Until tipoff on Friday, Devin Turner was having a hard time shaking off his team’s 1-point loss to Fluvanna County on Tuesday. His last second shot just rimmed out, and while Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor told him and the senior guard and his team to shake it off and move on, that was easier said than done.
“I’m still thinking about that shot,” Turner said. “It’s staying with me.”
Maybe that factored into the slow start for the Black Knights, but in the end both Turner and his teammates managed to avoid dropping a second straight Jefferson District contest as they fought off a late William Monroe surge to win 64-61.
“We kept putting them on the line – we need to work on that,” said Minor. “And we didn’t come back to the ball (on the inbounds passes late), but other than that, I thought we did a fairly good job tonight.”
The Black Knights looked strong for the majority of the second half, taking a double digit lead in the third quarter and staying up comfortably until the final minute of play. The Greene Dragons were forced to send Charlottesville to the free throw line with a little more than two minutes to play. After a couple of missed free throws, a pair of botched inbound passes and a huge fourth quarter performance from Desmon Shaver, Monroe made the contest very interesting in the last thirty seconds as they closed an 11-point gap down to 3-points.
“Charlottesville’s a great basketball team and I was really proud of my guys for not giving up there,” said Dragons coach Mike Maynard. “Desmon really wanted it tonight. I think we’re still getting better each game.”
While Shaver had a huge game, leading all scorers with 38 points, good enough for 63 percent of his team’s offense, the Black Knights were able to counter with their depth.
With the game tied at the break, Turner, Rickquan Jones and Daquan Jones were able to put Charlottesville out in front in the third quarter. While Turner and Daquan Jones did their damage inside, Rickquan Jones was able to get the job done from beyond the arc to get up by as many as 12 points.
That was a stark contrast as to how the game started. With Shaver and Markel Faulkner starting the game strong, Monroe broke with a 13-4 run to open the game. Charlottesville was able to weather the storm though, and by the end of the first quarter, the Dragons lead was just three points.
“When we got down we held our composure,” Minor said. “That was good, we needed that.”
The second quarter tilted back and forth with neither team being able to bust the contest open. But that all changed in the third.
Shaver’s 38-point evening was a highlight for Monroe, but so too was a 12-point game from Faulkner. The two scored all but 11 of their team’s points.
For Charlottesville, Turner and both Jones’ finished in double-figures in the bounce-back win. Turner led his team with 16 points while Rickquan Jones was close behind with 15 points and a trio of 3-pointers. Daquan Jones finished with 13 points.
Monroe (11-8, 4-7) heads to Louisa County on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Charlottesville (11-5, 9-2) travels to Goochland also on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
