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STAFFORD, Va. — Jason John understood the challenge in front of him.
The head coach of the Colonial Forge boys’ basketball team and Northwest Area graduate was coming off a state championship in 2013-14. He knew the Eagles were returning a lot of firepower, and would surely be one of the favorites to repeat in Virginia’s largest scholastic division.
John understood. Maybe, though, you have to experience it before something fully sinks in.
“Honestly, I think that I underestimated the mental fatigue,” John said. “It’s one thing to win games, but it’s a whole different story when you are expected to win every single game. When we won last year, I don’t know if people thought we would win as much as we did. We were kind of flying below the radar. Coming into this season, everyone expected us to win.”
John and his Eagles came through. Colonial Forge won its second straight state championship, defeating Westfield, 47-46, at VCU’s Siegel Center in March en route to a 27-2 season.
The road wasn’t smooth.
Then again, the path toward repeating never is.
And it started from day one.
Gone were the days of Colonial Forge going unnoticed. The state championship from the previous season wiped away that notion.
“We weren’t going to surprise anyone,” John said. “We had a lot of talent returning. Everyone knew what we were all about and what we had coming back.”
Sometimes, it’s hard to get teenage players to buy in.
It’s hard for them to understand that you will take everyone’s best shot, regardless of the record. That you have to be your very best every single night. Be at your best every practice.
John didn’t have to wait very long to prove the theory was 100 percent correct.
Colonial Forge needed triple OT to squeeze past rival Stafford High in the season opener.
The Eagles weren’t so fortunate in the second game, losing to Marshall High by nine.
“To be honest, it was probably the best thing that happened to us,” John said. “I think it helped to refocus our kids, and help them understand that it wasn’t going to be easy to repeat. I don’t know if some people realized that we hadn’t lost a game in about a full calendar year. Our local paper had written about it, and that’s when people started to understand.”
Yes, it was a good thing for the Eagles and the fourth-year head coach.
Colonial Forge ripped off 17 straight wins. More impressive was that the Eagles won 16 of those games by double figures – and many times by as many as 20 points.
But a February loss at Hylton put the team as the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament.
While it gave John’s kids two home games, the rest would be on the road – traveling 1,000 miles in a two-week span.
The state championship was a battle.
“We were on fire in the first half. It was probably the best half we played all season,” John said. “But Westfield battled back.”
Westfield had a four-point lead with about 90 seconds to play after rallying back from a double-digit, first-half deficit. But missed free throws kept Colonial Forge hanging around, and the Eagles took the lead with less than three seconds left on a James Shellington rebound and bucket.
“They missed some key free throws down the stretch,” John said. “We definitely caught a break.”
In Virginia, there’s no time to relax. Basketball is a year-round sport, and John can work with his kids all season.
An advantage, no doubt. The Eagles will lose about 50 points off this year’s squad due to graduation.
“We will see what happens, but a three-peat will be tough,” he said. “I expect us to be competitive, and we’ll give it our best shot. We will get back to the gym soon here.
“Playing year-round is an advantage to the guys who want to put in the time. It’s a rule that started like four years ago here, and I think it’s good for the kids. As coaches, we care about these players and we want to see them grow as successful student-athletes. It’s great that we can be there all year with the kids. It’s important. We can work with a good player, and hopefully, we can make them great.”