Buckingham County had to trudge through the majority of the second half without the area’s leading rebounder and senior leader Justin Ayres on a night where Goochland struggled from the field. With Andre Boatwright and Michael Mabry rising to the occasion, the Knights owned the glass on both ends despite Ayres battle through foul trouble. And with Leon Ragland giving Buckingham a crucial two possession lead inside of two minutes, he and his teammates were able to knock down the free throws necessary to preserve a 51-42 win in the first round of the James River District tournament.
“Last week we played four games on the road, Tuesday through Friday and one was a loss to Goochland in a close game so I was so proud of this young team,” said Buckingham coach Russ Gowain. “You hear it during the starting lineups that they are all underclassmen with one senior. They hung together here and beat a really good Goochland team that wouldn’t give up until the buzzer.”
Buckingham got off to a great start taking a 15-4 lead late in the first quarter with Boatwright, Ayres and Ragland finding success underneath the basket. However, that margin shrunk quickly as just 90 seconds into the second quarter, Josh Hayden and B.J. Snead made it a one possession game at 17-15.
“We went to Josh who’s been our most consistent player and that helped us get back in the game,” said Goochland coach Preston Gordon. “We were right there at the half but just let it slip away in the fourth.”
From there it was a battle with Goochland tying the game at 24-24, but the Knights heading into the break with a 5-point margin thanks to a 7-2 run to close the second. Out of halftime, both squads traded evenly with defense prevailing to the tune of a 9-9 tie, but the Knights falling into foul trouble with Ayres and Boatwright.
Up five going into the fourth, Buckingham’s Tyrique Gough came alive and scored nine of his 18 points to aid Ragland offensively. Just a 2-point game inside of two minutes, Ragland knocked down a crucial basket inside to make it a 4-point game. From there the Knights slowed things down and forced the Bulldogs to foul. After initially going up by nine, a couple of misses at the free throw line and a Buckingham turnover allowed Goochland to close to within five points with 30 seconds on the clock.
“We just executed,” Ragland said. “My teammates set me up there at the end and then we just had to do our jobs. It’s just about executing and playing as a team.”
But that was as closed as the visiting Bulldogs would get as the Knights finished the job at the charity stripe and the well drew up empty offensively for Goochland on the other end.
“We shot ourselves too much in the foot in the first half with 14 turnovers and we’re pretty good in our offensive sets but obviously got out of rhythm,” Gordon said. “They just dominated the boards on us though and so we have to play more physical.”
On the night, Ragland led the way with 19 points and added four blocks and eight rebounds. Boatwright had 10 points and nine rebounds. Despite missing the bulk of the second half and a good chunk of the first, Ayres had 11 rebounds, with nine of them coming in the first half. Mabry had five rebounds and four points off the bench.
“Boatwright and Mabry did such a good job picking up the slack underneath with some help from Ragland,” Gowain said. “To finish the game with all underclassmen, I was just tickled how they played. The rebounding battle was on the board before the game. We did a good job there.”
For Goochland, Hayden had 16 points. Snead had 10 points while C.J. Johnson had nine. The Bulldogs will travel for their Conference 34 quarterfinal next week, but await their final seeding and opponent.
“I’m not fond of (the new district tournament/lack of ramifications) and was a bit afraid of this happening where you play one game and now you have to sit and wait,” Gordon said. “We get to play next week and so there’s two ways to look at it where you get to give the guys some rest, but the other side is your sitting without guys getting game reps. So hopefully we’ll try and make the most of it.”
Buckingham travels to Bluestone Tuesday at 7 p.m.
