ST. GEORGE — To get into midseason shape, schools will try to play some of the tougher teams out of the area. In the public ranks, schools will try and play up to opponents with larger enrollments. But for a small private school out in the northwestern corner of Albemarle County, the solution was to play the School Sport Australia National team. In an event at the Massey Sports Complex in St. George Virginia, there were national anthems for boths teams, an exchanging of gifts but most importantly, an outstanding back and forth game that Blue Ridge managed wo win with a big fourth quarter, 61-56.
“It’s early in the season but I’m already real proud of our guys,” said Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey. “They gutted it out and did it against a real tough opponent. That’s a really well-coached team and a great battle for this time of year. It’s great to get that kind of tune up.”
The first three quarters were almost carbon copies of one another. Australia would build up a six or eight point lead in the first four minutes only to have Blue Ridge erase the deficit in the following four minutes. After the first frame, Blue Ridge was up by two. At the half, the game was tied. And before the fourth quarter began, Australia was up by one point.
“We’re pretty deep,” Ramsey said. “We’ve got 11 or 12 guys that we play and I think that had a lot to do with (all the surges). We just keep coming after you. I know that’s going to have an effect on the other teams we play. It’s a little different with (Australia) though. They’re in great shape already.”
The see-sawing ended in the fourth, and behind all their depth, the Barons put together a a trio of quality possesions to jump out in front. Pushed by the electric play of Malick Kone and Chad Holley, the Barons exploded both offensively and defensively to take a 10 point lead with 4:28 to play and hold on for the win.
“Chad had a great game and I’ve never seen him play that well,” Ramsey said. “I hope he keeps that up. Malik, we expect that kind of play from on a regular basis. He’s an elite player.”
Kone, who plays guard at 6-foot-6, has an offer on the table to play at Georgetown University.
While Australia looked like they were in control for the first three quarters, they were impressed with the physical nature of Ramsey’s squad, particularly late in the game.
“(Blue Ridge) is a very physical team,” said Australia’s coach, Brett Sue See. “They play very hard, physical basketball and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
While Australia was more than able to match up with Blue Ridge’s bigger players, the Barons speed wound up being the difference in the game as there wasn’t anyone that could keep up Holley or find a way to bottle up Kone. The two went and scored 25 of the Barons’ first 31 points and combined for 41 points with Holley leading all players with 23 and Kone finishing with 18. Andre Roberts finished with 7 points for Blue Ridge, and hit a timely 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to push his team way out in front.
“I thought Andre Roberts was great,” Ramsey said. “He hit the big three but also played great defense and his intensity level was stepped up.”
For most of the Barons the opportunity to play in this type of setting is relatively unique. Not many high schools get to play national squads.
“It was a whole lot of fun,” Holley said. “It was a really great experience and it’s something that I’m going to remember for a very long time.”
In the first half, Australia center Luke Devlin gave the Barons some trouble both offensively and defensivley. The Sydney native scored a team high 15 points, hauled in six rebounds and had three steals, with almost all of that coming in the games first 16 minutes. Australia’s entire roster received significant playing time as Sue See is trying to find the proper balance.
“We are starting to get our combinations together,” Sue See said. “We have to get a lot of guys into the game and get them lots of touches so we can see what everyone can do.”
Australia’s boys and girls teams will travel and play a variety of teams through out Virginia before heading to Charlotte. Their tour will end just in time for the holidays. Their return flight lands in Melbourne on Christmas Eve.
Blue Ridge (3-0) will play in the Annual Life and Breath tournament at the Wakefield school on Friday and Saturday.
