It wasn’t pretty on either side offensively, but Albemarle found a way to scratch out a 46-37 victory Tuesday night against Heritage in the opening round of the Daily Progress Holiday Basketball Classic.
“I gave the credit to our defense and rebounding when I was talking to the team after the game,” said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard. “The whole game I thought we worked our tail off defensively.”
The Patriots managed to get the win despite usual leading scorer Andrew Mann posting just nine points. Benny Baranik picked up most of the slack on his own with a 19-point effort.
“Their defensive style — a lot of matchup zone — we weren’t getting enough movement against us and they really had a shot blocker in there, Grooms, that took a lot of Andrew’s stuff in there,” Maynard said. “Benny stepped up and hit a few outside and that loosened things up.”
Mann was still his usual dominant self on the boards, hauling down 15 rebounds for the game.
Baranik benefited from Lee Carneal’s work in the second half. Despite continued offensive struggles for the Patriots, Carneal managed to split the Heritage zone in the second half that made things tough on Mann throughout the game.
Carneal dished out six assists including a slick no-look pass on a fastbreak that led to an easy bucket in the second half.
Danny Vaughn helped Mann’s efforts on the boards with nine rebounds of his own, including several clutch boards down the stretch. He also managed to chip in12 points.
Albemarle will take on Waynesboro Wednesday in the second round of the Holiday Classic while Heritage will lock up with Charlottesville.
