Five high-school basketball games were played Saturday (Dec. 14) in Arlington at the second annual Braylon Meade Basketball Classic.
The contests, two girls games and three boys, all were held at Washington-Liberty High School, beginning at 12:30 p.m. The event was expanded to include more games this season.
The W-L girls and boys squads each participated.
One of the biggest games was a boys non-district clash between Arlington’s Yorktown Patriots and the South County Stallions of Lorton. Yorktown won 59-45 behind 12 points from Brennan Pilot.
Yorktown improved to 6-1 with its fourth straight win. The Patriots and South County are regarded as two of the top public-school teams in Northern Virginia this season.
Yorktown defeated Jefferson, 67-39, Oakton, 67-36, and Westfield, 64-61, in its previous games.
In the classic’s other two boys games, Washington-Liberty lost to Woodgrove, 51-41, in the final contest of the event. Colonial Forge defeated West Springfield, 64-47.
In the girls games, Washington-Liberty downed Tuscarora, 47-29, to improve to 3-3, and Yorktown fell to South County, 46-34.
The classic was held in memory of Braylon Meade. He was a 17-year-old student at Washington-Liberty and member of the boys varsity basketball team when the senior died in November 2022 after the vehicle he was driving was struck by a drunk driver.
Meade also played other sports for W-L, and participated during the summer in Northern Virginia Swimming League competition.
The classic’s Website is www.braylon22.org. Those interested can sign up as sponsors of Team 22. Team 22 is a special way to honor both Meade and former Washington-Liberty student Nick Rados, who died in a traffic accident in October.
Rados was a boys lacrosse player at W-L. After Meade’s death, Rados asked his lacrosse coach if he could wear No. 22 in his friend’s honor.
Contributions made by Team 22 members will be distributed between the Meade scholarship fund as well as a fund honoring Rados through the Arlington Community Foundation. There have been seven recipients so far of the Meade scholarship.
