STANARDSVILLE — In a game where it was back and forth for almost all four quarters, it was the opening minutes of the second half that wound up making the difference. Trailing by six after the first 24 minutes of play, the Goochland boys basketball team took the floor in the third frame with a hot shooting hand to put together a 10-2 run to take the lead. Although host William Monroe would make a push late in the game, the Bulldogs never relinquished that lead, and picked up a key Jefferson District road game, 63-58.
“We do a lot of running and I think that (Monroe’s) defense started sagging a bit,” said Goochland coach Oliver Courtney of the run. “I think that’s why we got a lot better looking shots in that second half. In that first half the defense was real tight on us.”
B.J. Clark and Brandon Henry had big games for Goochland, particularly in the second half after a cold first half of shooting. The two Bulldogs guards showed their versatility by attacking the basket while also knocking down long distance 3-pointers when given a little space.
“They were playing a diamond-and-two on us,” Clark said. “We came out (of the half) knowing that we had to get screens on the defenders that were playing man-to-man to get open shots, and that’s what we did.”
Both players also wound up making clutch plays down the stretch to seal the win for the Bulldogs.
Henry’s came first when the Greene Dragons, down by one point with 34.8 seconds to play, tried to inbound the ball from the sideline. With an eye on the incoming pass Henry jumped in the air and came down with the ball and turned it into two points to give Goochland some breathing room.
On the next Monroe possession Clark forced another turnover and threw down a dunk in the closing seconds to extend the Bulldogs lead by five.
Both teams struggled from the field in the first half, but Desmon Shaver and Markees Towles were able to give the Dragons a six point lead going into the break.
“I thought we came out in the first half and executed our game plan pretty well,” said Monroe coach Mike Maynard. “But that’s a tough team to beat. They’ve got a lot of very good basketball players. I was proud of the execution early. We just came out flat in that third quarter and they were able to make a big run on us.”
The eight-point swing was the largest in the game. Neither squad led by more than six points.
Clark led all scorers with 23 points and also finished with 10 rebounds. Henry finished with 15 points fueled by a trio of 3-pointers.
For the Dragons, Shaver put up 21 points and seven rebounds. Markel Faulkner came off the bench to score 15 points. Towles finished with 10 points and four steals.
Goochland (6-3, 4-2) will host Western Albemarle on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
William Monroe (3-10, 1-4) travels to Fluvanna County on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
