Western Albemarle’s boys basketball team was hoping that maybe this time, in its third meeting with Albemarle, that it would have the hot hand.
“We talked about how (Jake) Hahn and (Austin) Katstra made every open shot we gave them the first two games, we thought man it would be nice if Ryan (Ingram) and Josh (Coffman) did,” said Western coach Darren Maynard. “And that’s pretty much what they did.”
Ingram put up 26 points for the Warriors and Coffman came up with 24 including five 3-pointers as Western beat the Patriots for the first time in three chances this year, winning 64-60.
The Warriors looked locked i from the start, building a quick lead out of the gate and keeping the pedal down during the first half.
“We were really focused and we played with all our heart,” Ingram said. “We really just tried to play extremely hard for the full 32 minutes.”
It was a signature win for the Warriors who are still playing without one of their key starters, Chris McGahren. That puts increased scoring pressure on Coffman and Ingram, especially in games like the clash with Albemarle. It also makes defending the versatile, talented Patriots a little bit tougher.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my team tonight, we felt like the first two games we didn’t bring it the whole time, we didn’t sustain it for four quarters,” Maynard said. “We talked a lot about Clemson’s upset of Alabama and what (Deshaun) Watson said in the huddle before that- ‘let’s be great, let’s be legendary.’ And I thought we were, that’s about as good as we can play in a high school game.”
To get there though, Western had to hold off a furious Albemarle comeback attempt as the Patriots rallied after a dismal first half offensively that put them in a 26-15 hole.
“The first half they wanted it more than us, they played better, they executed better, they outhustled us and in the second half it took us awhile to get going,” said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard.
Ingram went 9-for-13 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter while Coffman went 4-for-6. It seemed like every time Albemarle’s J’Quan Anderson managed some tough shot in the lane or Jake Hahn and Maxx Jarmon buried a three with a hand in their face, Western answered, keeping the differential at around 11 during the second half.
During a stretch in the fourth quarter, a loose ball call in the corner didn’t go the Patriots’ way and then an Anderson steal attempt was whistled for a foul near midcourt, hamstringing Albemarle’s rally efforts.
“They just had too big of a lead there, it was just hard to make that much up in that short of a time,” Greg Maynard said. “Especially when they’ve got a great ballhandler and free throw shooter like Ryan Ingram, he’s just a super player. I just give them all the credit, we were just really sluggish in the first half.”
It was a brutal, physical contest, especially underneath the basket as Western collapsed on Albemarle’s Austin Katstra much as they did last year against the Patriots’ big man in a couple of February wins for the Warriors. That strategy hadn’t worked well in the first two meetings this season, but they managed to contain him offensively this time, limiting him to four second half points.
Jake Hahn and J’Quan Anderson each finished with 15 points for Albemarle while Jarmon notched 11.
Albemarle will travel to take on Louisa County Tuesday while Western hosts Fluvanna the same night.
