-high 19 points.

The win sends the second-seeded Bobcats into the second round of the tournament against Stonewall Jackson on Wednesday night. If top-seeded Fauquier beats Loudoun Valley on Wednesday, the Bobcats’ game against the Raiders could mean a trip to the Northwest Region tournament. 

“I know Stonewall wants us, but we want them just as bad,” said Robinson. “It’s going to be an intense matchup.”

The Bobcats split the season series with the Raiders during the regular season, but lost by 21 points in their most recent meeting on Feb. 6. 

“All I’m going to say is that we have to take care of business and that’s what we’re going to do,” said Robinson.