Albemarle’s boys basketball team is off to a quick start after picking up back-to-back wins in the Stafford Tip-off Tournament to win the four-team tournament’s championship.
The Patriots got things started with a 50-42 victory over King George Tuesday night, with Austin Katstra putting together a monster game with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Fellow sophomore Jake Hahn also got in on the act against the Foxes with 10 points.
Wednesday night, Hahn built on that effort, scoring 18 points in a 62-47 victory over Stafford in the tip-off tournament title game. Katstra checked in with 17 points in that contest while Kennedy Brown dished out six assists and Juwan Carter came up with six steals.
Those are a pair of big wins for the Patriots who changed up some of their non-district opponents in an effort to better prepare for the Group 5A postseason they’ll face when the playoffs start.
“I thought last year going into the postseason we weren’t prepared for playing 5A competition so I tried to upgrade our non-district schedule,” said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard. “Getting two wins on the road in a tough environment is a start to that.”
Albemarle also has dates with Conference 16 foes Patrick Henry-Ashland and Halifax as well as Group 3A power Spotswood coming up this year.
The Patriots (2-0) will jump into Jefferson District play next week against Fluvanna County in AHS’s home opener.
