Western Albemarle junior Chase Stokes wanted to atone for a two-point effort in the Jefferson District semifinals.
It took the first team All-Jefferson District honoree about three minutes to do just that and ignite Western to an 83-77 victory over Fluvanna County in the Jefferson District final.
“I definitely came out thinking about it,” Stokes said. “I didn’t perform the best in the semifinals and I had to turn it around.”
Stokes poured in 13-straight points to start the game for the Warriors as Western built a 13-6 lead with 5:11 left in the opening frame. While his pace slowed after that and he finished with 21 points on the night, the early advantage helped the Warriors hold the Flucos at bay down the stretch as Fluvanna clawed back into the game. The early spurt also allowed Western to capitalize on a strong defensive effort.
“It was definitely team defense that kept us in it,” Stokes said. “Getting stops, getting rebounds—they’d put a run on us but we’d stop and run right back.”
Fluvanna actually sliced the lead to just a bucket with five minutes left to play, but every time the Flucos seemed ready to get over the hump and take control, Western Albemarle answered down the stretch. A 3-pointer by Jake Maynard put Western up 70-62 and was all the cushion the Warriors needed.
While Stokes was on fire early, the Warriors’ offensive balance made life particularly difficult on the Flucos.
“They made shots when they had to,” said Fluvanna coach Munro Rateau. “When their shooters are shooting and we’re trying to take the post away from them, then we can’t recover to their shooters and as a result they get some open shots.”
Jeremy Baruch finished with 14 points in the post while Sam Chisholm and Jake Maynard had 12 points each. Throw in Eli Sumpter’s nine points and Brandy Berry’s eight and slowing the Warriors down was an exceedingly difficult task.
The Flucos’ offense did a lot of damage of its own on the night. Fluvanna’s Vinny Agee poured in 30 points for the Flucos and Jalen Harrison had 19 to bolster the effort.
“I thought that was maybe the best game we’ve played all year as far as the team goes but they ended up with more points than us,” Rateau said. “I’m really proud of the way we played.”
Stokes drew the tall task of guarding Agee all night, and while the sophomore had 30, Stokes made him work for every single point.
“He’s crazy good, he rebounds better than anyone I’ve ever seen,” Stokes said. “You’ve got to watch him shooting the three, watch him on the drive and watch him on the drive. You kind of just do the best you can and hope he doesn’t make it.”
While the game had no impact on the Region II standings since Western had sealed up the No. 1-seed and Fluvanna was locked into the No. 5 spot after Kettle Run and John Handley won Friday night, Western head coach Darren Maynard knew just how important knocking off Fluvanna was.
“We wanted this bad,” Maynard said. “I’ve always felt that in all the years that we’ve been fortunate enough to win the district regular season, it takes a little bit off of it if you don’t win the tournament. We wanted to put a stamp on it that we are the best team, they were really eager to do that.”
The Warriors will host Fauquier Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. in the Region II quarterfinals while Fluvanna will hit the road to take on John Handley at 7 p.m. in Winchester.
