For the Battlefield boys basketball team to exist the 2008-09 season the same way they did the 2007-08 season is not exactly what the guys had in mind.

Coach Al Ford set high expectations for the boys early on, pronouncing them as a potential contender for a Northwest Reigonal title.

Well, they gave it a run, but just like in 2008, the Bobcats ended the season with losses in the Cedar Run District championship and Northwest Regional quarter-finals.

Cardinal District champs Gar-Field pounded Battlefield last Tuesday night in the fourth quarter with an 18-0 run that resulted in the Indians advancing to the semi-finals by a score of 62-46, days after Fauquier won 57-50. The Bobcats came back from a 20-17 deficit at the end of the first quarter to tie the game twice in the second half, including a 39-39 score after back-to-back buckets from junior guard Jahmal Jones in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

Battlefield appeared to have the hot hand, but that was when the Indians, led by junior forward Jeremiah Johnson (24 points) unloaded with an offensive barrage.

"You have to give credit to Gar-Field," said Ford as he tried to figure out how, exactly, his team collapsed.

Ford attributed much of the Indians' success to Johnson, who came back after being on the receiving ends of multiple blocks by Battlefield senior Tim Horn in the second half. In particular, Johnson had a knack for sinking clutch 12-foot jump shots over the Bobcat big men.

"Those are, like, the most difficult shots to make in basketball," lamented Ford. "But he made them."

Turnovers and missed high-percentage shots in the first half and late foul trouble ultimately did in the Bobcats despite the defense playing relatively-even with the Indians for the first three quarters.

For example, senior Dion Romeo slapped away an offering from Gar-Field with less than 3 minutes remaining in the second quarter, and Horn followed up with consecutive blocks seconds later.

"Tim's still one of the best shot-blockers in the area," said Ford.

But but an immediate turnover to Gar-Field neutered the effect of the blocks.

Then, Jones got in on the action with his own block, but after Battlefield recovered, he threw the ball out of bounds while aiming for Romeo. Romeo earned a steal moments later, but another turnover to Gar-Field at the hoop killed any momentum Battlefield had earned,

"It was a little disappointing," said Ford of the team not meeting its pre-season goals. But he mentioned "Gar-Field played like veterans at the end of the season."

Romeo, a second-team all-Cedar Run District member, ended up fouling out in the fourth quarter, taking away Battlefield's leading rebounder on a night when Johnson secured a double-double for points (24) and rebounds (11).

The Battlefield coach allowed Romeo to play with four fouls in the final period because of confidence in his back-up, 6-foot-6 Bo Revell, who propelled the Bobcats into the regional playoffs after blocking a Stonewall Jackson buzzer-beater in the Cedar Run District semi-finals.

But the Bobcats just could not get an offensive spark and did not hit another fourth-quarter field goal until senior forward Marty Dawson sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Battlefield sent five players to the all-district team, including first-teamer James Robinson and honorable mentions Jones, Horn and senior guard Chris Parker. The junior Robinson is a potential NCAA Division I-A recruit while Romeo is weighing offers to continue his basketball career in college with some D-II and D-III schools.

Robinson, however, is the future for Battlefield along with junior Blaine Mason, who earned the team's honored Battlin' Bobcat award for worksmanship on Monday. Both will be vital to the team next season, which secured its first-ever winning season this year and boasted a district record of 11-3.

After all, Ford is tired of backing into regions without a championship of some kind of accompany it.

"We've got to get a banner somewhere in this gym," he said.