It was a slew of big shots for a sophomore to have to take on the road in the fourth quarter, but Parker Morris’ team needed the points badly after a rough third quarter. Off of a screen on back-to-back trips down the floor, Morris shed his defender and got a pair of open looks in the same spot beyond the three point line in front of his team’s bench. On both occasions the Western Albemarle guard fired and hit with the second shot making it a one possession game.
“If they go under the screen, you’re going to get a chance to shoot,” Morris. “You just catch it and shoot it and it was going in (tonight) so I kept shooting it.”
After that Charlottesville’s offense slowed. Morris’ final 3-pointer of the night gave his team the lead and then teammate Ben Turner went wild from the free throw line to allow his team to pad its lead and then keep the Black Knights at bay for a 63-54 win.
“We kept calling the same play for (Morris) because he kept hitting it,” said Western coach Darren Maynard. “This was something we thought we were going to have coming in because of his abilities. He came up huge. Those were (former Western standouts) Ben Keyser and Travis Washington-like 3-pointers. And then Ben Turner, I thought he played just great. He was aggressive and came out strong.”
Western looked comfortable coming into the third quarter with a seven point lead, but things quickly swung around momentum wise for Charlottesville. With Daquan Jones dominating the defensive glass and Darius Watson, Rickquan Jones and others finding their stroke offensively, the Black Knights cut into the deficit, tied the game at 32 midway through the frame and then rolled out to a seven point lead of its own. Charlottesville outscored Western 20-6 in the frame and appeared on the ropes to start the fourth quarter as the Black Knights were responding to their excited home crowd.
“We’re still learning to play all four quarters,” said Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor, whose squad started out red hot at 4-0 but has since lost three of its last four. “Once we figure out how to do that, we’ll be fine.”
After Morris gave his team the lead in the fourth, the Black Knights dug themselves a in a big hole in less than a minute. First Turner converted a 3-point play on a foul and then a foul followed by a technical foul gave Western three more points. Awarded possession after the free throws, Turner came through with a put back and suddenly Western went from up by one to leading by nine just inside the two-minute mark.
“I don’t really know what to say, because I’m at a loss for words,” Minor said of the stretch. “We just didn’t play smart.”
That last two minutes were the longest two for everyone in the gym as it was spent almost entirely at the free throw line with both teams in the bonus. By the end of the night, 53 fouls were called and Western’s strong free throw shooters capitalized, particularly Turner who was an impressive 12 for 13 from the line.
“Before he got to the line it was a lot of 1 for 2, but then he came in and knocked them all down,” Maynard said. “He was just super clutch for us there.”
Charlottesville tried to press and foul their way back into the game, and a Watson 3-pointer made it a 6-point game in the waning moments of play, but the Warriors lead was simply too much to overcome.
“It looked like we stopped playing defense there for a second and almost allowed them to comeback,” Turner said. “Luckily, we kept hitting our free throws. That was a big part of this win tonight.”
Both Morris and Turner finished with 20 points to lead Western. Morris hit five shots from beyond the arc. Chase Stokes added 10 points in the win.
For the Black Knights, 10 different players registered a point. Daquan Jones had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Rickquan Jones also scored 11 points. Darius Watson contributed 10 points.
Western (8-6, 1-1 Jefferson) hosts Louisa County on Tuesday at 7:30 p..m.
Charlottesville (5-3, 0-1) heads to R.E. Lee also on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
