By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
For the Charlottesville boys basketball team, Friday’s game against William Monroe couldn’t have started in a worse way.
CHS was whistled for an administrative technical foul to begin the game, giving the Greene Dragons two points and the ball before a second ticked off the clock. But other than that early issue, little else went wrong for coach Mitch Minor’s squad in an 81-55 rout.
Jordan Saylor led the way with 17 points and Micah Girstantas added 16, including four three-pointers in the first half, for the Knights as they ran the Dragons to death with a full-court press that frustrated them into a myriad of turnovers. CHS used a 16-4 run in the first quarter to turn a 6-6 tie into a 22-10 advantage, and was never seriously threatened after that
“[Monroe] gave us the opportunity to get some outside shots… and that was the key to us getting off to a good start,” Minor said. “And then I thought we played great defense overall.”
The lead swelled to 46-28 by halftime, aided by more solid shooting. Of its 13 made three-pointers on the night, Charlottesville hit nine in the first half. On the other side of the ball, the Black Knights grabbed 11 steals.
“In order for us to have any kind of success, that’s the way I feel that we have to play,” Minor said of the intense defense. “We have to constantly press everywhere and anywhere we possibly can to maintain that pace.”
Jeff Early poured in 17 points for the Dragons, followed by Keegan Wolford with 14 points.
The Knights, who also got 13 points from Murray Hill in his first varsity game, led by as many as 29 late in the third quarter, and midway through the fourth, Minor emptied his bench and let his reserves finish out the game.
Monroe coach Mike Maynard pointed to Charlottesville’s advantage in experience as a factor in the game’s result.
“We’ve got to execute, we’ve got to take our time and we’ve got to pound the ball inside,” said Maynard, “and until we learn that, we’re going to go through some of these growing pains.”
Charlottesville hosts Covenant on Monday, while Monroe will travel to Rock Ridge.
