If we’re lucky, the weather’s nearly two-week-long ban on athletics will be lifted this weekend. It’s safe to say that all teams, both for the boys and girls, will enter the Jefferson District tournament well rested, but rusty, which could create a couple of surprises. The tourney has not disappointed over the last few years as there always seems to be a team or two that throws a wrench into convential thinking. There are favorites coming into the event, but there are also dangerous underdogs.
Boys Bracket
Last year, it was Orange County that unseated the top two seeds. Quintin Hunter and D.J. Brown first took down the regular season champions in Charlottesville in the semifinals, and then slipped past second seeded Western Albemarle to capture the tournament title.
And just like last year, the Black Knights and Warriors are the top two teams. So the question is, are there any teams capable of taking down the favorites?
Before all of the snow paralyzed athletic events across the area, Fluvanna County proved that Charlottesville was beatable. There isn’t a coach or fan base labeingl the Flyin’ Flucos as sleepers. Fluvanna, led by sophomore sensation YaYa Anderson, showed they could run the court and score points at a frenetic pace and there is little doubt that Flucos are talented enough to emerge next week as tourney champs.
But two teams to keep a close eye on are Goochland and William Monroe.
The Bulldogs have taken down the Flucos, and boast one of the area’s best scorer’s in Brandon Henry – a senior who averages 20.6 points per game − but has been complimented nicely by B.J. Clark. Goochland made a lot of noise this fall in football by stepping up from Group A to Group AA and earning a share of the JD title. Henry and Clark were both prominent members of that squad, and the roster includes other familiar names like Willie Ezell.
The Bulldogs only played Charlottesville and Western once, falling by double-digits in both contests, but picked up a quality win over the Flucos in the middle of January. Goochland comes into the tournament having won four of its last five games. That one gap during that stretch? A 3-point loss to Monticello, a bit of a head scratcher, but most of the district has one those – see Fluvanna versus Louisa three weeks ago. The good news for the Bulldogs is that they host Orange County, an opponent that they defeated twice, outscoring the fifth-seeded Hornets 156-112 over the two contests.
On the other hand, the Greene Dragons enter the tournament as a true sleeper, having won just four games in the district this year, all of them coming against the Lions and Mustangs, but Monroe has given both Charlottesville and Western Albemarle problems this year. Another thing to consider is that of Monroe’s eight district losses, six were by eight points or less.
In the first round, the Dragons will head to the Shoebox in Fluvanna where they lost by eight in the season’s only meeting in the second week of January. If Monroe were to upset Fluvanna, they could line up against Western Albemarle, a team they almost always show up to play against. Both Markees Towels and Desmon Shaver boast playoff experience, helping to guide the Dragons to the Region II Division 3 semifinals last season, but if this team is going to make the kind of noise it did last year, it’s going to need Markel Faulkner to take advantage of his height inside.
Girls Bracket
There isn’t anyone that can refute the fact that Fluvanna County — which has fallen just once all season but not in the district, and is the winner of 12 straight games — enters the tournament as the heavy favorite. Chad White’s team was challenged just once by any of their district opponents as they won every JD contest outside of their 4-point win over Western Albemarle by double digits. The Flucos and Warriors were slated to play again last week, but the snow was the ultimate winner in that matchup.
Western was the only other team besides Fluvanna to finish above .500 in the district and the Warriors finished with a four-game buffer over third place Orange County.
Based on the gap between the Fluvanna, Western and the rest of the field, it’d be easy to go ahead and pencil in those two teams in the championship game.
But the Hornets could play the role of spoiler for that potential matchup. Orange came out slow early last week and fell to the Warriors, but played very well in a 2-point loss to Western in the first week of January.
Orange senior Sade Johnson takes a lot of shots, but she also scores a lot of points. And when fellow senior Jasmin Johnson is able to step up as the team’s only consistent post scorer, the Hornets have shown that they can get the job done.
Facing Orange in the first round on Saturday is Charlottesville, a squad that has owned the JD tourney since the district was established. The Black Knights may not have that big scorer that they’ve had in years past, but they did narrowly beat the Hornets in the only meeting between the two this season.
Should the Hornets and Warriors meet up in the semifinals, size will be the story. The Warriors have a seemingly endless supply of height with Ellen Shaffrey, Carolyn Schneller and Raven Ward all able to make their presence felt in the paint.
Anyone searching for a great battle need only look at William Monroe and Louisa County. The Dragons, who are seeded fourth, went 6-6 on the year in the district and the Lions were just behind at 5-7. Monroe won both times they faced off against Louisa, but had to work hard to do so, winning both games by a combined nine points.
