Loyds lead Fluvanna past Western

It took until the fourth quarter, but Fluvanna County’s girls basketball team finally got into its rhythm against Western Albemarle on Wednesday night.

The visiting Flucos used a critical fourth-quarter run and their stingy pressure defense to pull away from the Warriors for the 65-53 Jefferson District victory.

It was a much-needed win for Fluvanna (11-1, 2-1 Jefferson), which had dropped its first game of the season to Charlottesville in a district showdown last week.

And it didn’t come easily, as Western (3-6, 1-2) hung around for three quarters before the Flucos’ late push.

With a slim two-point lead entering the fourth quarter, Fluvanna turned up its intensity and opened the quarter with a 7-0 spurt.

“That [run] was huge, because we wanted to pick up the tempo of the game. The game seemed kind of sluggish and we needed to make a run,” said Fluvanna coach Chad White. “That put them in a position where they were playing from behind by more than two points. To be able to respond like this on the road after a tough loss says a lot about this team’s character.”

Fluvanna got a big boost from K-anna and Mia Loyd, who keyed the fourth-quarter run and combined for 45 points. K-anna poured in a game-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Mia added 18 points and 11 boards.

Down the stretch the Flucos also got a lift from Shannon Bossieux, who hit a pair of 3-pointers to help the visitors extend their lead.

“That’s a pretty hard hole to dig out from, Western Albemarle first-year coach Kris Wright said. “It doesn’t have to be the last four minutes, but it can be any four-minute segment that can cost you the game. And in this case, it was in the beginning of the fourth quarter.”

Early on. the Warriors played solid defense and were able to keep Fluvanna away from its gameplan.

Sophomore Carolyn Schneller gave Western a spark with Ellen Shaffrey in foul trouble, as she came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points, 15 of which came in the first half.

But the Flucos got down to business in the second half, forcing the Warriors to make mistakes with their half-court traps.

“We weren’t making shots, so we couldn’t get into our press. And as you can see, that caused a lot of turnovers,” White said. “Even when we can’t get a steal we’re looking to make them rush it, and when you’re not making shots, you can’t get into it. The girls started doing better with their assignments on the defensive end and they were able to make some shots so we could get into our press.”