In its past six meetings at Monticello High School, the Charlottesville girls basketball team had come up short.
On Friday night, the tide finally turned, as the Black Knights used a fourth-quarter run sparked by Alaijah Ragland, to prevail over their crosstown rivals, 50-44.
Ragland, a junior, scored 10 of her team-high 19 points in the final frame to help propel the visitors to the win and remain unbeaten in regular season Jefferson District play. The Black Knights lost to Albemarle in the holiday tournament.
“I’m proud of this team. We’ve not won in this gym in a long time, so we’ll take it,” Charlottesville coach Jim Daly said. “I thought [Ragland] played solid down the stretch. She got some open mid-range looks and went from there.”
Charlottesville (10-4, 7-0) held a 39-35 lead with 4:22 remaining before Ragland turned it up a notch.
The sharpshooter opened the 8-2 tear with a short jumper, and on the Black Knights’ following possession drained another as she was knocked to the floor. Ragland converted the ensuing free throw to extend the lead to 44-35.
Monticello’s Hannah Shifflett answered with a long two-pointer before Ragland helped put the game out of reach with a timely shot from beyond the arc.
Ragland was also impressive on the defensive end, coming up with a steal and a nifty finish on the other end in the final minute of the game. She added eight rebounds, most of which came on defense.
Destinee McDonald finished with 14 points, including three 3-pointers.
“We knew going into it if we gave them a good look they were going to knock it down,” Monticello coach Erica Terrell said. “We gave them too many good looks at the ball and of course they made us pay for it.”
Kiana Scott did nearly everything she could to keep the Mustangs in the game, draining six threes — including one to start the game and one to end it. The senior guard poured in a game-high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
“Scott got a lot of focus from us and still was knocking down threes with hands in her face,” Daly said. “She’s a heck of a player and we knew that, and we did everything we could and she still had her way with us. She’s one of the smartest, savviest players in the area.”
Charlottesville, which did a solid job of limiting Monticello’s second-chance opportunities, also got strong performances from Daeja Wade and Kajesha Taylor, who had six points apiece.
Monticello’s Kirstena Lilley finished with eight points and Shifflett added seven.
Charlottesville visits Covenant on Tuesday, while Monticello entertains Western Albemarle on Friday.
