At 6-foot-6, Western Albemarle center Sam Chisholm is a matchup nightmare for almost any team in the Jefferson District. He certainly looked the part Friday night against Monticello in Western’s 62-49 victory.
Chisholm poured in 24 points while hauling in 17 rebounds and blocking five shots. If Chisholm plays with the same relentless approach on the boards, it could be an indicator of what’s to come this season for the Warriors’ opponents.
“I don’t think you can do much better than that, he was probably the factor that really put us over the top,” Maynard said. “(Being relentless on the boards) is something we’ve been working on and he’s added stuff to go his game. When he’s high energy like he was tonight he’s about as good of a post player as you get in high school.”
Chisholm is also reaping the rewards of an experienced group that surrounds him, including returning starters Chase Stokes, Will Mason and Jake Maynard and clearly improved point guard Eli Sumpter, who helped ignite the 20-4 first quarter run that started the game for the Warriors by pushing the ball in transition and hitting a key 3-pointer.
“We started out strong and played well as a team,” Chisholm said. “I think (Eli) has gotten a lot better and he can definitely help our offense and feed the key players the ball.”
Sumpter finished with 10 points while Stokes checked in with 12 points, four assists and nine rebounds in a balanced effort. All five Western starters and reserve Josh Casteen scored during the opening frame as the Warriors built what proved to be an insurmountable lead. Western didn’t maintain that pace throughout the game, but the bulk of the work was done in that opening quarter.
“I thought we had a real lull the last three minutes of the second quarter,” Maynard said. “We had a few little lulls but I told them (in the meeting room) that the supreme energy that they gave all game carries you through a lot of that stuff.”
Monticello bounced back from the early onslaught and played the Warriors close to even the rest of the game. Savion Thomas and Syreal Breckenrige led the way with 15 and 12 points respectively. The Mustangs couldn’t overcome Chisholm’s height or the early run though and failed to cut Western’s lead to single digits at any point.
The Mustangs will take on Fluvanna County at home Tuesday night when they return to action while Western hosts Orange County.
