St. Anne’s-Belfield’s Javin Montgomery-DeLaurier came back in with four fouls in the fourth quarter, and he knew he had to play smart if he was going to stay in a fast-paced, physical contest.
“Coach told me I really had to play smart and think about the situation — is it worth me having to sit the rest of the game or should I just give them the lay-up and continue to play,” Montgomery-DeLaurier said. “That helped me with my mindset coming in.”
The sophomore proved capable of adjusting and hit a big 3-pointer and added a critical put-back down the stretch as the Saints held off a Western Albemarle charge to win 61-56 in the Daily Progress/NBC29 Holiday Classic title game.
“(Montgomery-DeLaurier) is such a presence on the boards and we got to a point in the fourth quarter at four minutes, I know how they shoot and I didn’t want to give them extra shots,” said STAB coach Brian Kent. “So we took a chance and he got two great buckets for us.”
STAB seemed to answer every time Western put together a run with a balanced offensive attack leading the way. Five Saints got into double figures with Tanner Morris’ 12 points leading the way. Jalen Harrison, Kareem Johnson and Montgomery-DeLaurier finished with 10 each and Parker Morris rounded out the bulk of the scoring with 11 of his own. Morris’ work on the defensive end — he came up with four steals — was a key spark for the Saints as they built a narrow two-point advantage at the break.
Montgomery-DeLaurier had nine rebounds, two steals, two assists and three blocks on the night.
The Saints’ roster that’s dominated by underclassmen managed to weather the storm in front of potentially the most raucous crowds they’ll play in front of all year.
“It’s a fun atmosphere and that’s kind of what we talked about in the locker room,” Kent said. “We talked a little about them but it was really just more go out there and enjoy the experience and enjoy playing basketball.”
Western struggled to score during the third quarter — both teams actually endured a nearly four-minute long scoreless stretch to start the second half — and fell into a 10-point deficit with Montgomery-DeLaurier largely tethered to the bench.
The Warriors also couldn’t rely on their foul-shooting prowess as they’d drawn just four fouls late into the fourth quarter in the up-tempo, physical battle. Despite hitting four fourth quarter 3-pointers (including three by Jake Maynard) and clawing back from the 10-point third quarter deficit, the Warriors couldn’t out-gun the Saints.
“I’m really proud of our team — I thought we played really well, really hard and deserved better than we got,” said Western coach Darren Maynard.
Western’s Sam Chisholm had a huge night underneath with 15 points and 15 rebounds while Will Mason also cleaned up on the boards with 13 on the night. Jake Maynard finished with 13 points and six rebounds including the trio of fourth quarter 3-pointers.
Western will jump back into Jefferson District play Friday when the Warriors clash with Fluvanna County. The Saints get a short break before getting back into the Prep League mix against Woodberry Forest on the road Tuesday.
“We’ve had a lot of these tough games and we’re continuing to grow as a team,” Kent said. “It’s getting us ready for the Prep League — January’s tough.”
