In a defensive struggle, Albemarle’s boys basketball defeated Halifax 40-35 to claim the Conference 16 title on Friday night.
“Both teams played tremendous defense and the way the game was called, it was a war, it was a battle out there,” coach Greg Maynard said. “We just barely got a little bit more than they did.”
Albemarle dominated the first quarter behind Austin Katstra’s six points. The Patriots’ passing set up a low-scoring, high-possession quarter. Both defenses stood tall as the first quarter ended 10-8 in favor of the Patriots.
The Patriots took over in the second quarter defensively. Grant Kersey and Myles Adams-Yates locked down Halifax, holding the Comets to just seven points in the second quarter. Meanwhile Jake Hahn opened up the offense with seven points in the quarter off of an offensive rebound, a three pointer and two free throws. Hahn’s offense coupled with the Patriots’ defending gave them a 25-15 lead at halftime.
“In the first half, I thought we got some good looks offensively and we could have been ahead by more,” Maynard said. “But in the second half we didn’t get many good looks, it was a struggle to get anything.”
The tables turned after halftime, Albemarle threw up shot after shot but only two dropped for the Patriots. Halifax cut into the deficit with 11 points. James Smith had five points for the Comets as Albemarle clung to a 29-26 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Blow-for-blow the Patriots and Comets fought for the Conference 16 title. The fourth quarter was crunch time for both teams as the game neared its end. Halifax continued its offensive production into the fourth quarter while the Patriots looked to Katstra to close out the game on the free throw line. With 3:07 left in the game Albemarle led 33-30 as Halifax’s foul count piled up. Katstra managed to sink three of four free throws to keep Halifax in the rear-view mirror. After the free throws and a defensive stop Albemarle held on to win.
“I give all of the credit to our defense,” Maynard said. “If our defense was an ‘A’ then their defense was an ‘A-’ because it was darn good too.”
Smith led the Comets with nine points on the night along with multiple defensive stops. Hahn led the Patriots with 12 points and a steal while Katstra had 11 points and six rebounds.
Albemarle will advance into the Region 5A North tournament to face the loser of the Wakefield/ Marshall contest in the Capitol Conference 13 championship.
