Through one layup after another, Fluvanna County piled up the points on visiting Orange County. Whether it was in transition, on back-door cuts or through dribble penetration, whenever the Flucos wanted to get to the basket, they could. As a result, it was a high scoring affair in Palmyra with Fluvanna keeping the home crowd happy with an 81-65 win.
“When the guys get open, (YaYa Anderson) and (Jamal Tolliver) will get them the ball,” said Flucos coach Munro Rateau. “I think that’s what happened tonight. (Orange) pressed, we got the ball into our guards’ hands and (Josh Hinkle, Eric Edmonds or Jordan Greene) were down by the basket all by themselves.”
The Hornets had a tough night on defense with the exception of a stretch in the third quarter, and consequently Fluvanna was able to jump out to an early lead. YaYa Anderson, Josh Hinkle and Jamal Tolliver got the Flucos to a 10-point midway into the first quarter and Fluvanna finished the first frame with 23 points.
“We did what we wanted to and we wanted to spread it out,” Hinkle said.
With Anderson killing Orange on the glass and Hinkle tallying up easy points underneath the basket, the Flucos added to their lead in the second qurter, going into the break up by a healthy 16 points.
“Against a team the caliber of Fluvanna, you can’t expect to dig a hole and expect to climb out of it without time on the clock,” said Hornets coach Keyode Rogers. “That’s what they did. They threw the first punch, kept throwing punches and we never got on our feet.”
Only after the opening minutes of the third quarter did Orange present a challenge. Behind a handful of stops on defense, the Hornets were able to cut into the deficit. Orange was able to outscore Fluvanna in the first six minutes of the third 19-8 to cut the lead down to five points as Tyler Seal, Jamal Hunter, Josh Pugh and Larry Banks finally were able to get their shots to fall after struggling in the first half.
But a two-possesion game was as tight as this one got as the Flucos responded with a 12-3 run to finish the third, and the layup drill continued in the fourth to keep Orange at bay.
“(Our) run ended when we missed three 3-pointers back-to-back-to-back,” Rogers said. “We’re in a slump right now shooting. We need to get to the rim and shoot free throws.”
Anderson had an all-around monster game finishing with a triple-double. The Flucos junior had just one field goal in the second half but still finished with 16 points to go with his 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Hinkle was on the receiving end of a lot of those passes.
“I was told to run and YaYa and Jamal were able to get the ball to me,” said Hinkle. “The back-door cuts really helped me tonight, but it was good passing all-around.”
The senior had a double-double on the night, leading all scorers with his 23 points while chipping in 10 rebounds as well.
Aric Edmonds and Taylor Lintecum each played strong, particularly in the second quarter and then again late in the third. The two each finished with nine points.
For Orange, Hunter and Pugh led the way with 14 points each while Banks also reached double figures with his 11-point performance. Seal was close behind with nine.
The Hornets (11-4, 7-3) and Flucos (16-1, 9-1) were first originally scheduled to play back in December, but three days of inclement weather pushed this first meeting to the last weekend in January. The two have just one day off and then will see another again, this time at Orange on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
