Louisa County boys basketball’s vagabond season got started Tuesday night as the Lions tipped off a year on the road, playing all their 2011-2012 home games at Monticello as part of the continued fallout from the August earthquake that’s left the high school and, in turn, the gym unusable. The Lions are even practicing in four different gyms depending on the day of the week.
And Tuesday was far from the start first-year Louisa County head coach Brian Wilson wanted or, more importantly, expected, from his Lions squad that fell to 0-1 with 62-47 loss to Eastern View.
“Until we understand that individuals don’t win games, teams do, then we’ve got a long way ahead of us and we’ve got more of that result,” Wilson said. “But we are going to get to the point where we play as a team and execute the way we are capable of executing. Young and all, we’re still a better team than that.”
The Lions fell to a Cyclones squad that won just four games last year as Wilson, formerly the head coach at Buckingham County, coached his first regular season game as the Lions’ head man.
Louisa struggled to find an offensive rhythm and that lack of cohesiveness snowballed on the defensive end. Eastern View took a step forward offensively and showed off a balanced attack. Senior shooting guard Ben Safren finished with 16 while P.J. White had 10, Lamont Shipp scored eight and freshman L.J. Hackley had 11 on the night.
“Defensively we’ve got to get a lot better,” Wilson said. “We’re going to get back to the drawing board, back to making sure we do things the right way.”
The Lions unraveled. Louisa had just four total assists as a team, and while Keon Winkey scored 12 points and pulled down five boards, he was the lone bright spot. The Lions went 16 for 33 at the free throw line and shot just 27 percent from the field. Harry Howard and Marcus Burley finished with six poiints each for the Lions.
Louisa jumps into an early season tournament Friday as they head to Broadway High near Harrisonburg. It’ll be another step in Louisa’s necessary, unavoidable development into road warriors this season.
“Wherever you play the court is still the same length, the basket is still 10-feet tall and the ball still bounces the same,” Wilson said. “And you’re still expected to play.”
