Throughout the year, Fluvanna County’s bread and butter has been in the transition game, and with the way they forced turnovers against William Monroe on Tuesday night, that remained the case as the Flyin’ Flucos advanced past William Monroe in the Jefferson District semifinals, 54-34.
“The game of basketball, you’re not going to win many games trying to score 90 percent of your points in a half court set,” said Fluvanna coach Chad White. “That’s why we try and force a lot of turnovers and get in transition. Early we couldn’t make our layups, but when we started to finish on them, we energized the whole team.”
The Greene Dragons were able to weather the storm early, but Fluvanna jumped out to double-digit lead in the second quarter as they pressured Monroe into miscues and quickly converted them into points.
Fluvanna came into the third quarter with a 16-point lead and never let Monroe get to within single-digits.
Millicent Williams led the Flucos with 15 points, hitting her shots underneath the basket while also knocking down the occasional long range attempt.
“It’s been a dream,” Williams said Fluvanna’s post season so far. “We’re in the championship game and I’m only a sophomore. We’re in it all together as a team and we’ve still got a lot of room to grow.”
Mia and K-anna Loyd also reached double figures with 12 and 11 respective points.
For Monroe, Alex Cave scored a team high 10 points and also had 12 rebounds. Katelyn Roach was close behind with nine points.
While they still need some help, it is possible for the Dragons to earn a Region Division 3 bid, but if his team’s season is over, Lamb has been pleasantly surprised by his young squad.
“We lost seven seniors last year,” Lamb said. “I did not think that at the beginning of the year that we’d be in at this point of the year with a chance to earn a playoff spot.”
Already the owners of the JD regular season title, the Flucos head into the tournament championship against Western Albemarle on Friday looking to accomplish something that few have.
“Only one team won the regular season time and the tournament title,” White said. “Charlottesville was the only team to do both and so that is something we want to do.”
And the Flucos will come into the final with a bit of a chip on their shoulders as they felt that one of their own was snubbed for an All-JD nod.
“We would not be where we are without Sarah Ryan,” White said. “I thought she was very deserving of making it.”
The championship tips off on Friday at 6 p.m. at Monticello. Fluvanna won their only meeting against Western Albemarle during the regular season.
