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Buckingham explodes early, beats Nelson

No one would’ve blamed Buckingham County for suffering a bit of a letdown against Nelson County Wednesday night.

But the Knights made sure that didn’t happen.

After an emotional nine-point win over archrival Cumberland, Buckingham locked in against a depleted Nelson County squad and took care of business with a 60-44 win over the Governors to sweep the season series between the two squads.

“I was worried about a letdown and we really focused in our pregame on coming out and starting hard,” said Buckingham coach Russ Gowin. “We just knew we had to play hard and get out to a good start.”

The Knights (13-2) jumped out of the gate with a 22-7 lead in the first quarter, with Harry Eldridge jumpstarting the effort. The senior poured in 14 points and came up with five steals on the game and was instrumental to the fast start. Eldridge, the Knights’ shooting guard, struggled against Cumberland and was held scoreless, but played nearly flawlessly against the Governors.

“We talked today for a little while and I said let that game get behind you,” Gowin said. “He came out and played super for us and he sparked us in that first half. He bounced back like a captain should do.”

Another Buckingham captain, Taylor Boyers, had his usual double double, scoring 18 points while hauling in 10 rebounds. His frontcourt mate, Kevin Bolden, also had a double double with 10 points and 10 boards.

B.J. Jones had five rebounds, four steals and six assists while running the point for Buckingham.

Nelson (3-8) lived on the 3-pointer against the Knights and connected on nine long balls, including three each by Jordan Wooten and Trey Barnett. Barnett led Nelson with 18 points and came up with several defensive plays that kept the Governors, who were also coming off an emotional win against 2009 state finalist Dan River Tuesday, beating the Wildcats 56-53.

“We turned the ball over a lot and we can’t turn the ball over like we did tonight and expect to win,” said Nelson coach Brandon Garrett.

Versatile junior Trevor Martin, who played sparingly against Dan River, missed the Buckingham contest with a re-aggravated groin injury and Calvin Baker is also still slowly coming back from a hand injury he suffered early in the year, leaving the Governors without several key components.

Buckingham hits the road in James River District play against Randolph-Henry Friday while the Governors travel to face William Campbell.

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