Coming into the 25-26 season, standards were very high for the Heritage Pride Men’s basketball team, after taking the Virginia High School League (VHSL) by storm in the 24-25 season with a record of 20-8, improving from 5-19 the year before. In the Dulles District playoffs last year, they also shocked some people by winning the 2nd District Championship in school history for boys basketball. That year, led by a good group of players like Masyn Miller, Dylan Williams, and Jordan Garland just to name a few, the group made a trip to the VHSL Class 4 State quarterfinals even though Heritage lost to John Handley High School (Winchester, VA), there were still major improvements from the 23-24 season.
Coming into this season Heritage wanted to see where their team stacked up against one of the best teams in the state of Virginia going up against top ranked in the VHSL Westfield High School (Chantilly, VA) in a scrimmage in the month of November. They stacked up very well only losing the game by a single point, but Heritage showed that they could compete with any team in the state. With another scrimmage later that month vs Kettle Run High School (Nokesville, VA), the Pride made quick work of them, and then it was on to the first game of the season vs Stone Bridge High School.
In the first week of December, the Pride had two matchups vs Stone Bridge and Potomac Falls. Versus Stone Bridge, the pride defeated them 59-53 with Miller being the leader scorer with 14 points along with contributions from Williams with 12 points and Becks Hetzel with 11 points, but this game was no easy task with Ruhan Mallya’s 11 points; he kept Stone Bridge afloat for most of the game keeping the Bulldogs within 6, but the Pride showed how well they can manage the clock and put a game out of reach. With a game against the Potomac Falls Panthers 2 days later, it was supposed to be a great backcourt duel between Williams and Miller vs Josh Orbida and Adit Apte of the Panthers. Unfortunately for the Panthers Apte ended up with 2 points on 1 for 6 shooting from the field and 0 for 3 from 3. Even though Orbida led the way with 17 points, it wasn’t enough to beat the Pride as they would move on to 2-0 on the season.
In the month of December, the Pride finished 8-1 with key wins over Dominion, Briar Woods, and McLean. During the last week of December, the Pride played in the Spotswood High School Holiday Tournament going 1-1. In the first game versus E.C. Glass (Lynchburg, VA), the Pride lost with a score of 56-42. Going into this game, the Pride and the Hilltoppers were both undefeated. The game started off strong with both teams not letting up – a lead more than 4 points up until the 4th quarter. The Pride went cold in the fourth quarter only scoring 4 points off of guard Dylan Williams free throws. The Pride’s defense was somewhat non-existent with the Hilltopper’s paint scoring. The Hilltoppers outscored the Pride 16-4 in the fourth quarter giving the Pride their first regular season game loss. The second game versus Rocktown (Harrisonburg, VA) was a more than likely to be the same. It was a tight battle throughout the entire game with the Pride just merely pulling out the win 57-54. There were major contributions from forward Tyler Burns (14 points), forward Jordan Garland (13 points), and guard Masyn Miller (10 points), which helped the Pride pull off yet another win. With the Pride now securing an 8-1 going into 2026, they were in a good position going into district play.
The month of January started off with Battlefield High School (Haymarket, VA); the Pride dominated the Bobcats 61-39 moving onto 9-1 on the season. The next two games were very important for the Pride as district play had started, which determines whether the Pride can compete in the Dulles District Championship. Competing against Loudoun Valley, the Pride started off the game slowly losing when the 1st quarter ended; it was a very close game in the first half with the Pride finding themselves down 3. Going into the 2nd half, the following adjustments were made: harder defense, better rebounding, and attacking the rim hard. With these timely adjustments by the Pride’s coaching staff, the Pride found themselves with another win on the board 63-58. With 4 players being in double figures in points, there was no way that the Pride could have lost this game.
The next game was big for the Pride as Heritage and Tuscarora have had a rivalry that has stretched for years on end. In the past 2 years, the Pride had a record of 2-6 with the Huskies, demonstrating the Huskies have beat the Pride plenty of times, but this year is different. With seniors from the Huskies graduating, the Pride had the better team this go around or at least they thought. The Pride outscored the Huskies 17-14 in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Pride went cold only scoring 6 points to the Huskies 13; therefore, the 2nd quarter points put the Pride down by 4 going into halftime. Going into the 3rd quarter, the Pride found motivation and flipped the script with their defense holding the Huskies to 4 points in the 3rd. The 4th quarter went back and forth, but due to Williams’s 11 points, and Miller’s 10, the Huskies had no answer and lost to the Pride 52-48, putting the Prides district record to 3-0. for the year. The next couple of games were dominated by the Pride with wins over Park View, Loudoun County, and Freedom, who all got beat by 20+ points. The Pride was very excited for their next matchup versus Broad Run High School.
This matchup was talked about for most of the season with the Pride sending the Spartans home last year in the 4C Regional semifinals. The Spartans were looking forward to getting even from last year. With both teams being ranked Top 3 in the VHSL Division 4 Conference, the attendance was through the roof with the gym being packed. The game started off strong defensively for the Pride only giving up 6 1st quarter points to the Spartans. The second quarter was even worse with the Pride only giving up 10 points. By halftime, the Pride was already up by 23, but the Pride knew that the Spartans were going to come out gunning for them in the second half, and they did as the Spartan’s scored 25 points to the Pride’s 24 in the 3rd quarter. The Spartans were doing everything they could to rally back into this game, the score being 63-41 by the end of the 3rd quarter. By the time the 4th quarter started, everyone in the gym knew the game was out of reach as Heritage scored 18 points to Broad Run’s 12, winning this epic matchup by 28 points. The week following the Broad Run game, Heritage had key wins against Woodgrove, Dominion, and Rock Ridge improving their record to 18-1 for the season.
Heritage and Tuscarora met for the second time in district play in a game that carried major Dulles District title hopes, and the atmosphere matched the moment. The Pride came out dominant, building a 15-point lead early before Tuscarora responded with a late run and a half-court buzzer-beater from Colin Byrd to close the gap. The second quarter stayed close, with both teams trading runs, including an 11–0 surge from the Huskies. One of the biggest moments of the night came when Jordan Garland threw down a poster dunk over Byrd, igniting the crowd, but Tuscarora answered with another buzzer-beater to take a two-point lead into halftime. The back-and-forth continued in the third, with Tuscarora eventually taking control and leading by eight heading into the fourth quarter.
In the final quarter, Heritage fought back, tying the game at 53–53 before chaos unfolded in the closing seconds. With just seconds left, Masyn Miller missed a free throw but grabbed his own rebound and converted an and-one to give the Pride the lead. However, a technical foul sent Byrd to the line, where he hit two clutch free throws to force overtime. In OT, Heritage made the key plays, hitting a crucial three and knocking down free throws to secure the win. Garland led the way with 20 points and 9 rebounds, while Miller added 21 points, combining for 41. Key contributions from Ryan Conley, Dylan Williams, Becks Hetzel, Liam Roane, and Tyler Burns helped the Pride complete a hard-fought victory over their crosstown rivals.
On senior night, the Pride looked to continue their winning streak with their next game against Rock Ridge High School (Ashburn, VA). The Pride would make quick work of Rock Ridge, beating them 51-41 to move on to 20-1. The next game would be vs Loudoun Valley, a school with who the Pride is very familiar. The game started off back and forth with both teams having leads throughout the 1st and 2nd quarter, but in the third, it was all Loudoun Valley. In the third quarter, Valley was hot hitting threes; behind Aiden O’Connors 9 third quarter points, it seemed that Heritage put themselves in a hole that they couldn’t get out of. In the 4th quarter, the Pride went on a 16-2 run with a couple of clutch free throws by Jordan Garland, which put them on top 57-53. This game was out of reach and the Pride moved on to 21-1 to finish their regular season. Congratulations to the Pride’s Boys Basketball team for an amazing season that led to competing at the State level.
Accomplishments:
21-1 overall record
8-0 district record
Dulles District Reg Season Champs
Undefeated Home record
Undefeated True Road games
14 game win streak to end the season
