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Survive The Shift: Albemarle holds off Charlottesville’s furious charge

Photo by Ashley Thornton

On some nights in the Jefferson District you’ve just got to hold on tight.

 

Albemarle certainly had to Friday night.

 

“It was eerily similar to our game at Western earlier this season,” Albemarle head coach Greg Maynard said. “We had a 20-point lead there and we let them cut it down to two. But, we did the same thing to St. Anne’s. It’s high school basketball, when the momentum switches you never know when it’s gonna switch back.”

 

J’Quan Anderson scored 24 points and Maxx Jarmon added 10 as Albemarle survived a furious charge from Charlottesville to win 66-60 and remain undefeated and improve its record over the Black Knights to 2-0 on the season.

 

Anderson had two crucial layups down the stretch off of long inbounds passes and Albemarle’s defense locked down when it needed to after giving up nearly all of a 28-point second-half lead.

 

The Patriots (13-0), who defeated CHS 67-50 back on December 28, built a lead that got as large as 52-24 before the Black Knights began to climb back into the game, finishing the third quarter on a 9-3 spurt which was part of a larger 36-11 run bridging the third and fourth quarters.

 

As many editions of this rivalry are, the game was played at a furious pace, and this favored the Knights in the fourth quarter as head coach Mitch Minor employed a full-court press and began forcing turnovers. At one juncture in the fourth, Charlottesville (7-6) forced three consecutive turnovers in the backcourt and turned them all into baskets. The Patriots responded by driving to the basket and drawing fouls, but missed seven free throw attempts in the final stanza.

 

“We finally got ourselves going in the second half,” Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor said. “The guys really gave a great effort to come back. We had some opportunities to close the gap or maybe even win it.”

 

By the time the dust had settled, Charlottesville had cut the deficit to three with just under two minutes left. After Albemarle melted about 30 seconds, the Knights fouled KaySean Allen, who made one of two to make it 64-60.

 

The Patriots were on the fortunate end of a break on the next trip, as the Knights quickly attacked and Tyree Carter got a great look at a three from the left corner, but his shot clanged off the rim and a scrum for the rebound ensued. Neither team could wrestle control and on the arrow the ball went Albemarle’s way. Anderson sank a pair at the line on the other end, and the Patriots could finally celebrate.

 

“[Anderson] played great in the second half,” Maynard said. “I thought in the first half he got involved in some of the chippiness and wasn’t playing his game. I had a good talk with him at halftime and he came out and played like the J’Quan Anderson we expect.”

 

The Black Knights’ rally was led by the smallest man on the floor — freshman Nick Motley. Motley led the Black Knights with 19 points. He drained a crucial three-pointer during Charlottesville’s run and also had several steals on the defensive end. He also played solid defense on Albemarle star Cartier Key, holding Key to nine points.

 

“They were pressing us and the floor was slippery, so we just had to focus on getting the ball in,” Albemarle’s Na’il Arnold said. “As soon as we got it to J’Quan, he’s fast enough to blow by people.”

 

Albemarle led nearly throughout, finishing the first quarter on a 13-0 run to turn a two-point deficit into an 18-7 lead after eight minutes. The margin was the same at halftime, as Isaiah Washington hit a layup at the buzzer for a 31-20 Albemarle margin. Washington scored 14 for Charlottesville.

 

Charlottesville will travel to Louisa on Tuesday for a 7:30 tip. Albemarle will travel to Fluvanna on Monday in a 5:30 p.m. contest. The Patriots and Black Knights will meet for a third time on February 2 at Charlottesville.

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