TUESDAY MORNING SHOOTAROUND: Guard shuffle benefits Western

Western Albemarle point guard Ryan Hughes is the steady hand that has helped put the Warriors in contention for the district title. But in a must-win game against Charlottesville, Hughes couldn’t help Western much, stuck on the bench with an injury he suffered early in the first half.

That’s when Darren Maynard made some adjustments to the Warriors’ press break and let Christian Pierce handle the ball more in the backcourt.

It worked well, as Pierce kept a cool head and led the Warriors past Charlottesville’s defensive pressure and to a 61-49 victory in Friday’s brawl-marred contest.

“To really function basically without our point guard most of the night, I thought we were really tough to overcome that,” Maynard said.

Pierce was often the first person to catch the ball on the inbounds and from there, directed traffic, quickly moving the ball ahead while avoiding any crippling turnovers. The junior, who is already asked to handle a big chunk of the scoring and rebounding load, did a good job of handling the pressure and directing the offense in the backcourt and still managed to lead Western with 21 points and haul down six rebounds.

The only part of Pierce’s game that seemed to suffer was his free-throw shooting, where he went just over 50 percent at the line (9 for 17), well under his 72 percent average on the year. But that could easily be attributed to his focus on handling the ball, and he’ll certainly take the win that kept Western alive for the automatic Region II playoff berth.

Crawford closes the door

While Pierce was busy handling the offense, Dante Crawford was coming up with a slew of rebounds to help Western pull away. The freshman finished with 14 points, all after halftime, and 13 rebounds, scoring on a number of stickbacks on the offensive end.

“He got after it for us and made some big shots for us,” Maynard said. “That helped us pull away a little bit.”

Crawford will need to continue to spark Western underneath in another must-win outing tonight against Orange County on the road. If the Warriors win there, they’ll face the Black Knights again in a playoff game to determine the regular-season Jefferson District championship.

Morris steps up

While Crawford and Pierce form a talented rebounding duo for Western, an unlikely contributor on the boards lately has been Michael Morris. Morris, a shooting guard, pulled down five rebounds against Charlottesville, crashing particularly hard during the first half. Morris may be one of the Warriors’ most underrated players, as he also scored 14 points, dished out four assists and came up with three steals against the Black Knights, bolstering Western’s guard play with Hughes stuck on the bench.

Mountaineers wrap up Bull Run title

Madison County bested Clarke County last week 54-49, and in the process wrapped up a district title, the No. 1 seed in the Bull Run District tournament and continued its unbeaten march through the 2009 schedule.

Logan Terrell, Madison’s leading scorer, paced the Mountaineers (21-0, 7-0 Bull Run) with 25 points, while Sam Utz chipped in with 12 points of his own.

Madison hosts Strasburg in its regular-season finale on Wednesday.

Mixing it up

The Western Albemarle girls threw some different stuff at Charlottesville Friday, and it played out well as the Warriors upset the Black Knights, who could’ve forced a district playoff or even won the Jefferson regular-season title with a win.

“We changed defenses a lot on Charlottesville,” said Western coach Kris Wright. “What we wanted to do was mix up things on them to affect their rhythm because when they’re in rhythm they’re awfully good.”

Charlottesville never found a rhythm, particularly with senior guard Shawntae Payne out of the lineup. Sophomore Ellie Von Storch did an admirable job of guiding the Charlottesville offense, but Western found a way to cut away at a double-digit lead and pull out a win.

Carew carries the flag

Western’s Virginia Carew hadn’t scored a point for three quarters against Charlottesville Friday, but that didn’t faze her much in the fourth.

“At Fluvanna last week, she just couldn’t get a shot to go down,” Wright said. “She’d drive to the basket, get a layup opportunity, it’d hit all sides of the rim and come out. We said stick with it, stick with it, and she did.”

Carew scored five late points to help spark the Warriors past Charlottesville, just days after scoring nine points against Monticello. If Western is to make noise in the district tournament, her consistency could be key.