It didn’t take Western Albemarle long to bounce back from a frustrating loss to archrival Albemarle on Wednesday.
The Warriors put away Nelson County with a huge third quarter run to even their record in the first week of the season with a 58-48 victory.
“I’m really happy with the effort,” said Western coach Darren Maynard. “We were still out of sync in the first half but we had great effort, then we got some things right in the second half and still had that same effort.”
A double double by Dante Crawford — he finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds — led the way for the Warriors underneath, while shooting guard Christian Pierce balanced the effort with 23 points from the backcourt. Crawford, a dynamic athlete who has had a big impact the last couple of years, appears to have refined much of his game during the offseason.
“He’s not doing the silly fouling and he’s getting to stay in the game, so that’s the first thing,” Maynard said. “But he’s really worked on his post moves and his footwork.”
Pierce also finished with four steals and four assists in addition to his 23 points.
The game was tied 26-26 at the break, but an 8-0 run to start the third gave the Warriors a big advantage. A Stephen Schuler three-pointer capped that 8-0 sprint and set the table for Western to continue assuming control during what turned into a 17-3 dash.
Nelson County knew it was in trouble when the third quarter run commenced — coming out strong in that frame has been a point of emphasis during preseason practice for the Governors, and coach Brandon Garrett stressed it before they exited the locker room.
“It’s usually who gets the upperhand in that three minutes that dictates the outcome of the game and they jumped on us,” Garrett said. “They came out and ran their sets — the third quarter, that was the game right there.”
Nelson managed to slash into Western’s lead during the fourth, but the Governors couldn’t claw their way back into the contest. Odds are good Nelson will bounce back well though — the Governors boast an attack that should yield strong results as they continue their schedule. Trevor Martin, a slashing senior guard, finished with 19 points while Rod Vest chipped in eight of his own.
The rest of the Western Albemarle Tip-off classic, a showcase event for several local teams including Covenant on the boys side and Miller on the girls side, was postponed due to Saturday’s weather forecast. Several squads are hoping to reschedule those games.
