Monticello’s girls basketball team didn’t fare well Friday night. Highly-touted Courtland, a Division 4 title contender, took it to the Mustangs and rolled to a 44-point victory.
That made Saturday’s clash important beyond the fact that Monticello was facing cross-county rival Albemarle—the Mustangs needed to bounce back.
They did in a big way, picking up a 60-45 win over the Patriots.
“Last night was a wakeup call,” said Monticello coach Josh McElheney. “I think we came out a little sluggish (tonight) but we responded really well down the stretch.”
Monticello got 16 points out of freshman Meghan Comer while standout junior point guard Bridgett Holleran had 15 points. That tandem did the heavy lifting for the Mustangs, and Comer’s emergence should bode well for Monticello’s immediate future.
“We definitely need her to help with the scoring,” McElheney said. “It was good for her to get some confidence.”
While Comer’s emergence helped the Mustangs continue figuring out their identity as a squad, Albemarle is still looking for a lot of answers. The Patriots have seven sophomores and a pair of freshman on the varsity offense. But Harry Terrell isn’t interested in using that as an excuse in his second year at the helm of the Albemarle program.
“We’re just not playing good fundamental basketball,” said Albemarle coach Harry Terrell. “We’re not executing on offense or defense.”
Senior Jessica Hairston finished with 11 points while sophomore Samira Hussanini came up with 12 points and freshman Keturah Johnson scored 10. If the Patriots get that kind of balanced offense going forward, things should continue to improve for Albemarle.
Albemarle hosts Massaponax next Tuesday while Monticello hosts Heritage on Monday.
