A quick note to future Blue Ridge opponents — run a box-and-one defense against the Barons at your own risk.
Sure, Malick Kone is a fantastic talent, but honing in on one player on the Barons roster is a tough task. Particularly when that player can overcome a stretch of box-and-one to post a stat line like Kone did in a 79-63 victory over Roanoke Catholic Saturday.
Kone finished with 17 points, eight assists, nine rebounds, three steals and a block, and with Andre Roberts nearly single-handedly pulling the Celtics out of that box-and-one, the Barons rolled.
“He’s a real good scorer, he gets up and down and he always has to guard the other team’s really good player,” said Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey. “He’s just getting better all the time.”
Roberts found his stroke with two three-pointers, one late in the first and another early in the second that sparked a 10-0 run by Blue Ridge that tied the game at 16-16 in the second. He eventually poured in 19 points including four 3-pointers and dished out four assists.
“I’ve been off lately, but today they were just falling down,” Roberts said. “This week in practice I was going real hard and it showed.”
That performance opened things up for the Blue Ridge frontcourt in the second half, as Cameron Anderson scored 10 points, Isaiah Battle had eight points and Darnell Turner led the post players with 12 points.
The Barons battle Flint Hill today at 2:45 p.m. on the road before battling Woodberry Forest at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
