Knights fall in semis

RICHMOND — With 53 seconds left, it looked like Charlottesville had done it. The Black Knights had a three-point lead on Courtland in the Group AA, Division 4 semifinals, but watched the game slip away when Luke Sellers tied the game on a 3-pointer and Lamar Giggets hit a free throw with 2.8 seconds remaining to lead Cougars to a 61-60 victory.

“I just had to take a deep breath,” Giggets said of his trip to the free-throw line. “I knew that if I hit that shot we were going to win the game. All the hard work we did in practice was for that one moment right there.”

Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor was pleased with the hustle and heart his squad put forth, especially considering the size disadvantage the Black Knights had to overcome throughout.

“Unfortunately, the outcome wasn’t in our favor,” Minor said. “But I’m really proud of our kids. I felt like we did the things we needed to do to win the game.”

The Black Knights trailed by two possessions for most of the second half, but took the lead late in fourth quarter as the Cougars consistently turned the ball over.

Charlottesville had its hands full with Courtland’s big men, Giggets and Josh Hairston. Giggets put up 21 points while Hairston led all scorers with 23, and both pulled 11 rebounds.

“They are a good team,” Minor said. “I knew they had size. They were tough and they’re a good shooting team. We had a tough time trying to defend Josh.”

As they have all season, Kevin Leatherwood and Maurice Jackson did much of the heavy lifting for Charlottesville. Jackson put up 12 while Leatherwood scored 15. The Black Knights also got a stellar game from Terrance Briggs, who went to battle in the paint with Hairston and Giggets and contributed 15 points of his own.

Charlottesville had two turnovers in the final 20 seconds of the game, making the ending more heartbreaking.

“It was just unfortunate,” Leatherwood said. “If we had just taken a timeout instead of throwing the ball down the middle of the court, I’d probably be smiling right now.”

The Black Knights also got away from their traditional man-to-man defense and played a 2-3 zone instead to keep a close watch on the Duke-bound Hairston.

The Cougars recovered quickly, though, stringing together a 10-2 run of their own and finishing the first quarter with a one-point lead.

The Black Knights held Hairston to just two first-quarter points, but the future Blue Devil came alive in the second frame, scoring all 10 Cougar points and giving his squad a seven-point lead.

Jackson and Briggs cut the lead to 3 points before the half. The Black Knights’ defense also managed to hold the Cougars to zero points in the final three minutes of the first half. Briggs had eight first-half points and Hairston had 12.