Malik Johnson scored 17 points, including six free throws in the final 40 seconds, and Blue Ridge held off a second-half charge to defeat Virginia Episcopal 62-57 Saturday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Johnson also hit a crucial three-pointer just before the third-quarter horn to give the Barons a 46-41 lead. This came shortly after the Bishops nearly erased an 11-point deficit with a 15-4 run over nearly four-and-a-half minutes. The run featured a pair of three-pointers from Kevin Quinn, a basket by Kentucky commit Sacha Killeya-Jones, and five points from Justice Kithcart. Blue Ridge had just taken its largest lead of the game at 39-26 before Quinn’s first triple.
Johnson’s basket with 6:08 to go in the fourth pushed Blue Ridge’s margin back to nine, but the Bishops once again had an answer. Admir Besovic scored on a putback, then Killeya-Jones dunked and Kithcart hit two free throws. After Aamir Simms scored for Blue Ridge, Afanna Offor came through with another huge three for the Barons.
“Obviously with it being Senior Night there’s a ton of emotion,” Blue Ridge coach Cade Lemcke said. “I told my guys that there would be ups, there would be downs, there would be everything in between. I said that if we played our game and stuck to our game plan, everything would be fine. I’m thrilled that all the seniors contributed tonight when it counted.”
But Blue Ridge managed just one more point for nearly the next three minutes as VES crept within three on two more occasions in the final minute. After a basket by Besovic with 12.2 seconds left, Johnson lost the ball out of bounds, giving the Bishops position with a chance to tie. Quinn had an excellent look from the top of the key, but misfired and Johnson’s two foul shots with three seconds to go sealed it.
The Barons led for most of the game, but didn’t go ahead by more than six the entire first half. VES briefly went in front with 6:03 to go in the second quarter on a basket by Kithcart to make it 19-18, but Johnson’s consecutive baskets put Blue Ridge in front for good.
Neither team shot well from beyond the arc, with Blue Ridge goin 4-for-18 compared to 2-for-17 for VES. Killeya-Jones led the Bishops with a game-high 20 points while Kithcart added 14. In addition to Johnson’s output, Simms added 14 for the Barons.
“There’s a reason why Sacha’s going to Kentucky and that he’s a McDonald’s All-American,” Lemcke said. “Our goal was to make it hard for him to score, knowing that he’ll make good shots because he’s a good player. Justice is a big-time player for them too, and I thought between Malik and Josh [Colon] and Sasha [Yadrishchenskiy] we did a great job.”
Blue Ridge returns to action Thursday when they face Miller in the first round of the VIC tournament. VES will face Carlisle in their first round game.
