CHS advances to Group AA semis

Kevin Leatherwood struggled to find his shot in the first three quarters.

The Charlottesville senior had just four points as the Black Knights headed into the fourth quarter against Tabb in the Group AA, Division 4 quarterfinals.

But in the fourth quarter, Leatherwood couldn’t miss. He scored 13 of his team’s 16 points in the fourth frame to lead CHS to a 58-45 victory.

“It was all about support because my team just kept telling me to keep going at it,” Leatherwood said. “I heard the crowd. I heard the ‘Air balls’ and the ‘Keep shooting.’ I heard the heckling, but that’s a part of the game and what makes this fun.”

Charlottesville trailed throughout most of the first half, but came out running in the second. The Black Knights took the lead in the opening minute of the third quarter and never trailed afterwards.

“We did a much better job of attacking,” Minor said. “I thought that was the difference. I thought we did a real good job of pushing it.”

Until Leatherwood came alive in the fourth, Maurice Jackson did most of the heavy lifting offensively for CHS.

The junior had 16 points fueled by three 3-pointers. Omari Minor also had a solid game, chipping in 11 points to give the Black Knights three scorers in double figures.

After putting up 32 first-half points, Tabb managed just 13 in the game’s last 16 minutes.

“We were comfortable offensively in the second half,” said Tabb coach Doug Baggett. “We had wide open shots, we just couldn’t stick ’em. We had guys wide open off of screens, 13- and 14-feet shots. You’ve got to be able to drop those.”

Don Smalls led the Tigers with 13 points. Teammate Stephen Sherwood had 11.

Charlottesville advances to play Courtland in the semifinals on Tuesday at 9 p.m. at the Siegel Center in Richmond. The Cougars beat Orange County 82-65 on Saturday.