The dregs of January are almost over. Sure, Louisa County is excited to be in the midst of a race to come out on top of the Jefferson District, but at the end of the day, they’re chomping at the bit to jump into the Region 4D tournament that features no JD opponents.
So with that in mind, the Lions out of district showing against a Class 5A opponent with a winning record was a welcome sign. Handling an unknown commodity. That’s the name of the game come February. With a 78-63 win, the Lions came out on the right end of their out-of-district tune up.
“The guys talked tonight, had the energy on defense and the two 3’s by Xavien at the end of half that was just crucial,” said Louisa coach Robert Shelton. “That’s the difference between going up by 15 at the half or just being up by 9. Those were tough shots and needed them in that moment. The guys shared the ball in the second half really well, executed on offense, maybe left a few baskets out there but that’s against a big athletic team with some Division I players that should springboard us as we go deeper into the season.”
The two teams traded leads out of the gate and Louisa trailed by midway through the first quarter, with North Stafford’s Javon Swinton being a problem both inside and outside. But the first big run for the Lions came right at that point with a Jarret Hunter 3-pointer highlighting an 8-0 run to make it 15-8 in just under two minutes of play.
Louisa went into the second with a 20-13 lead and Shylek Washington’s play inside gave the home crowd its first double-digit advantage with 3:16 until the break. From there, it was back-to-back 3-pointers, including one to end the half from Xavien Hunter to give Louisa some real comfort room at 37-22.
“Jarrett, he’s the point guard, he just set me up and I had to knock the shots down,” Xavien Hunter said.
The third quarter saw the Lions lead by double digits the entire way through and a dunk from Washington put Louisa up 46-28 while a buzzer beating 3-pointer from Chris Shelton made it 58-42 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth the Wolverines were able to trim things down to an 11-point margin. Forced to foul, North Stafford put the Lions on the free throw line for the last three minutes of the fourth but Louisa did not falter and finished with a 15-point win.
Chris Shelton led the Lions with 21 points, doing most of his work inside with a pair of old fashioned three-point plays setting an example.
“I think all that came from the intensity on defense,” Chris Shelton said. “We started off going in, attacking and being aggressive and once we did that (they) started crashing in and things opened up for our shooters on the wings.”
Hunter finished with 18 points with four 3-pointers pacing the way. Washington finished with 10 points.
“Shylek brings a ton of energy to the court, is just an athlete that buys into what we do,” Robert Shelton said. “He’s a leader on this team and I was happy to see that success tonight and I’m looking forward to more from him.”
Swinton was the leading scorer on the night with 28 points with fellow teammate Kellan Egan chipping in 20. They accounted for all but two of the Wolverines field goal shots made.
“(Playing them) is a big help,” Hunter said. “We didn’t know what they were coming in with and we got the win. It was big.”
Louisa hosts Fluvanna County on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
