Top 10 Plays of the Year in Greater D.C.

Created by Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Editor
Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area

Top 10 Plays — 2008-2009

Click
the video on the left for the full countdown of the Top 10 plays from
across the seven DigitalSports territories in the greater Washington,
D.C. Metro area.

You can also view the full list of top plays
below. Click on the titles to view the individual, unedited highlights
at respective homepages.

Check back every Monday morning for the new Top 10 countdown from around the metropolitan area.

To nominate and upload plays or accomplishments from your school:

**CLICK HERE**

No. 10 –– Thomas One-Handed Grab
Prince George’s County, Maryland — Eleanor Roosevelt wide receiver Derrick Thomas pulls in this high pass along the sideline with his left hand while keeping one foot in-bounds. But the Raiders lost to the Pumas, 14-6, in the 4A regional playoffs.

No. 9 –– Wilson Revenge
Northern Region, Virginia — Hayfield senior T.J. Wilson, after taking a fall in the dunk contest an hour prior, gives a facial to division rival and Lake Braddock senior Dom Morra in the final minute of the Beltway’s 88-76 win over the ‘Burbs in the 2009 DigitalSports Showcase on March 21.

Olase-Wow
Montgomery County, Maryland — Springbrook senior Jamal Olasewere
finishes on the fast break through a Walter Johnson would-be
shot-blocker. Olasewere led the Blue Devils to a perfect 27-0
record, a 37-game winning streak and back-to-back 4A state titles, the first repeat since 1968.

P.G. Alley-Oops    1  2  3
Prince George’s County, Maryland — Gwynn Park guard Tion Coates
is on the receiving end of two fourth-quarter alley-oops in the Yellow
Jackets’ 73-51 over the Hornets and, from the P.G. County 4A vs.
3A/2A/1A Late All-Star Game, Bowie guard Alex Rodriguez tosses the ball off the glass to Duval forward Colin Beatty for a one-handed flush.

No. 8 — To All a Good Knight
S.M.A.C., Maryland — On January 7, Thomas Stone trailed Chopticon by two points with two seconds remaining. But Cougar guard Dytania Johnson launch an inbound pass to Stephen Battle beyond half-court, and he flipped it to Leron Knight for the buzzer-beating, game-winning, streak-sparking win, 63-62. Stone won the 4A East and finished 21-5 on the year.

No. 7 –– Saxon Title
Northern Region, Virginia
— After going 0-for-6 historically in Northern Region championships, Langley finally locked up its first regional title, 6-5 in two overtimes, against Robinson. Then, on June 7, it won its first state title, 4-3 in overtime, against Chantilly.

No. 6 — Greatest Show on Surf
Northern Region, Virginia
— The Robinson boys’ swim & dive team won its seventh-straight
Virginia AAA State championship at the Freedom Center in Manassas, Va.
Only Great Bridge wrestling, which won 16 of 17 state championships
from 1989-2005, has longer state-winning streaks in Virginia High
School League history.

No. 5 — D-I Bound
Washington, D.C. Area — Hundreds of area students received athletic scholarships to schools around the country, dozens to Division I programs. Among those are a select few that stand towards the top of national recruiting rankings.

No. 4 –– Mitchell 0.00 ERA in ’09
S.M.A.C., Maryland — McDonough senior Melanie Mitchell pitched
four perfect games in her senior season, pacing the Rams to a 19-0
season and the 2A state title. In her 19 starts, she allowed one total
run — which was unearned. She tied a state-tournament record with 19
strikeouts in the title game, a 4-0 win for McDonough over Landstowne.

No. 3 –– Snowy Spartan March
Loudoun County, Virginia
— Broad Run opened its doors in 1969, but had never won a state football title until this year. Spartan running back T.J. Peeler, who holds a handful of Division I scholarship offers, had a rough first quarter, highlighted by a premature touchdown celebration that resulted in a turnover. But Broad Run picked it up, holding the vaunted Amherst County running game to a season-low 2.9 yards per carry en route to a 14-0 win and its first state championship.

No. 2 –– Moo-Moo
S.M.A.C., Maryland — In a season struck with a September tragedy, the Westlake community rebounded, as did its football team. Led by pint-sized speedster Devon “Moo Moo” Smith, the Wolverines won the 3A state championship, its first in program history.

No. 1 –– National Record for Fletcher
Northern Region, Virginia — Madison senior Sean Fletcher
broke the all-time national high-school record in the 100-yard
butterfly (:47.08) at the Virginia AAA State championships on Saturday.
Almost as impressively, he only had a seven-minute break until he
competed in the 100-yard freestyle final and was .02 second from
breaking the state record in that event. The original record holders
were Nate Dusing (Covington Catholic High School, Texas; University of Texas; 2000 and 2004 Olympics), who set the record in 1997, and Austin Staab (Westerville, Ohio; Stanford) tied it in 2007.

Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com

CLICK HERE FOR THE TOP 10 PLAYS FROM JAN 25-31

CLICK HERE FOR THE TOP 10 PLAYS FROM FEB 2-8

CLICK HERE FOR THE TOP 10 PLAYS FROM FEB 9-15

CLICK HERE FOR THE TOP 10 PLAYS FROM FEB 16-22

CLICK HERE FOR THE TOP 10 PLAYS FROM MAY 25-31

CLICK HERE FOR THE TOP 10 PLAYS FROM THE SPRING SEASON

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