It was almost as if Buckingham County was trying to play a game of 21. The Knights went to the paint the entire night against Bluestone, on set plays and in transition. And who could blame them. The aggressor all night, Buckingham trailed only at 2-0 in the first quarter. With four players reaching double figures, the Knights added a James River District tournament title to its regular season championship with a 67-48 win at home to secure their position as the number two seed for the upcoming Region B tournament.
“Our kids did a great job in the third quarter coming out of halftime and just executing,” said Buckingham coach Russ Gowain. “This was a big win for us, so important because we were able to hold on to that second seed which is huge when it comes to our region. I’m pleased with the effort and it’s been a long haul for us. Ever since we lost in January ever game seems to have been a must-win and they’ve stepped up and delivered. It’s not often that you see a team win a regular season and tournament championship as we see all across the state each year with some upsets.”
Between Timmy Randolph, Cam Johnson, Tyrique Bartee and Dre Scott, the pursuit inside started in the first quarter and never relented. The Knights built a 6-point lead in the first quarter before making it a double digit margin in the second frame, something they held for the rest of the game as they went into halftime with a 28-14 lead.
“I just felt confident,” Randolph said. “I felt like I could get in there and take my shots and play my game.”
Out of the break, Buckingham established total control in the third quarter.
“In the third we just kept firing,” Randolph said. “I don’t know what it is about us (in the third quarters), but it works.”
The Knights went up by 21 in the first two minutes of play there and closed the frame with a 22-point advantage by again getting to the rack on seemingly every possession and seeing Kyree Koonce fly all over the court defensively.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Barons put together their only charge, working the lead down to 11 points with just under two minutes to go as the Knights struggled a bit at the free throw line. That changed quickly though as Buckingham’s defense defended against the 3-pointer and collected rebounds and started converting at the line.
“We had to attack them because they were a little weak in the post,” Johnson said. “We knew that getting the ball to Timmy and Dre down low that we could bring their guards down to play defense and take advantage of that and our size there.”
Back up by 16 inside of 90 seconds to go, the Knights were able to put their starters on the bench and finish out the game comfortably.
“We felt like we do a good job of taking the ball to the basket, it’s been our game all year,” Gowain said. “We’re a slashing type team and we took advantage of it.”
Johnson led the way for Buckingham with his 17-point effort while Randolph added 13. Scott and Bartee both finished with 11 to make an all-around balanced scoring effort.
By virtue of their 1-loss season going into the Region B tournament, Buckingham will host Goochland in the first round. The Bulldogs delivered the Knights their lone loss of the year at Goochland in overtime. Buckingham took the second meeting by double digits on its home court. The Knights are looking for their first state berth since making it to the Group A Division 2 title game when this current senior class were all freshman back during the 2009-2010 season.
“This is big having the tournament here because you might come out sluggish, but you’re going to have the home crowd behind you to pick you up,” Johnson said. “We’re preaching ‘finish’ because we’ve come up short the last few times. This senior group, we know what it means to take the next step, get over the hump and get to VCU (where the state tournament is played).”
