Albemarle boys shock Hampton in state quarters, Pats headed to final four

By Jimmy LaRoue / Scrimmageplay.com contributor
NORFOLK – Hampton’s athleticism and big-game experience were supposed to be the trump cards to Albemarle’s excited-to-be-there state tournament debutant success story.
Instead, it was junior twin-towers, 6-foot-6 Austin Katstra and 6-foot-5 Jake Hahn who flipped the script as they helped the Patriots overcome a game-high 31-points from the Crabbers’ Jalen Ray in a 65-54 win Friday in the VHSL 5A boys quarterfinal at Old Dominion University’s Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The victory for Albemarle (24-6) sets up a semifinal Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center in Richmond against either Potomac or Norview.
Katstra displayed his Conference 16 player-of-the-year credentials, showing a smooth inside-out game in racking up 26 points and 14 rebounds, while Hahn complemented that output with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
“Those two controlled the game for them,” said first-year Hampton coach Eric Brown, who praised their ability to drive to the basket, put the ball on the floor, and then get into a post move off of the drive. “They controlled the game. Every offensive rebound they needed to get, they got. Every pass they needed to make, one of them made it, and one of them finished. And that was a big part of it.”
But judging by their warm-ups, the Patriots, the No. 3 seed out of Region 5A North, were poised to struggle, not thrive.
“I saw everybody shooting in warm-ups and I was a little worried,” Katstra said. “I was like, ‘We’re not making anything, and then both teams came out firing, so that actually caught me by surprise.”
And despite Ray’s scoring output, it came on a 9-for-24 shooting night. He also didn’t have much help.
Matthais Caver had 10 points and nine rebounds for Hampton, the No. 2 seed out of Region 5A South, but 6-foot-5 Richmond-commit Marquise Godwin went just 1-for-8 from the field, tallying just three points and a single rebound.
“We couldn’t really execute the things we wanted, that we were trying to do on offense,” Brown said. “We couldn’t get Marquise off the way we wanted to. He was a little sick earlier in the week. I think that played a part in his energy level. We couldn’t get our 5’s going the way we wanted, and (Katstra and Hahn) took him out. And then they played physical with our guys. We have problems with guys who play physical with our guys in the post. We’ve had that problem all year and it showed up tonight.”
Godwin’s only field goal came early in a first quarter in which the Crabbers made 8-of-12 shots, but the Patriots nearly kept pace, themselves shooting 7-of-10. 
“The first quarter, I didn’t think they were going to miss,” said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard. “Fortunately, we were making a good share ourselves and hanging in there.”
After its 23-point first quarter, Hampton (18-10) cooled off considerably, its undoing coming in an 11-and-a-half minute stretch spanning the first and third quarters in which it made just one of 15 shots and was outscored 26-5.
“They came out just firing away,” Katstra said. “I think we just had to keep our cool and play good defense, box out, and we knew our shots would keep falling.”
The Crabbers’ futility from the field resulted from poor shooting and shot selection, combined with the Patriots’ stifling man-to-man defense which extended itself to limit Ray’s long-range shooting ability. He made 3-of-4 from behind the arc in the first quarter, but was 1-for-6 the rest of the game.
“I just thought we struggled getting into our game after the first quarter, Brown said. “I thought our guys let their guard down after the first quarter and then (the Patriots) got going in the second quarter. I mean, 18-5 in the second quarter, that was the game in my opinion. They got confident, and we were reeling.”
That’s as Katstra continued to assert himself against the Crabbers’ zone, going 7-for-8 in the first half (11-for-14 overall) and helping Albemarle turn a four-point deficit into nine point lead by halftime with that 18-5 second quarter advantage, often beating traps for easy baskets.
“We thought they would come after us with a lot of traps and stuff, and we were going to take it at ‘em,” Maynard said. “We worked really hard at getting that pass through the first wave of their traps, and once we did that, we knew we had the numbers, and I have a couple of good finishers, so there’s no need backing off and letting them trap us again.”
Katstra, who overcame sprains of both ankles earlier in the season that kept him out of action for a couple of weeks, helped extend the lead to 13 early in the third quarter with a layup and a dunk on consecutive possessions.
The Patriots extended that lead to as many as 14 points at several points in the fourth quarter, as Hampton, after its disastrous second quarter, got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
“Our magic stopped tonight; their magic kept going,” Brown said, later noting his own team’s lack of discipline. “We were more athletic than them, but they were more skilled than us.”
The Patriots managed the hype and attention they’ve received as a result of reaching the state tournament for the first time.
“This whole week has been so much hoopla and media and stuff about going to states that we didn’t want to just come to states,” Maynard said. “We wanted to come here and represent and play well.”
It may be the first time the Patriots have reached the state tournament, but if they can represent twice more, they’ll be bringing a state championship home to Charlottesville. That process starts with their early-morning tilt Tuesday.
“10 o’clock, I told the guys that’s a strange time to be playing, but I’m the happiest man in the world to be playing Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.,” Maynard said.
Said Hahn: “It’s just good to live in the moment right now. It’s a great moment for everybody.”

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