Blazers advance to final

Spotswood stuck to the fundamentals — solid defense, rebounding and crisp passing — to come away with a win over Orange County in the second round of The Daily Progress NBC29 Holiday Classic on Monday night.

But the win didn’t come without a test from a pesky Hornets squad, which gave the Blazers all they could handle for three quarters before Spotswood pulled away to prevail 73-62.

The Blazers (7-0) remained unbeaten this season and advance to the tournament’s championship game today at 6:15 p.m. against the Miller School.

Spotswood had a trio of players — Brianna Mitchell, Alycia Meadows and Carter Williams — reach double figures in the victory. Williams had a team-high 21 points while Mitchell and Meadows finished with 18 points apiece.

“I really thought that [our passing] was the whole key,” Spotswood coach Chris Dodson said. “I thought when the pressure got on us — we have so many players who can score — that I thought each girl was trying to put us on her shoulders and help us make a run. And we got away from that. That is the key to our success —our ball movement — and we got back to that late.”

Early on the Blazers put on a passing clinic, moving the ball effectively on each possession en route to a 22-10 first-quarter lead. Spotswood extended its advantage to 17 points before Orange went on a scoring spurt of its own.

The Hornets, (7-3) fueled by their pressure defense, ended the half with a 15-5 run and closed the gap to six points at 36-30.

“I thought that scoring for us was very easy early and they made some great adjustments,” Dodson said. “Then we didn’t adjust to what they were doing. It was a good coaching move by them — they adjusted their zone a little bit and took away our high-low game, and it took us awhile to adjust to that.”

Orange continued to keep it close throughout the second half.

The Hornets got a much-needed boost from Christina Harvey, who poured in a game-high 27 points.

In fact, Orange pulled within three points with 3:40 to play on a basket underneath by Harvey, who was also fouled on the play. She converted the free throw to cut the lead to 61-58.

But the Hornets did not get any closer, as the Blazers got a couple of big baskets from Meadows and made their free throws down the stretch.

Spotswood also did a good job of rebounding on the defensive end, limiting Orange’s second-chance opportunities. Meadows and Mitchell each grabbed 15 rebounds for the Blazers.

Despite the loss, Orange coach Lauren Luck knows her team is making great strides.

“From the second quarter on, the rest of the gym got to see my team, the team I feel like we are and they demonstrate every game,” Luck said. “The fact that they can learn to come back after being down is going to help us in the long run.

“Spotswood is a very good team — they’re very well-coached — so to come back against them means a lot to me. We’re very encouraged despite the loss. The girls know that a missed layup made and a foul shot made, and we’re a lot closer to winning.”

The Blazers’ win put them in the final against Miller, which defeated Patrick Henry-Roanoke 53-41 on Monday. Orange faces the Patriots in the third-place game at 3 p.m.  Both games are at Charlottesville.