By Allen Kha/Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
MONTICELLO – The season-opening Jefferson District game between Charlottesville and Monticello’s girls’ basketball teams looked all but over when the visiting Black Knights held the home team scoreless in the first quarter. Led by senior guard Ellie von Storch’s play at the point, a more-composed Charlottesville team jumped out to a convincing lead by the end of the first quarter.
While CHS held on to win 53-50, it definitely didn’t come easy.
When Von Storch fell into foul trouble early in the second quarter, however, Monticello quickly capitalized on her absence. Led by sophomore lead guard Bridget Holleran — who came off the bench — and junior forward Maggie Echols, the Mustangs clawed their way back into the game with a 17-10 run in the second quarter that closed the halftime deficit to less than 10 points, at 24-17 CHS.
“I was really pleased with the energy coming out from the tip-off. We finished the first quarter almost too well, it’s like we came out complacent in the second quarter and lost the energy we started with,” Charlottesville coach Dee Mitchelson said. “Losing Ellie, a lot of senior leadership on the floor, certainly didn’t help. We had to put the ball in the hands of an inexperienced freshman [Tamara Starchia], and she was a little rattled considering it’s her second varsity game. It took until the end of the game to get our energy back.”
In what turned out to be a tremendously scrappy and turnover-prone affair, the two teams traded baskets in the last two quarters. Led by Holleran’s all-around play, Monticello cut the seven-point halftime deficit to a six-point third-quarter deficit, and used a late surge in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to three points with five seconds remaining in the game. The Mustangs weren’t able to get a final half-court shot off in time, however, and lost their season opener.
Monticello coach Mike Mountjoy lamented his team’s sluggish start, but was generally enthusiastic about his team’s season-opening performance.
“It was a perfect storm of sorts… [Charlottesville] looked very good. Once we got our sea legs under us, though, we played much better. We didn’t make too many technical adjustments going into the second quarter, but just played better in general,” Mountjoy said.
Mitchelson added: “[Monticello] did a great job penetrating to the basket and boxing out tonight. They did a great job attacking us, and we definitely rushed and had a mental lapse starting in the second quarter.”
Holleran led all scorers with 21 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter. Junior forward London Todd led Charlottesville with 16 points, while Von Storch added 13 points.
Charlottesville (2-0, 1-0 JD) plays at Western Albemarle next Saturday. Monticello (0-1, 0-1 JD), on the other hand, plays at Albemarle Saturday. Tip off for Saturday’s game is 5 p.m.
