On Tuesday night, the Western Albemarle boys’ basketball team ended its regular season with a blowout victory over Powhatan. Three nights later, the Warriors kicked off postseason play with a 53-31 win over the Indians in the Jefferson District Tournament.
Western opened the game on a 9-0 run and held the Indians off the scoreboard for the first 3:30 of play. The Indians made a run in the second quarter and cut the Western lead to six. The Warriors pushed the lead to 13 points at the half, but Western Albemarle coach Darren Maynard was visibly upset with the way his team was playing.
“Human nature took over a little bit tonight,” said Maynard, whose team committed 23 turnovers. “We certainly did not come out with the ‘A’ game so we had to scrap a little bit.”
The Western defense locked down Powhatan in the second half. The Indians went on a long scoring drought in the third quarter, which allowed the Warriors to pull way. Western held Powhatan to just six points in the third quarter and the 31 total points is the fewest given up by the Warriors in a game all season.
“We’ve been working a lot on defense,” Western Albemarle point guard Will Donnelly said. “Maintaining your man is key and if everybody can guard their own man, then we’re good.”
Added forward Brett Engle: “We knew we had to go play good solid Warrior D. That’s what this program is all about.”
Just like in Tuesday night’s game, the Warriors did a nice job of spreading the basketball around. Donnelly and Engle led the way with nine points each. Parker Morris and Ben Turner each added seven points.
The victory sets up a huge showdown with second-seeded Monticello on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Jefferson District tournament. Warriors were the last Jefferson District team to defeat the Mustangs. Back on Jan. 15, Western handed Monticello a 24-point loss in Crozet. Last Friday night, the Mustangs returned the favor by defeating the Warriors to earn a first-round bye in the JD tournament.
With season series tied at 1-1 and a berth in the district championship game at stake, the Warriors are expecting an intense game on Wednesday night.
“They’re really athletic,” Maynard said. “We played them really well here and we had a great game over there. I think it should be another great game.”
Added Engle: “We’re excited, they’re excited, I think our fans our excited. It should be a great matchup.”
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