Charlottesville’s girls basketball team grabbed a three-point lead late in the first quarter of a Jefferson District showdown with Albemarle. From there, the home-standing Knights never trailed, and with their 52-48 victory have taken hold of first place in the JD standings.
“I thought we did a good job at the very end of winning the game,” said Charlottesville coach Jim Daly. “We had kind of a lull there and got a little sloppy to let them back in it.”
CHS maintained a one- or two-possession lead throughout the second and third quarters. The margin ballooned to 10 with five minutes left in the fourth, but then the Patriots turned up the defensive pressure. With the margin narrowed to two with 1:01 to play, Albemarle had two chances to complete their comeback. Instead, a travel and a contested, off-balanced miss from three-point range sealed the deal for Charlottesville.
“We had about three three-pointers drawn up, but we just didn’t cut to those spots,” said Albemarle coach Rachel Proudfoot. “We had a double-screen and were looking for a couple three, and we didn’t reverse the ball to look for the last three. But overall, I was really proud of the girls and their effort.”
In the first half, both squads were slow to warm up from the field, relying instead on drawing contact and getting to the line. Albemarle’s bench was momentarily animated when a basket at the first quarter buzzer was waived off after a brief officials’ conference. Things changed in the second quarter, as Knights’ guard Destinee McDonald connected for three buckets, and Hannah Eiden came off the bench and poured in a couple for Albemarle. Patriots’ sophomore Haylee Howard-Radde hit twice, but also picked up her third foul at the 6:50 mark. The teams were even in the frame, sending CHS into the break with a 23-20 lead.
Charlottesville guards Alaijah Ragland and TC Younger each connected from three-point range in the third quarter, while forward Daeja Wade posted two inside buckets. Still, it was a four-point margin after three, as Albemarle hung in with contributions from the bench and trips to the line from Anne Ridenhour and Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper. Things looked favorable for the visitors as the Patriots were in the bonus at the 7:46 mark in the fourth, and a three from Ridenhour moments later pulled them within 37-36.
However, Charlottesville responded. Kajesha Taylor entered from the bench and repeatedly sliced through the lane to tally four buckets by the 5:01 mark of the quarter, including an and-one to cap a 9-0 run that opened the Knights’ largest lead of the game, 46-36.
“She’s really fluid off the side pick-and-roll and did a great job finishing,” said Daly. “She did a great job and brought us a lot of energy off the bench.”
Albemarle battled back with a 6-0 run and then relied on misses from the free-throw line to give the offense chances to pull even in the final minute. First, Charlottesville’s defense drew a walk around the 40-second mark.
“That [travel] call was rally kind of a dagger, because we had a chance to score on that,” said Proudfoot. “After that run with a couple steals from Ridenhour, we kind of lost composure when we really needed it in the last 45 seconds.”
Then, with the Patriots down 51-48 and inbounding in the offensive halfcourt with 11.3 to go, the Knights denied an open look at three.
“We had to switch out of zone and go back to man and tried to switch all the screens to challenge shooters,” Daly said. “We managed to make them take a tough shot that was contested.”
The errant shot attempt landed out of bounds, and Wade hit a free throw at the other end to put Charlottesville up four with 1.9 to go.
Ragland led the Knights with a game-high 16 points, while Taylor finished with 12. Markinna Winterton led Albemarle with 11 points. Charlottesville heads to Powhatan on Tuesday night, while Albemarle travels to Fluvanna County.
