11U Belvoir boys fall in championship game

The Belvoir Barracudas' 11U boys' basketball team suffered its only loss of the season to Chantilly, 55-51, during the Fairfax County Youth Basketball League championship Saturday at Luther Jackson Middle School in Falls Church.
The competition was fierce enough to require an extra three-minute session to determine the winner.
The Barracudas took an 8-5 lead after coming out of the gate with some rushed turnovers and shots that missed the mark.
Chantilly cut that lead to one point with six minutes in the first half, then recovered the advantage, 11-10, at the 4:30 mark.
It was a lead Chantilly didn't willingly give up.
Down 16-10, Belvoir tried to wrest the momentum away from Chantilly with scrappy play as halftime neared. A three-point shot by Shamar Johnson helped the Barracudas pull within one point with 1:29 left in the half, but Chantilly did just enough to hang on to a slight advantage into the break, 21-17.
Chantilly's scoring picked up where it left off at the start of the second period, as the team opened up a 10-point lead over the Barracudas, 37-27, with just over six minutes left in regulation.
It was then that Belvoir sprung into action. Charles Hyman earned six quick points, and with a 3-point shot by Randall Gaskins, the Barracudas cut Chantilly's lead to one point.
After a dry shooting spell that kept Chantilly scoreless for nearly five minutes, Chantilly found the bottom of the net again by converting one of two free throws. The points kept Chantilly ahead of Belvoir for the much of the game's last minute.
Still, the final break seemed to favor Belvoir. DeMarcus Ramsey tied the game at 45 on a short jumper. As Chantilly passed the ball inbounds, the player could not control the pass, and the ball bounced out of bounds again to give the Barracudas the final shot of the game.
Belvoir couldn't convert, and the game went into overtime.
The extra period saw the lead switch three times in the first two minutes. Chantilly broke through first for with a 53-51 lead with seven seconds to play.
With a chance to tie the score, Belvoir passed the ball inbounds, but the ball bounced back out of bounds off a Belvoir player's foot, giving the ball back to Chantilly. The Barracudas were forced to foul, and Chantilly iced its final two free throws to deny Belvoir the championship.
"It was a well-fought game," Commissioner Alton Greene said. "I knew it was going to be a dogfight coming into this. It's a totally different season in the playoffs, and we knew we had to be ready.
"For us to hang in there from behind and come back to push it into overtime, that says something about this team," he continued. "It's a huge testament to the work they put in, and the good, quality coaches that help keep us going."