ST. GEORGE — There aren’t too many games where both teams leave a gym feeling good. But that appeared to be the case as Covenant took to the bus after falling to host Blue Ridge.
For the second straight Tuesday, the Barons battled off a local rival at home as the Eagles came into the Massey Athletic Complex, and Covenant, behind its aggressive offense and free throw shooting, took a 3-point lead into the half. However, Blue Ridge’s offense came to life in the second half, and behind the play of Malik Kone and Cameron Anderson, the Barons were able to pick up the 64-56 win.
“That was a good team we just played,” said Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey. “We played a lot better defensively in the second half. We didn’t have the same breakdowns and didn’t give them many open looks. They made coverage shots, but we didn’t give them the same open looks as we did in the first half.”
Covenant was able to saddle Blue Ridge with fouls early and was in the double bonus early in the second quarter. One of the Barons who found himself in foul trouble was Kone, which didn’t help as he was assigned to guard Covenant guard Sam Dale for portions of the game.
“It was difficult to guard him aggressively,” Kone said. “When you have two or three fouls you can’t step up and play the defense you normally can.”
As a result, Dale was able to take over the game with his 3-point shooting and dribble penetration.
The Blue Ridge offense had trouble finding cohesion in the game’s first 16 minutes, but that wasn’t the case in the third period as Kone helped guide his team to a 21-point quarter to put the Barons up by three points going into the fourth.
The two squads scrapped back and forth, but behind 3-point shots from Kone and junior Andre Roberts, Blue Ridge was able to maintain a healthy buffer from the Eagles, going up by as many as 13 points with 90 seconds left to play.
Covenant forced a pair of turnovers and cut the deficit back down to single digits late in the fourth frame, but the Barons were able to hold on and allow the clock to run out to preserve the victory.
Kone led the Barons in scoring with his 23-point performance. 18 of his 23 points came in the second half and Kone’s trend of playing big in the latter half of contests is something that Ramsey is still getting used to.
“As the season has progressed that seems to be his pattern,” Ramsey said. “I think a part of that is that he’s trying to be unselfish. But I think the other part is that it takes him a bit to find his rhythym and start feeling it. He was definitely feeling it in the second half today.”
Anderson had a strong showing in the paint and put forth 16 points. Isaiah Battle and Chad Holley each contributed seven points in the win.
Dale was able to shoot his number in points (32) to lead all scorers. Teammate Maleek Frazier joined the senior in double figures with 13.
Covenant coach Ben D’Alessandro came into the contest looking for what most certainly would have been a season defining victory, but still left St. George more than pleased with the game his squad gave the Barons.
“That’s a real cliché — that there is no such thing as a moral victory,” D’Alessandro said . “But we define success as peace of mind — which is the direct result of the self satisfaction of knowing that you did your best. We had success today because we leave with peace of mind. But we are still disappointed that we didn’t make some plays. We had some turnovers and we didn’t rebound enough. But what (our players) take from this game is that they realize how good they can be.”
That’s not just coach speak. As D’Alessandro and his team prepared to hit the road back to Charlottesville he shared a moment with Dale. After exchanging a few words and an embrace, a smiling Dale turned back to his coach as he walked out of the gym.
“It was a lot better than last year,” Dale said. “I sure know that.”
His coach smiled back. And for good reason. The Barons handed the Eagles a 23-point loss last season at Covenant.
Covenant (9-3) travels to Carlisle on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Blue Ridge (10-3) hosts Roanoke Catholic on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
