Fluvanna County was never truly out of it, just behind for so long. But when Vinny Agee fouled out late in the fourth, after scoring 31 points to keep his team in it — well the Flucos didn’t look like they would be in good shape. Fluvanna wasn’t as explosive, didn’t have the outside shooting with Agee on the bench. It remain fundamental though and that was what mattered most down the stretch. Thanks to a layup with 1.6 seconds left from Jameel Wilson and then a perfect showing in overtime from the free throw line, the Flucos were able to come back in a game which they trailed from early in the first quarter until the opening minutes in overtime to top Monticello, 72-68.
“This was a great team effort for us — Vinny fouled out and nobody hung their head,” said Fluvanna coach Munro Rateau. “I think this could be a big turning point for us. We rely on him so much and when he’s not in there we struggle. But we just kept battling and I thought we played great defense.”
It was a frustrating night for the Mustangs, because up until the end of the fourth quarter, it looked like they had the game figured out and well in hand. Rashad Brooks poured in 16 points in regulation to take advantage of his size advantage while Ukari Brooks’ eight first half points put the Mustangs up 35-27 at the break.
“We’re close and we’re played hard enough, well enough to win this game,” said Monticello coach Robert Shelton. “Take nothing away from what Fluvanna did. But this is hard for us, the kids because we played so hard, had the proper preparation and the opportunities. It just came down to the free throws and they knocked theirs down in the fourth and in overtime. Fluvanna was just mentally tough.”
Monticello was up by at least two possession the bulk of the game until Agee and the Flucos were able to chip away at the lead and made it 56-54. But in the last minute of play, Agee picked up his fifth foul and was forced to watch the rest of the game from the bench. From there, Fluvanna was methodic — knocking down free throws, playing pressure defense and making it 59-59 with 28 seconds to play in the fourth. After Monticello made it 60-58, the Flucos had 12.7 seconds to try and force overtime and Wilson was able to do just that off a set play that got him an open look underneath the basket.
“We ran a screen play on the baseline, just trying to get some motion inside,” Wilson said. “If nothing happens there I’m supposed to take the ball inside, and that’s what happened. So I took it and was just happy to see an open shot.”
In overtime, the Flucos defense forced three straight turnovers while Wilson knocked down for of his team’s eight foul shots in the frame (Fluvanna went 8-for-8 in OT) and a Chris Washington layup made it a 6-point contest with just over two minutes to play. Monticello got to within two points of the Fluvanna lead but could not foul its way any closer as the Flucos simply handled business at the charity stripe and did not turnover the ball to wrap up the come-from-behind win.
“Nobody panicked,” Agee said. “Everyone understood that when one guy goes down the next guy steps up. I think we were able to do that tonight. In the beginning of the season we didn’t have this. We’re learning game-by-game, day-by-day in practice, just getting better.”
For Fluvanna, Agee’s 31 points were a game high. Wilson had 14 points with 12 of them coming between the fourth quart and overtime and he was a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line. Jake Mooney Had eight points. Talavious Hughes had seven points.
Rashad Brooks led Monticello with 18 points. Savion Thomas had 13 points. Anthony Lee finished with 12 points. Robert Deane added nine points while Ukari Brooks finished with eight.
“The guys did everything we asked of them and so we feel for them,” Shelton said. “It’s one of those things that sometimes you learn more about the game in a loss than you do with a win. This was a teaching moment in a long season with more games and then the tournament.”
Fluvanna hosts Western on Friday while Monticello hosts Powhatan, also on Friday.
