Patriots hold off Warriors

Albemarle did just enough to hold off a pesky Western Albemarle squad and got a big boost from big man Cameron Ander-son in the fourth quarter to come away with a road win over its county rival on Saturday night.

The Patriots, which never trailed in the game, also made critical free throws down the stretch to help seal the 53-43 win.

Anderson scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the final frame as the Patriots downed the Warriors for the second time this season.

The win was especially sweet for veteran coach Greg Maynard, who secured his 300th career victory at Albemarle.

“It was a good weekend for us,” said Maynard, whose team earned its first Commonwealth District win on Friday night. “We’ve still got a long ways to go to be the type of team we want to be. After a frustrating game last Tuesday [at Stafford], it was good to come out and have two good games. And any time you beat your county rival it means a lot to the kids.”

Albemarle (3-2) broke to a 13-3 first-quarter lead behind key baskets from its guards, Adam Utz and Taylor Knight.

Western cut the lead to six in the second quarter, but the Patriots used an 8-2 run to extend their lead to 28-16 at halftime.

“We fought back, but we dug a big hole in the first half. For some rea-son, we just won’t play hard and aggressive against them, and they just take it to us every time,” said Western Albemarle coach Darren Maynard. “When we figured that out, we played a little harder in the second half, but we just couldn’t quite get all the way back.”

The Warriors came out with a renewed intensity after the break, and cut the lead to seven before Albemarle even had a chance to take a shot.
The Patriots had some difficulty with Western’s full-court press, and the Warriors crawled to within four (35-31) with 2:09 remaining in the third. But a 3-pointer by Andrew Frazier gave Albemarle the cushion it needed.

Although Western cut the lead to three with 3:30 to play, the Warriors did not have an answer for Anderson in the fourth, especially after Dante Crawford fouled out.

Anderson, a 6-foot 7 junior, scored six straight points to help the Patriots pull away. He also crashed the boards, fin-ishing with 15 rebounds (12 defensive) to go along with four blocks.

“I credit that with Western’s defense — they had a guy on both sides of him every time he was posting up,” Greg Maynard said of Anderson’s late scoring burst. “Then finally he came away from the basket enough so that he could get around his guy a little bit and go up strong inside.”

Shouldering the scoring load for Western with starting point guard Ryan Hughes out with an illness and Crawford in foul trouble was Christian Pierce, who poured in a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Travis Washington added 11.