By Liz Keller/Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
FORK UNION – A last-second heave from half court before halftime got it started for Chad Holley, but it didn’t stop until Blue Ridge was in control.
A dazzling offensive display from Holley – who drained six 3-pointers in the game – propelled Blue Ridge past Fork Union on Saturday afternoon.
Holley, who led all scorers with 24 points, gave the Barons the boost they needed to prevail against the Blue Devils, 69-65, and stay unbeaten on the season.
“I wanted to come out strong in the second half and be a little more aggressive,” Holley said. “I guess I got a couple of open looks and heated up a little bit.”
After hitting the long trey before the break, Blue Ridge took a 31-23 lead at halftime. Holley took that momentum and proceeded to connect on five 3-pointers in the third quarter. In fact, the senior guard was the only player to score a field goal for the Barons in the frame. Holley scored an impressive 17 of the visitors’ 21 third-quarter points.
“I think we went a little bit flat in the third quarter. And of course [Chad Holley] was hitting shots big time,” Fork Union coach Matt Donohue said. “They’re so talented and so good that for us to beat them we have to play a perfect game. We’ve got to make free throws, we’ve got to come up with loose balls and we’ve got to outrebound them and we just can’t make mistakes.”
While Holley had the hot hand, he had some help from teammates Malick Kone (13 points, seven rebounds) and Darryl Smith (12 points). Isaiah Battle and Cameron Anderson added eight and six points, respectively.
Despite trailing by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils continued to chip away at the lead. Fork Union was able to effectively work the ball inside to Kion Brown (22 points) and Christian Hackenberg (seven points). Jonah Dew chipped in with eight points, six of which came in the fourth. Xavier Holland kept Fork Union in the game early, hitting four threes of his own in the first half. The senior guard finished with 22 points.
With 1:17 to play, FUMA trimmed the lead to eight (62-54), but the comeback was too little, too late. Blue Ridge went 8 of 11 from the free-throw line in the final 2:15 to withstand the furious rally.
Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey was relieved to get the win and end a long stretch on the road.
“They’re a good team – they’re going to do a lot of damage in the league and have a shot at the state I think,” Ramsey said. “It’s always a tough place to play and it was a tough, physical game and I’m very proud of us. We did a pretty good job of switching up defenses and making them do different things. We went all the way to Roanoke Catholic last night and to come in here and get this win today finishes up a hard stretch. I’m glad to be headed home for a while.”
Blue Ridge (13-0), which hasn’t played a home game since early December, plays host to Fishburne Military Academy’s postgraduate team on Tuesday. Fork Union (6-5) visits Collegiate on Tuesday in a Prep League showdown.
