By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Jordan Saylor scored 17 points to lead three Charlottesville scorers in double figures and the Black Knights remained undefeated in Jefferson District play with a workmanlike 71-58 road win over Western Albemarle on Friday night.
Mica Girstantas had 13 and Tyrik Ragland added 11 for Charlottesville (15-1, 10-0 JD), which took command by holding the Warriors without a field goal for the final five-and-a-half minutes of the first half to open up a 41-29 advantage at the break.
“I want to say this right off — they were exceptional,” Western head coach Darren Maynard said of the Black Knights. “My hat’s off to them. They beat us every way you can beat somebody.”
Charlottesville’s only deficit of the game was 2-0 when Western’s Josh Casteen opened the scoring with a layup. Saylor nailed a three, one of his four treys on the night, on the next possession to give the Knights the lead for good. Charlottesville led by as many as nine in the first quarter, but the Warriors (14-4, 8-2) pushed back and a Carrington Murphy basket 33 seconds before the horn cut the deficit to 21-15 after one.
The Black Knights quickly expanded that lead to 28-16 in the first minute-and-a-half of the second frame, with Ragland’s layup punctuating the run, but Western followed with a 6-0 run capped by a Ryan Ingram three-pointer. Ingram led the Warriors with 16 points, but that proved to be Western’s last field goal of the half. Western instead made a living drawing fouls to keep from getting too far behind at halftime.
“We let them get to the line too much, that I wasn’t too happy about,” Charlottesville head coach Mitch Minor said. “Also on their offensive stickbacks — we didn’t do a good job of boxing out.”
Western managed to cut the lead to eight when a basket by Carter Berry with 4:30 left in the third made it 47-39, but they then suffered another long drought, not scoring again for the rest of the quarter. A pair of Saylor free throws brought the lead back to double digits, and the wheels fell off for Western when Maynard was whistled for a technical foul in the final minute of the quarter for arguing with the officials. Girstantas missed both foul shots, but swished a trey on the ensuing possession to give his team a 55-39 lead after three.
“I’ve never won here at Western,” Girstantas said. “[Their students] were yelling at me from the stands, so this one felt great.”
The Warriors got no closer than 12 in the fourth quarter, with both teams finishing the final minute with reserves. In addition to Ingram’s output, Michael Vale registered a double-double for Western with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Berry added 11 points. For the Knights, Caleb Gage dished out eight assists and swiped four steals, while Girstantas led his team with five rebounds. As a team, Charlottesville turned the ball over only three times.
“We did a good job of protecting the ball and getting good shots,” Minor said. “And we did a good job of helping each other out of defense and keeping them in front of us.”
Both teams will return to action on Tuesday — Charlottesville will travel to Louisa, while Western hosts Orange.
