THURSDAY MORNING SHOOTAROUND: Tamez, Mavericks round into form

The Miller School’s girls basketball team has displayed its strength early this season, knocking off Charlottesville and Patrick Henry-Roanoke before falling to a very good Spotswood team in the championship of The Daily Progress NBC29 Holiday Classic on Tuesday.

The Mavericks bolstered their record to 9-2 and are poised to take their game to a higher level.

“They’ve all learned their roles now, so we’re at a good point,” said Miller coach James Braxton. “We just need to keep building on where we are.”

And senior Alex Tamez is one player Braxton thinks can help the Mavericks move forward.

Tamez had a team-high 10 points in the win over Charlottesville, but was held to two points in the title game. However, the speedy guard gave her team a boost on the defensive end, coming up with four steals and four defensive rebounds before getting into foul trouble. In the win over CHS, Tamez pulled down five rebounds and had five assists.

“Alex handles the ball real well. She needs to learn how to find her teammates because they can bail her out, and we have some kids who can shoot it,” Braxton said. “We’ve been working with her on being under control and knowing what the other team is playing on defense and running our team. We know she can score, we just need someone to run our team.”

The Mavericks played the entire tournament with just eight players, and had seven in the rotation in the final. Miller was without senior Jaime Fleming, who would have given the team another presence in the post.

The Mavericks hope to get a boost from Ruta Lizdenyte, a junior from Lithuania who is over six feet tall and is coming off an ACL injury.

“Right now we’re playing with two 4’s — we really don’t have a 5,” Braxton said. “She should be able to play for us in January and that will help us with the post presence.”

Monroe picks up a big win against Atlee

William Monroe is looking awfully good from behind that arc.

The Dragons dropped eight 3-pointers on Group AAA opponent Atlee in an 80-50 rout in William Monroe’s Christmas tournament. Andy Brown and Mike Roach did the most damage, hitting three each in the critical victory.

Brown finished with 25 points while Roach poured in 20 as the Dragons rolled to a win and picked up some critical momentum going into the heart of Jefferson District play.

It also appears that Mike Wims is starting to really assert himself under the boards, pulling down 30 rebounds over two games in the tournament. He’ll likely need to play big for the Dragons as they take on Western Albemarle on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Warriors win Stuarts Draft tournament

Western Albemarle started off its holiday hoops experience with a nail-biter, then came away with a hard-fought win in the final of the Stuarts Draft Holiday Tournament.

Travis Washington had 15 points and went 6 for 7 at the free-throw line to lift the Warriors to a 50-44 victory over Buffalo Gap in the final on Tuesday night. Western made 10 of 11 free throws in the final.

“We’ve been trying to work on some things — get a little tougher, play some better defense,” said Western coach Darren Maynard. “In the final, we played some great defense. We needed some toughness in both games to come through.”

That win followed a 78-77 overtime victory over Harrisonburg in the semifinals on Monday in which Western (4-2) trailed by six points in the extra period. Ryan Hughes eventually won the game with a late free throw.

Washington scored 26 points and Christian Pierce added 21 despite foul trouble. Tom Clifton added 11 points to back up the Warriors’ two leading scorers.

“Dante Crawford and Christian Pierce got in foul trouble,” Maynard said. “He really stepped up big for us in that game.”

A silver lining

There were several bright spots in Orange County’s second-round loss to eventual Holiday Classic champion Spotswood.

The Hornets (7-4) got a productive outing from senior forward Christina Harvey, who led all scorers with 27 points.

The versatile athlete played a big role in Orange’s rally, making her presence felt in the post as well as hitting a pair of critical 3-pointers.

“Christina recognizes when she has a mismatch and when to take control and look up,” said Orange coach Lauren Luck. “She’s invaluable on the court — she can play the post, but she can also play the wing and she can shoot. So she’s very hard to guard.”

Harvey scored a team-high 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds in a loss to Patrick Henry on Tuesday.

Other players making key contributions included a trio of senior guards — Skylar Scott, Dee Dee Hopkins and Jasmine Johnson. Scott came up with seven steals to go along with her six points against the Trailblazers, while Hopkins and Johnson combined to score 13 points, including three 3-pointers.

“The three of them — Jasmine, Skylar and Dee Dee — have several years of varsity experience behind them and they’re taking control of the senior leadership and running with it,” Luck said. “The rest of the team builds off of it — especially Skylar’s pressure. Skylar’s such a strong defender that when she is playing the way she wants to, the rest of the team rises to meet her.”

Against Patrick Henry in the third-place game of the tournament, Sade Johnson stepped up for the Hornets.

The junior was a much-needed spark for Orange, as she came off the bench to score 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Only Harvey registered more points.

“She’s falling into the scheme that we have as a team and fulfilling a role that’s much needed coming off the bench,” Luck said. “Each game she’s showing improvement both in practice and during games.”

The Brown and Payne show at CHS

Charlottesville’s girls basketball team, which advanced to the Group AA tournament last season, posted a 2-1 record in this year’s Classic to finish fifth. The Black Knights edged Albemarle in the final round and beat Waynesboro after falling to Miller in the opening round. As usual, CHS’s two playmakers — seniors Shalita Brown and Shawntae Payne — led the way.

Brown recorded two double-doubles — against Miller (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Waynesboro (30 points and 19 rebounds) — but was held to seven points against Albemarle. But Payne was there to pick up the slack, as she poured in a game-high 25 points to key the 46-43 win over the Patriots.

Still, Charlottesville coach Harry Terrell would like to get more players involved. Brown and Payne are often the only Black Knights to reach double figures.

“When we get everybody playing consistently, we’ll be a better team,” Terrell said. “But it’s taking its time.”

Charlottesville takes on Fluvanna County on Friday in a Jefferson District showdown.

Layups

Spotswood, which captured its second title in the Classic, averaged 70 points over the three-day tournament, despite being held to 42 points by the Miller School in the championship. The Blazers have been the runners-up in the event five times. … Waynesboro’s girls team, the winner of the Classic a year ago, failed to win a game in this year’s tournament. The Little Giants were the Group AA runners-up in 2007-08, falling to Hidden Valley in the championship game.