It took all of three minutes for Albemarle to implement its game plan and make it work.
Forward Rashad Talley scored twice and frontcourt mate Jake Hendrix hit one bucket and drew a foul for a 3-point play, then scored again. Just like that, it was a nine-point Albemarle run to start the game as the Patriots pounded the ball inside at will in a 63-50 victory over Massaponax in the Commonwealth District quarterfinals.
“That was pretty much the gameplan from the beginning and it worked out pretty good for us,” Talley said.
Talley and Hendrix each finished with 16 points while Andrew Mann knocked home 11 points underneath to bolster the effort. Kwanzaa Parker even got in the mix with four points in the first half. It didn’t matter who the Patriots put in the post, Massaponax couldn’t come with any answers. Albemarle guards Mayn Francisco, Andrew Frazier and Daiquan West penetrated into the lane and then distributed to the big men or found them in the natural flow of the offense.
“Our previous games with them, that’s where we had success so that’s what we wanted to do,” said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard. “I thought we had some good stretches but we also had some we-haven’t-practiced-alot-in-two-weeks stretches too.”
West finished with six assists while Francisco dished out five assists of his own. Hendrix hauled down eight rebounds to go with his 16 points.
The defense wasn’t bad either. The Patriots held the Panthers to just five points in the first quarter and nine in the second while building a 17-point halftime lead. In the second half, every time Massaponax put together a few baskets, Albemarle managed to bounce back even though the Patriots shot less than 50 percent from the line, clearly showing some fatigue from a lack of practice over the last few weeks.
“We’re not really a great free throw shooting team any time,” Maynard said. “Other than Jake, our big men struggle at the line sometimes, but if they make some of them and get the other team’s big men in a little foul trouble it helps us in the long run.”
Mike Hamilton finished with 22 points to lead Massaponax while teammate John Williams tallied 19 points. Francisco marked Williams most of the night and did a solid job of making the dynamic athlete work for his points. Talley drew the assignment against the versatile Hamilton and played well too.
Albemarle, the No. 2 seed in the Commonwealth tournament, will play host to No. 3 North Stafford Friday at 7 p.m., who knocked off Brooke Point by one Wednesday night. The Patriots split with North Stafford in the regular season winning by four at home and falling by three on the road.
