Albemarle’s lack of practice time over the last two weeks made things pretty simple for the Patriots.
“I really wanted to stress going inside because we’ve only had one practice in 10 days and I didn’t feel like we were going to be shooting very well — which we didn’t,” said coach Greg Maynard. “But we were fortunate enough to get a lot of good baskets inside.”
Albemarle (3-2) pounded the ball inside to senior Rashad Talley and emerging sophomore Andrew Mann to the tune of 14 points each in a 60-40 victory over Waynesboro.
The Patriots got some balanced scoring from a trio of guards—Daiquan West and Andrew Frazier had six points each while Dalton Stokes chipped in eight—but Mann and Talley did the heavy lifting, allowing the Patriots to jump out to a 23-9 first quarter lead.
West helped Albemarle combat Waynesboro’s press that the Little Giants turned to, and by halftime Albemarle led by 23.
Now the Patriots get an interesting test—a battle with Charlottesville in the tournament’s second round at the Black Knights’ house tonight.
“I would love to play them when we’re in a little bit better condition,” Maynard said. “I thought we were in real good condition going into that Friday where we we should have been playing Massaponax. That’s been one of our strengths is being able to play hard for four quarters — Charlottesville is so quick and fast that if you’re dragging any at all they’re going to make you look silly.”
