By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Kendell Dennis scored 14 points and Caleb Gage added 10 as Charlottesville jumped out to a big early lead and never looked back in a 58-50 win over Turner Ashby at Albemarle High School on Monday night.
After a layup by Turner Ashby’s James Sullivan gave the Knights their only lead at 4-2 two minutes in, Charlottesville went on a 13-0 run and didn’t allow Turner Ashby to score again until 30 seconds remained in the opening quarter.
“Digging ourselves an early hole has been a theme for us,” Turner Ashby head coach Chad Siebert said. “I guess in a way, we were in our comfort zone when we got there. Being as young as we are, we refuse to understand how hard we have to come out at the beginning to be ready to play.”
CHS led 15-6 after one, and the first part of the second frame belonged to Dennis, who scored the Black Knights’ first eight points of the quarter on a pair of layups and four free throws. The visitors from Bridgewater managed to cut the margin to 27-22 late in the half on two free throws by Zeke Hamner, but Charlottesville scored the final six points of the half, including a three-point play by Troy Hughes, to go into the break leading by 11.
“We weren’t shooting from the perimeter very well, so we were looking to get the ball inside,” Charlottesville head coach Mitch Minor said. “Troy came off the bench and got a couple of baskets for us inside.”
The third quarter featured abysmal offense on both sides, with the Black Knights not recording a point until Gage hit CHS’ first and only three of the night with 3:40 left in the period. Turner Ashby managed only three points during that drought, however, and was unable to cut into the lead. The teams combined for just nine points in the quarter and CHS led 38-26 after three.
The Black Knights, normally a deadly team from long range, shot just 1-for-13 from behind the arc for the game. Point guard Jordan Saylor and three-point marksman Mica Girstantas shot a combined 0-for-9 from three and scored just 10 points between them. But CHS more than made up for that with a 17-for-20 performance at the free-throw line, including four straight by Saylor in the final minute that put the game on ice after Sullivan hit a three cut the lead to 54-48 with a minute left.
“You can have a bad offensive night, but you should never have a bad defensive night,” Minor said. “I thought we did a really good job of playing defense and, as small as we are, we did a pretty good job of rebounding.”
Sullivan and Jesse Showalter led Turner Ashby with 14 points apiece. Showalter sank four three-pointers for the Knights.
With the win, Charlottesville improves to 9-0 on the season. The Black Knights return to action Tuesday night when they host Culpeper County at 7 p.m.
