Western Albemarle and Charlottesville squared off for what won’t be the first time this year and will likely be part of at least a three-part engagement Wednesday.
Round one went to the Warriors as Western pulled away from the Black Knights behind 18 points from freshman Emma Schmitz to beat Charlottesville 41-29.
It was a solid step to win the semifinals for a Western team that doesn’t have a single senior on the roster. To get it done, the Warriors had to get going after a deadlocked, 17-17 first half.
“We were tied so we wanted to come out with energy and I think we did it well,” Schmitz said.
Schmitz did a lot of the heavy lifting, scoring 10 of the Warriors’ 15 in the third quarter. She posted a double double for the game with 10 boards to go with her 18 points while also swiping the ball five times and dishing out three assists. Junior guard Ava Ewen also made a big impact with 13 points, six boards and three assists.
Anytime the Black Knights and Warriors go toe-to-toe they know each other well enough systemically that points are going to be hard to come by. They were sparse for both teams in the first half, but really dried up for the Black Knights after the break as Western held Charlottesville to just nine and in the third quarter and three points — and zero field goals — in the fourth quarter. Particularly considering that youthful roster, it was a big-time defensive performance against the Black Knights, who also boast a young lineup around seasoned junior guard Rayquel Allen.
Allen paced the Black Knights with 12 points on the day while sophomore Kayla Drumheller had seven.
The Warriors will face William Monroe in the Holiday Hoops title game Thursday at 2:30 p.m. while Charlottesville will square off with Covenant in the third place game.
