Fluvanna County found a way to, if not break, at least withstand Charlottesville’s halfcourt trap.
To do it Fluvanna’s way though, you’ve got to have YaYa Anderson, and nobody else does.
The Flucos shifted Anderson, who runs the point regularly, to the middle of their offensive formation and allowed Jamal Tolliver to bring the ball up. The move worked well enough for Fluvanna to hold onto a slim lead in the fourth quarter, and after a Devin Turner shot from the corner at the buzzer rattled in and then out, the Flucos escaped Charlottesville with a 66-65 victory.
“I’ve had to learn some post moves this year too because as you see we’re not the biggest team out there,” Anderson said. “When coach told me to go to the middle I’m going to do what he says and obviously it helped us win the game.”
The move was a savvy one, but it didn’t hurt that Anderson ripped off a career-high 35 points, giving Charlottesville fits by getting to the baseline against the 1-3-1 trap down the stretch.
“We wanted to get YaYa in the middle,” said Fluvanna coach Munro Rateau. “When we did get the ball in the middle and turn and throw it out the backside, we got some baskets out of it. It took us a minute to respond, but once we did, we got some baskets.”
Despite Anderson and the rest of the Flucos’ efforts, Charlottesville still managed to grab a four-point lead, up 65-61 late in the fourth. Anderson connected on an old-fashioned three-point play and Charlottesville missed on the other end. The Black Knights, up by a point then, were called for a foul on a loose ball with 17 seconds left to play, sending Josh Hinkle to the line.
After a CHS timeout, Hinkle buried his two free throws to put Fluvanna up one 66-65. With a foul to give, the Flucos fouled Charlottesville with six seconds left on the game clock forcing the Black Knights to reset their offense. Turner got a great look out of the set along the baseline but couldn’t connect as the circled the basket but failed to fall, sending the Flucos and their fans into a frenzy. The victory gives Fluvanna a chance to control its own destiny down the stretch — win out and the JD regular season championship is headed to Palmyra.
“We had a good look in the end and three inches the other way we win the game,” said Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor. “I knew we had a good look with how they were set and the play we were running. It just came off the edge of the rim.”
The Black Knights’ balanced scoring—Turner had 17 points, Daquan Jones had 13 and Damarcus Scott had 11—couldn’t overcome Anderons’s tremendous output. No other Fluco managed to get into double figures during the contest, and Anderson battled a balky back all the way to his 35 points, accounting for 23 of Fluvanna’s 36 second half points.
“It’s pretty sore — it was a pretty physical game,” Anderson said. “But I’m pretty sure I’ll get over it.”
Fluvanna trailed by a point at the half, with the two teams trading second quarter runs of seven points each. Anderson ended Charlottesville’s 7-0 spring with another two and a foul shot, one three of those on the night for the junior. Other than those two runs and a 12-2 spurt by the Black Knights in the first quarter, the game was completely nip and tuck, with both squads trading baskets throughout the third and most of the fourth. Fluvanna’s defense improved during the second half too, with a switch to a 1-3-1 zone helping steady the Flucos.
The Charlottesville win starts a murderous run for the Flucos that includes two games with Orange and a game against E.C. Glass for good measure within four days starting Friday when they host Orange.
“I think it’s a Major League Baseball schedule,” Rateau said.
Charlottesville doesn’t get any easy break either, facing William Monroe at home Friday night.
