Stories

Finding his place

In arguably the most entertaining contest between two of the area’s best boys basketball teams this season, few things stood out more in Blue Ridge’s 52-51 victory over Miller than Cameron Anderson’s athleticism – and when you consider the number of collegiate level athletes on the court, and the amount of substitutions that the Barons made, that’s saying something.

Blue Ridge had size before Anderson transferred over from Albemarle. With both Darnell Turner and Isaiah Battle manning the post, it’s a full house for the Barons. But in basketball there’s no such thing as too many big players.

Turner and Battle are true centers as they don’t just tower over a lot of their competition, they take up a lot of space as well. And In prior years Anderson was relegated to play center simply because of his height, but now as a power forward, he’s able to showcase his ability to move around the court.

Because of the team’s depth, Anderson and the rest of the Blue Ridge starters don’t play the minutes that most starters for other schools do, but against Miller, when the junior was in the game he was able to make his presence felt with his ability to slip inside the key and make highly contested shots and also scrap over rebounds with the likes of Memphis-bound Hippolyte Tsafack. And on offense, when it was too crowded to go inside, Anderson showed his ability as a shooter, hitting his mid-range jumper with ease.

Toeing the line against the best was exactly what Anderson wanted.

“To me, I think it’s more fun (that way),” Anderson said. “(Miller is) big, they’re fast, they’re strong. That’s what I might see at the college level so I might as well start seeing that now.”

Yes, college. And there’s no reason that the Charlottesville native shouldn’t have those aspirations on his mind. When asked about Anderson’s development, Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey was quick to point out that while the first year Baron still has more to build on, he’s more than satisfied with the recent progress, particularly from a hustle standpoint.

“He’s really starting to play harder,” Ramsey said. “Once he does that he’s really impressive.”

Of course, a good chunk of credit for Anderson’s play on Thursday should probably go to Blue Ridge’s point guard Chad Holley – another player who seems to shine whenever the spotlight is pointed to St. George. The Barons’ floor general made it a point to get Anderson involved when the two were on the court together and it’s easy to understand why. Holley’s style of play is nothing short of aggressive, and he’s trying to get his teammate to play with the same mentality.

“When he’s aggressive he’s a problem to try and handle,” Holley said. “He’s long, he pump fakes well and he knows how to finish.”

A good finish is exactly what Blue Ridge needs. This team has shown year after year that they’ve got the talent. The question is, can they finish the job when comes to the post season play in March? If Anderson continues to develop, the Barons’ odds will only improve.

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