It was more than fair to say that the Western Albemarle girls had the paint sewn up from game’s tipoff until the final buzzer. With Raven Ward and Carolyn Schneller leading the way, the Warriors enjoyed a big second quarter to put them up by double-digits before pulling away for good in the second half with their 63-28 victory over Culpeper in the quarterfinals of the Daily Progress/NBC 29 Holiday Classic.
“(Our forwards), they were all over the glass,” said Western coach Kris Wright. “They were catching (the ball) in the post and scoring with it. They were hitting free throws. When they’re doing that that makes us look like a really good basketball team.”
Behind the play of Candy Jones, the Blue Devils were able to keep within a pair of baskets of the Warriors in the first quarter. But that all fell apart in the game’s second frame as Western outscored Culpeper 12-2 to take a 15-point lead going into the half.
Little changed in the third and fourth quarters as the Warriors’ lead swelled from 15 to 20 to more than 25 as Western took advantage of their post presence both offensively and defensively. Ward and Schneller each finished with 14 points which should only help to fuel the friendly rivalry between the two.
“Me and Carolyn, were are in competition in practice constantly and in games seeing who can get the most points and rebounds,” Ward said. “When we were on (the junior varsity team) we didn’t like each other at all because we always played against each other and would just go for it all the time in practice. But now we’re best friends.”
Of the 11 players on Western roster, 10 were able to register at least two points. Seven players finished with at least 5 points.
“We’re fairly tall across that front line,” Wright said. “Some nights when we get that going, we look fairly tough and tonight was one of those nights.”
Simply playing in a game was good news for the Warriors considering that they had not taken the court since December 12th when they played against Albemarle. Between exams, weather delays and the holiday break, Western wasn’t able to resume practice until December 26th
“We’re finally all together again as a group and that’s good,” Wright said.
For Culpeper, Jones wound up leading all scorers with her 15 points which was good for nearly 54 percent of the team’s total offense.
The Blue Devils (0-4) will face Miller today at Albemarle High at 3 p.m.
The Warriors (5-1) will square off against Spotswood, last year’s Holiday Classic tournament champions, also at Albemarle at 6:30 p.m.
