With second place on the line in the Jefferson District standings, it was only fitting that Charlottesville and William Monroe wailed on one another until the final buzzer. In a long physical game, ultimately is was free throws that provided the difference, with the Greene Dragons coming out on top, 41-38.
“We were turning the ball over in the first half and not showing a lot of patience,” said Monroe coach Phillip Lamb. “In the second half we did a better job of taking care of the ball. As the game went on we kept preaching ‘attack, attack, attack’ so that we could get to the line. We’ve been a pretty good free throw shooting team this year.”
In a game where the whistles seemed to sound just seconds apart, Monroe was able to convert 19 points of its 29 attempts to fuel its offense, good enough for just under half of its total production. And while the foul shooting was pretty good for much of the contest, late in the fourth quarter the Dragons were at their best as Katelyn Roach put her team out in front in the final minute of play and she and her teammates were able to close the game out against the Black Knights.
Monroe established a 5-point lead early in the first quarter, but Charlottesville closed the gap to make it a 1-point game heading into the second. From then on it was a back and forth tilt with both teams relying on their defenses to get the job done, while on offense, it was a matter of being patient and getting off clean shots close to the basket.
“I thought we had really good ball movement tonight,” said Monroe’s Alexa Smith. “We were able to get the ball around to all of our shooters and finish.”
Smith and Cave each had strong games for Monroe with the two trying for a game-high 12 points. Smith finished with a double-double by adding 10 rebounds. Roach chipped in seven points, and was one of many players to get banged up in the contest as a second quarter spill required that she come of the game. But the senior returned and played an instrumental role in the win with her fourth quarter free throws.
Charlottesville was forced to play without one its best down the stretch as an ankle injury took out Ellie Von Storch. Before going out, the senior had nine points. Syndey Calloway tied Von Storch for a team high nine points, and just behind her was Olivia Levine who chipped in eight points.
“A little less fouling and a little more finishing under the basket and it might be different,” said Black Knights coach Dee Mitchleson. “I told the girls it was a brand new game, 0-0, at halftime. We were able to get up by six points, but then lost all of it at the free throw line, putting them on it.”
Both coaches brought up the importance of finishing strong with each team facing three more JD squads before the tournament, and in both cases, all three are in the bottom three of the standings.
“We can’t slip up if we want to catch them,” Mitchelson said.
Lamb didn’t see it any different either.
“We’ve got to close the season strong to make sure we don’t give them any ground,” Lamb said.
Monroe (16-3, 11-2) heads to Louisa County on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Charlottesville (9-5, 6-4) also has a road matchup. The Black Knights face Goochland also on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
