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Fast Start: Albemarle boys beat Charlottesville

Carter Wesson led three Patriots in double-figures with a game-high 19 points as Albemarle completed a regular-season sweep of Charlottesville with a 72-42 triumph on senior night.

 

The Patriots built a 29-17 advantage heading into halftime thanks to an 11-0 scoring run in the first quarter and lock-down defense in the second, holding the Black Knights to just six points in the frame.

 

“We were really trying to clog the lane up because they’ve got some real good penetrators,” said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard. “Our defense was successful tonight and executed our game plan, and that’s what you want this time of year.”

 

Wesson propelled the first-quarter offense with 10 points, including a pair of treys. Senior forward TaeVeon Wilson was a force on the glass with three offensive rebounds in the first half. As defense dominated the second quarter, he came up with one of his four steals on the night in the CHS frontcourt and quickly fired a full-court pass to La’mari Parler to finish with a layup. Parler went on to have a big third quarter, during which he tallied 10 of his 14 points.

 

After a mini-rally by Charlottesville trimmed the lead from 16 to 11 midway through the third quarter, the Knights rolled out full-court defensive pressure. Albemarle appeared unbothered and promptly responded with an inside bucket from Wilson and a triple from Christian Humes. 

 

“Press offense is something we work on every day,” said Maynard. “If teams are going to gamble like that, then we try to make them pay. You like to end up with a nice bounce pass for a layup, and that happened a few times there.”

 

The Patriots outscored the Knights 15-4 over the remainder of the quarter. As the lead continued to swell in the fourth, both benches saw plenty of action down the stretch.

 

Polo Hill led CHS with 18 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Nasir Lindsay added 10 off the bench, including all six of the squad’s points in the second quarter.

 

“If you only score six points in a quarter, that’s not good,” said Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor. “They did a pretty good job against Aiden (Yates), our best perimeter shooter, and he barely got any shots at all. We didn’t shoot well from the free throw line [8/19]. We just didn’t execute in the ways that I know we’re capable of doing.”

 

Its five-game winning streak snapped, Charlottesville will look to rebound quickly with another road game Friday night at Goochland.

 

For the Patriots, after Wesson and Parler, senior forward Jason Breen finished with 13 points. Wilson finished with 9 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Humes chipped in 7 points and made three second-half steals. Albemarle now turns its focus to the regular-season finale Monday night in Crozet.

 

“It’s nice to finish the regular season against good competition,” said Maynard. “We played at Orange, at Fluvanna, and Charlottesville is usually down to the wire. Now with Western again, it’s just getting us ready for regional play. We’ll be trying to get that co-championship and give it our best shot.”

 

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