First Rickquan Jones loosened up Park View’s defense with four 3-pointers. Then Dashaun Blakey finished things off on the inside. That simple equation gave Charlottesville a 75-62 victory over the Patriots Wednesday and a chance to play for a Group AA berth Thursday night.
“I thought Rickquan did a good job of shooting the ball,” said Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor. “He shot it very well. Then Blakey did a good job of putting it back after a miss.”
Jones lit things up from beyond the arc, going 4-for-5 from the 3-point line for his 12 points. That forced Park View to pull out further and challenge outside shots, leaving Blakey largely one-on-one in the post. With Blakey’s ability around the basket, that was a recipe for trouble. He poured in 25 points to go with seven rebounds.
Charlottesville guards Devin Turner and Richard Washington ran the offensive effectively to get Blakey involved.
“(They were finding us) basically from the start of the game — it was easy for them to see us and we took advantage of it,” Blakey said. “.”
Turner had 12 points of his own while Washington dished out three assists. Aarick Green chipped in 10 points too. Daquan Jones did the bulk of the dirty work for Charlottesville, pulling down nine rebounds, coming up with three steals and dishing out three assists. He also knocked in eight points, seven of them in the first half as Charlottesville built a 36-25 lead at the break.
Charlottesville struggled to contain Ryan McCarter, who had 29 points for the Patriots, but that isn’t far off the junior star’s average of 22 points and eight boards per contest.
Park View’s biggest struggles came because of their pressure. Charlottesville’s versatile group of ball handlers make pressing the Black Knights tough, and while down the stretch CHS didn’t do a great job taking care of the ball, Park View couldn’t convert or get enough stops to mount a comeback.
“I knew that their big guys weren’t as athletic as our big guys so we had an advantage running the floor,” Minor said.
Charlottesville hits the road tonight to take on Millbrook in the Region II semifinals for a berth in the Group AA state tournament.
