By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Alijah Ragland scored 14 points while Bri Jordan and Kendall Ballard added 10 apiece to lead the Charlottesville girls basketball team to a 52-31 road victory over Albemarle on Friday night.
Ragland sank a pair of three-pointers in a decisive second quarter which saw the Black Knights turn a 10-8 lead into a 22-15 halftime advantage, and CHS never looked back, withstanding yet another fabulous performance from AHS center K.K. Barbour.
Barbour poured in 18 points for the Patriots, but she was the only player on her team to score in double figures as Charlottesville’s defense harassed Albemarle into 23 turnovers on the evening.
“We just kind of beat ourselves,” Barbour said. “We tried to come together as a team but we just broke down.”
Only two other players — guards Virginia McAllister and Kendra Hairston — got into the scoring column for Albemarle. McAllister had seven points, while Hairston added six. Meanwhile, the Black Knights got scoring contributions from seven players.
“We talked about bringing energy and playing together,” Charlottesville coach Jim Daly said. “That was two of our things to watch for and I thought we can go in and check both those off. I really thought we shared the ball well and I thought we brought a lot of energy to both ends of the floor.”
The Black Knights played more aggressively on the offensive end, taking the ball inside and drawing fouls. They shot 24 free throws to Albemarle’s nine, but converted just nine of those opportunities at the stripe. Meanwhile, the Patriots bombed away from behind the arc to no avail, making just 5-of-20 from three.
“Kendall and Bri handled the ball so well and played so aggressively,” Daly said. “But 9-of-24 [from the line], obviously that’s something to work on, but I’m really happy with our effort.”
The ugly showing from the charity stripe wasn’t the only red flag for Charlottesville on the offensive end, however–the Knights turned the ball over 22 times.
“I thought it was really solid defense on both ends,” Daly said. [Albemarle’s] press dropping back into their man defense slowed us down. And I thought our zone was really good too.”
The Black Knights return to action next Friday night at Western Albemarle before traveling to Louisa next Saturday. The Patriots host Halifax on Saturday, then host another crosstown rival in the form of the Monticello Mustangs next Friday night.
