Blue Ridge had three goals prior to their season. The Barons knocked out one of those three goals Saturday night, beating Carlisle 67-63 in overtime in the VIC championship game.
Now they can get locked in on bringing home a second VISAA Division II title with the state tournament starting Wednesday for Blue Ridge, currently ranked as the No. 1 squad in the VISAA’s Division II.
The Barons got the job done with a balanced offense, with Scott Spencer scoring 13 and Malik Johnson notching 14. The offense got a huge boost from a 16-point explosion by Aamir Simms in the second half. Simms had a slow offensive start with just two points before the break, but got going in a big way after that, finishing with 18 points while also pulling down 15 rebounds and five blocks for a massive double double.
“Aamir was a man in the paint,” said Blue Ridge coach Cade Lemcke.
Lemcke also pointed to a solid effort by Sasha Yadrishchenskiy on the defensive end and Afanna Offor coming up big on the glass.
Johnson also had six assists while running the Barons’ offense and Spencer pulled down five boards.
The Barons jumped on Carlisle out of the game 10-1, but struggled to put the Indians away/ Carlisle got things going late before succumbing to foul trouble down the stretch and in particular in overtime as two Carlisle starters fouled out.
Tajh Small led Carlisle with 20 points, going 4-for-4 at the free throw line. Sophomores Rasir Bolton and Shakur Daniel each finished with 17 points.
The Barons will find out seeding and matchups for the VISAA tournament Sunday, though they’ll likely receive a bye through the first round and start play in the tournament quarterfinals Wednesday.
