The Charlottesville boys basketball team defeated Tandem Friends in dominating fashion to improve to 2-0 on the young 2011-2012 season. Charlottesville’s offense exploded Friday night, ending in a 75-33 victory for the Black Knights.
Charlottesville utilized a full court press to begin the game, allowing the squad to jump out to an early 9-0 lead en route to a 26-point first quarter performance.
“That’s what we do normally is press and play man to man, so that’s what we’ve always done and that’s what we’re always going to do,” said Charlottesville head coach Mitch Minor.
Of the 15 players on the Charlottesville roster, 14 contributed to the team’s offensive outburst, as all but one player recorded at least a point for the Black Knights.
“That’s good. It’s not always going to be that way,” Minor said. “We want all of [our players] to have the opportunity when it presents itself to play and score if possible.”
Seniors Daquan Jones and Dashaun Blakey and junior Darrell Minor each logged 10 points to lead the Charlottesville offense. The Black Knight bench delivered 49 points in Friday’s contest.
Charlottesville had twice as many players score in Friday night’s contest than Tandem had players play, something Tandem coach Reggie Steppe referenced.
“We had [seven] guys and we played hard,” Steppe said. “There were 18 turnovers at half time; if you cut that in half, we’ve got a game. To me, I mean Charlottesville’s got a great team, [but] I look at our guys and I say to our guys, “Hey, could we do better?” They say yes. I say, “Okay we’ve got to stop saying yes, and start putting it on the floor.”
Junior Peter Cathcart led Steppe’s squad offensively with 11 points, followed by fellow junior Mack Kennedy, who drained three three pointers and added a free throw for a total of 10 points.
Charlottesville’s dominating performance led to a 27-point half-time that grew in the second half. The final margin of 42 points proved to be the Black Knights’ largest lead of the game.
Charlottesville is back in action Saturday at William Monroe with game time scheduled for 6:30. Tandem will resume play in the new year as part of the Steward Tournament beginning Jan. 6.
