For three and a half quarters, Monticello’s trio of young guards — Denzel Terry, Jhalil Mosley and James Banks — controlled the tempo of the Mustangs’ game against Albemarle.
But in the fourth, the Patriots trio of big men — Jake Hendrix, Andrew Mann and Kwanaza Parker — took over.
“All of our inside guys did a great job,” said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard. “Kwanza Parker came off the bench and was huge for us and it took Andrew awhile to get going but he did.”
That group cleaned up the boards, particularly on the offensive end, and rallied from a 12-point deficit to grab a 77-66 victory over the Mustangs.
Hendrix led the way with 17 points and came up with three blocks on the defensive end.
The Patriots got into gear during a 15-0 run in the fourth that included several putbacks by Mann, who scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter and led Albemarle with 10 rebounds. Mann battled foul trouble that kept him tethered to the bench during long stretches of the contest but managed to rise to the occasion when he was on the floor in the fourth.
Parker played solid defensively and buried three of his four free throws during the game’s final stages while Hendrix was perhaps the most consistent of the post players on the night with scoring spread throughout the game.
Monticello, which is about as inexperienced as a squad can get, clearly struggled to close out the game despite dominating the transition game behind Mosley and Banks’ speed and Terry’s game-high 23 points, the Mustangs struggled with turnovers and shot selection in the fourth. It didn’t help that for the second night in a row the opposition cleaned up on the offensive glass.
“We’ve got to slow down,” said Monticello coach Kareem Martin. “We got out of what we do and what got us that lead and started rushing.”
Albemarle also got a strong outing from point guard Lee Carneal, who managed the game well in the second half hit seven of his nine field goals when Monticello started sending him to the line in the closing minutes. He finished with six assists and four steals on the night.
“He’s a steadying influence,” Maynard said. “We played a couple of big wings at times with Kendall (Hawkins) and Jeremiah (Morris) so he has to do a lot of the ball handling.”
The Patriots jump into Commonwealth District play Tuesday with Brooke Point while Monticello hits the road to tackle Goochland.
