Western Albemarle had a pretty specific focus. Essentially, the Warriors wanted to take the fight to Monticello.
“We had really talked the last two days about being aggressive,” said Western coach Darren Maynard. “Some of the big games that we’ve come up short in we sort of got passive late in the game. We really worked on not doing that this time.”
From the jump, both squads brought an intensity and edge befitting a game that had major district title implications. But down the stretch, Western’s combination of strong post play and Chase Stokes and Jake Maynard attacking the basket allowed the Warriors to secure a 64-60 win at home.
“We made an effort to go inside and I thought Jake and Chase both took it into the basket a lot,” Maynard said. “I thought we played tough.”
The win creates a three-way tie at the top of the Jefferson District standings with Monticello, Western and Fluvanna tied with two losses each with just a few games left in district play.
Western got a big-time advantage from Jeremy Baruch and Sam Chisholm in the post. The tandem combined for 23 points and 11 rebounds, a good chunk of them coming down the stretch against the Mustangs. Along the way, Stokes and Jake Maynard also notched solid nights — Stokes had 19 points and seven rebounds while Maynard had 13 points — by attacking the basket and hitting 3-pointers.
That balanced offense allowed the Warriors to offset the Mustangs’ speed and explosiveness, highlighted by Jahvon Shelton’s 30-point performance. The Mustangs had to overcome a frustrating night on foul calls to stay in the game. A couple of borderline calls that went against standout guard Jhalil Mosley (and tethered him to the bench for much of the second quarter and the final two minutes of the game) didn’t help and two technical fouls also put the Mustangs in a tough spot.
“I’m proud of them, our kids overcame some things and kept fighting,” said Monticello head coach Robert Shelton. “We had a chance to win the game and we’ll go back and look at the things that we can control. We’ll be more prepared coming into an environment like this later in our season.”
The Mustangs managed to fight back out of an early hole with an 11-0 run in the first half, but Western still held a 3-point advantage at the break. By the end of the third quarter though, the game was tied again at 51-51. The Mustangs took a four point lead early in the final frame, but that’s when Stokes and Maynard started taking the ball to the rack and Chisholm and Baruch cleaned up on the boards.
If Western can manage to win out, with Powhatan and Charlottesville left on the schedule, they’ll earn a spot in a possible one-game playoff for the district’s automatic Region II playoff berth. Monticello and Fluvanna — if they can get past Charlottesville and Louisa respectively on Tuesday, will face off for a berth in the one-game playoff.
