A year ago at this time a win would be a win for what was young Louisa County squad with a lot to prove. But after making great strides last season and playing a role as a dark horse in the Jefferson District standings, the Lions 64-53 road win over Monticello was a case of a team happy to have won, but not exactly thrilled considering the jump they got in the first quarter.
“It was a very good start but the only problem was we just thought we could coast after that,” said Louisa coach Nick Schreck. “We’re a good team, but we’re not that good yet to where we can just coast like that. It’s a win, but you can’t have just one great quarter. We have aspirations. To get there, we have to play all four quarters.”
The Lions rolled out to a 15-0 start with 3:40 to play in the first quarter as Tyi Skinner and Anna Agee led the way with a combined 17 of the team’s first 24 points. With the Mustangs struggling between turnovers and shot selection in the first quarter, the Lions were able to take a 24-10 lead into the second quarter.
“We came out great pushing the ball but I think we just got a little bit lazy after that,” Skinner said. “The first quarter was really good but we just need to keep it up.”
From there, the game was even, if not in Monticello’s favor. While Skinner’s ability to get to the free throw line carried Louisa going forward, field goals were hard to come by as the lions had just six total in the second half.
“The last three games we’ve dug ourselves a hole in the first quarter and turned around and decided to play basketball after that,” said Monticello coach Erica Terrell. “We just kind of tire out in the end though because we’ve had to overcome such big deficits. The effort is there. When we get going it looks good and it’s exactly what we want, but that first quarter seems to be tough.”
Monticello was able to make it a 9-point game going into the break with Dasha Kinlaw, Josie Mallory and Mariah Brown getting going offensively. Then in the second half, senior Kirstena Lilley put her team on her back and got the Mustangs within six points at 49-43 late in the third.
“She put in the work in offseason to develop her shot and it’s showing,” Terrell said. “Tonight was an example of her hard work paying off and is just one of those players where you know what you’re going to get from her every single night. It’s going to be 100% all out.”
The two teams traded brief runs to start the fourth and eventually it was a six-point game again after Lilley cut it to 59-53 with 2:31 to play. However, that was as close at it would get with Skinner and Agee finishing off the game at the line.
“At that point we had to slow the pace down and try and get the offense going,” Skinner said. “We had to box out, rebound and keep track of that too.”
For Louisa, Skinner led all scorers with 32 points and was 20-for-23 at the free throw line. Agee had 17 points. DaNikqua Marshall finished with six.
Monticello was paced by Lilley’s 15 points. Brown and Kinlaw both finished with 10 points each.
The Lions host Fluvanna County on Friday at 7:30 p.m. while Monticello travel on Friday to face Charlottesville.
