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Western girls recover, knock off Albemarle

By Bart Isley/Scrimmageplay.com

In a game where the point guard matchup between two of the area’s best — Albemarle’s Abby Hendrix and Western Albemarle’s Kelsey Swanson — appeared to be the most intriguing battle, it was Western’s post play that made the difference Saturday afternoon.

Carolyn Schneller knocked home 16 points off the bench and frontcourt mate Ellen Shaffrey scored 10 and hauled in 15 boards to send Western past Albemarle 68-45 for the regular season sweep by the Warriors.

That was a huge reversal from a flat effort against Charlottesville Friday, and apparently Schneller’s focus and dedication played a big part.

“Before the game today she came in early and she was working with Kris (Wright, Western’s head coach) and working with me,” Shaffrey said. “She’s just dedicated about getting the moves down — she really worked hard today.”

Schneller owned the low block as Swanson fed the junior forward constantly while piling up six assists. Another junior, Raven Ward, also had a big night for Western in the post with nine points and nine rebounds to go with a pair of solid assists.

Hendrix managed to match Swanson’s performance with a team0high12 points and a trio of steals, as well as her usual dose of scrappy, feisty play. But Swanson got her teammates involved from the opening tip.

“Kelsey does what we need her to do,” said Western coach Kris Wright. “Last night we needed points so she scored. Tonight we didn’t need points so she made sure everybody else get involved. For her to recognize situations and be able to do that makes us so much better.”

Kai Francisco had 11 points against the Warriors, giving the Patriots a solid scoring threat to compliment Hendrix.

“I thought we could have done a better job of boxing out,” said Albemarle coach Anita Jenkins. “I thought we matched up with them well and then we didn’t box out, so we work hard on defense and then we give up the rebound. We’re a young team so we’ve got some things we’ve got to work on.”

Western jumped out to a 12-2 lead before the Patriots clawed back within a point at 14-13. But by halftime, Western was back in control with a 9-point lead.

Both teams play in the Holiday Classic, so there’s a chance they’ll face off once again during winter break.

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