By NICK EILERSON
for the Daily Telegraph
FAIRFAX, Va. — As Saturday’s Virginia 2A state quarterfinal matinee unfolded at Robinson Secondary Schools, Graham careened toward a lopsided defeat.
The yellow-clad G-Men from fell behind 22-5 early in the second quarter, and their five-and-a-half-hour bus ride to Fairfax the day before seemed to take a heavy toll.
Undefeated George Mason was firing on all cylinders, but the G-Men knew better than to hang their heads.
“There’s definitely no quit in us,” senior guard Roman Workman said. “We’ve been down the whole season in the first half, but we always claw back. We’ve got a lot of fight in us.”
Graham clawed all the way back to tie the game on a layup from Workman with 13 seconds to go. The G-Men couldn’t finish the job, though, as George Mason point guard Elliot Mercado found senior center Douglas Bossart wide open underneath with two seconds remaining to finish off a wild 74-72 win for the Mustangs.
Graham junior Nick Morgan (20 points) buried five three-pointers in the second half to help the G-Men gradually chip away at Mason’s 32-22 halftime lead, and Workman scored 13 of his team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter. The G-Men (18-6) had trailed at several critical junctures this season, including a 10-point deficit in the regional quarterfinals.
The long bus ride might have appeared to affect Graham early, but Coach Glynn Carlock Jr. insisted that had little to do with his team’s slow start. The team rode up to Northern Virginia in a cozy charter bus Friday afternoon, and the G-Men got in a productive practice at nearby Patriot High that night.
“There’s no excuse. We were prepared,” Carlock said. “I think it takes a minute to get adjusted to a team you’re not familiar with. We said at halftime that we wanted to get this thing tied up, and we felt like we wanted to put some doubt in their heads because they haven’t been in that position before.”
The G-Men were ultimately undone by George Mason’s leading scorer, Robert Tartt, who languished on the bench in foul trouble for much of the game. Tartt had just two points for the Mustangs (29-0) going into the fourth quarter, but he exploded for 18 in the game’s final six minutes to ignite an offense that struggled to find its way when the hot hand of Josh Allen (23 points) suddenly went cold.
“We have a brotherhood in there, and we’re a small team from Southwest Virginia,” Workman said. “I wouldn’t take anything away from this season. We came in here ready to play.”
Nick Eilerson is a sports reporter for The Washington Post.

at Robinson Secondary School
GRAHAM (18-6)
Chandler Cooper 0-5 0-0 0, Nick Morgan 5-14 5-6 20, Roman Workman 7-15 6-10 21, Thomas Clarke 5-12 0-1 13, Tanner Miller 1-2 0-0 2, Emil Curto 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron Allen 1-3 2-2 5, Darrin Martin 1-2 0-0 3, Garrett Dalton 3-6 2-4 8. Totals 23-59 15-23 72.
GEORGE MASON (29-0)
Devin Thomas 0-2 0-0 0, Robert Tartt 8-10 4-8 20, Ellio Mercado 3-10 5-9 11, Josh Allen 8-14 4-4 23, Douglas Bossart 6-11 2-4 14, Thomas Beddow 0-2 0-1 0, Tim Andrianarison 0-0 0-0 0, Dustin Green 2-2 2-2 6, Brandon Ward 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-51 17-28 74.
Graham...........................5 17 21 29 — 72
George Mason.............14 18 12 30 — 74
3-point goals: GR 11-20 (Morgan 5-10, Clarke 3-4, Workman 1-3, Allen 1-2, Martin 1-1); GM 3-6 (Allen 3-4, Thomas 0-1, Beddow 0-1). Reb: GR 37 (Clarke 7); GM 33 (Tartt 10). Ast: GR 14 (Workman 3, Clarke 3, Miller 3); GM 19 (Mercado 6). Total fouls: GR 27; GM 18. Fouled out: Dalton, Clarke. Technicals: none.