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Blue Ridge bounces back

Blue Ridge’s Kameron LaTouche made sure he got his teammates involved early, dishing out an unusually high five assists, but the junior guard who’s known more as a driver and slasher played to his strengths down the stretch.

“Coach trusts me so I just try to make plays and help the team,” LaTouche said. “I wanted to get the sure points, get to the rack and make something happen.”

The Ontario native took it to the rack repeatedly in the fourth quarter, hitting tough shots and drawing key fouls in the clutch, pouring in 11 points in the final frame. The performance ignited Blue Ridge to a 74-66 victory over Paul VI as the Barons advance to the state final four, and, in turn, earned another shot at archrival Miller in the semifinals Friday night at Virginia State University in Petersburg.

It was a big-time lift for the Barons who last took the court in a frustrating loss to Liberty Christian Academy in the VIC semifinals.

“They had to bounce back from that and they did a good job doing it,” said Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey.

Paul VI put up a valiant effort, refusing to shy away from the Barons’ large lineup that included towering widebodies Isaiah Battle and Darnell Turner. The Panthers attacked the lane all night and it created problems for Blue Ridge. Jamall Robinson led that charge with 16 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter.

At times during the game, the defensive breakdowns left Ramsey exasperated, forcing him to throw up his hands in frustration.

“We’ve had trouble with that all year and I hope that’s not the thing that kills us in the end,” Ramsey said. “When you go big and play a team that has that kind of speed you’re going to have trouble. You’ve got to hope your bigs can come over and help and it’ll make up enough at the other end.”

But the Barons did enough to snag the win, particularly in limiting Paul VI’s second chances with a strong rebounding night from Malick Kone and Turner who finished with 10 boards each. Kone hauled in several crucial boards in the fourth quarter that led to LaTouche baskets.

That wasn’t all Kone and Turner did on the defensive end though. Turner was also a shotblocking force, coming up with four rejections, while Kone had four steals for the Barons. One of those two seemed to come up with a big play each time Paul VI managed to cut the lead to within a bucket.

Cameron Anderson, who’s struggled with flu-like symptoms the last couple of weeks and finally got a chance to get back in the practice flow Monday, saw limited action against the Panthers which extended Battle’s minutes. Chad Holley finished with eight assists on the night for Blue Ridge.

 

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