Offensively, Albemarle’s girls basketball team leans on Amaya Pendleton for her ability to slash and attack at the rim. So when Pendelton, the Patriots’ senior leader, went out early against Western with an injury Albemarle needed someone to take the initiative.
Someone to give the offense that attacking presence.
Enter junior Lauren Grady.
“She was super aggressive, I think she realized she needed to take it on her shoulders,” said Albemarle coach Rachel Proudfoot. “It’s nice for Lauren to take that charge because teams have to adjust to that.”
Grady rose to the occasion, scoring 13 points to help lift the Patriots past Western 42-33. The win puts a wrap on Albemarle’s regular season as they’ll start Region 5D play Friday night at home against Harrisonburg.
“It was definitely a hit having Amaya out of the game because she’s such a big scorer for us, but we had to put the ball in other people’s hands,” Grady said. “I knew I had to start driving more to the basket, being more aggressive because that’s what she does and I had to fill that role.”
It wasn’t easy though as Albemarle finally pulled away late against a scrappy young Warriors squad that played excellent defense and created turnovers down the stretch but couldn’t find a way to score in the closing minutes and really put the pressure on the Patriots. The Warriors (7-14) got 10 points each from seniors Dylan Mitchell (who hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter) and Kayleigh Long, but struggled to find much offense beyond that.
“We have three seniors that have been with us for a while, Dylan on varsity all four years, Kayleigh on varsity for three of the years so they’ve been through a lot of games,” said Western coach Kris Wright. “Everyone else? Has not played a lot of games, for most of them it’s their first full varsity season. And it shows up during games. We’re good, we’re good and then we’re not.”
Western started the season 0-7 and then went 7-7 over the final 14 games of the year, showing progress with a young roster. A lot of those 14 losses are also terribly close ones too.
“We’ve improved, we’re growing, it’s just going to take a little time,” Wright said. “But it’s unfortunate for the seniors it ends that way, but we’ll keep working.”
The two squads were dead even much of the game with Albemarle appearing understandably out of sorts on the offensive end after Pendleton went out. Junior Caroline Perkins eventually hit a couple of 3-pointers and Riley Maynard knocked down a pair of them as well. Going into the fourth, Albemarle led by two. In the fourth, they got just one field goal, a bucket from Grady, but hit eight of their 10 free throws in the final frame while Western went cold from the field and managed just three points.
Now the Patriots turn their attention to taking on the Blue Streaks in their region opener and the win over the Warriors could serve as a springboard to the playoffs when Albemarle hopes to have Maggie Lynn, who has been out lately, back in the lineup.
“We’re super excited, especially because that was a rival,” Grady said. “We’re ready to get after Harrisonburg on Friday.”
