The two teams seemed like a perfect fit for a semifinal matchup. After losing all but one starter from last year’s Group AA Division 3 semifinal team, Fluvanna County was hardly a favorite to make another similar run, even with YaYa Anderson coming back for his senior year.
On the other hand, Cave Spring had a less than desirable start to its season, and for the last two weeks has watched opponents dimiss this team simply based on its regular season record. Early on in Tuesday afternoon’s final four pairing, the Flucos looked poised to make a trip to the state finals for the first time since 1990. However, team-wide foul trouble and a red-hot shooter for the Knights interceded and ended Fluvanna’s season with a 76-59 loss.
“That’s an unbelievable win for my guys,” said Cave Spring coach Bill Hicks. “We’ve been told for the last couple of months that ‘you can’t win the next game.’ Admittedly, we weren’t very good in December. I always tell (my team) it doesn’t matter how good you are in December, it’s a tournament sport.”
Before a wild turn of events late in the second quarter and stretching into the third, Fluvanna appeared in control. While Cave Spring started out with a 7-2 run, the Flucos raced back to capture the lead at 14-11 by the end of the first frame with Anderson supplying eight points during that stretch.
In the second, Fluvanna looked its best by making it a 7-point game with Jalen Harrison and Taylor Lintecum getting in on the action with Anderson.
Everything changed when Cave Spring forward Amin Abuhawwas — who spent most the first half in foul trouble after picking up two quick ones to begin the game – got back in and starting letting the 3-pointers fly.
“I’m a firm believer that you don’t win or lose the game in the first half, so we’re usually pretty conservative with (foul trouble) but I felt the game getting away from us and so I just told him ‘You have to be smart, don’t pick up that third one, you can’t get a charge or do anything unintelligent.’ He’s very patient.”
His presence instantly lifted his team.
“I thought we had a chance to stretch the lead in the first half with (Abuhawwas) on the bench,” said Fluvanna coach Munro Rateau. “But we missed some free throws and a couple of easy baskets and kept them in the game. Then Abuhawwas came back in.”
The sharpshooter hit back-to-back-to-back shots from beyond the arc and all of the sudden, the Knights were only down by one a little more than midway through the second. By the end of the first half, Cave Spring claimed a 2-point lead with Abuhawwas providing almost all of the offense, 20 of his team’s first 29 points.
Trailing by five with Abuhawwas scoring his 15th straight point for the Knights, things took a turn for the worse for Fluvanna when Anderson got hit with his fourth foul, forcing his exit from the game. Cave Spring kept firing away and outscored the Flucos 26-11 to take 17 point lead. Add too it that Fluvanna went into the fourth and final quarter with Anderson sporting four fouls and Harrison and Vinny Agee each with three.
Fluvanna fought back early in the fourth to make it a 10-point game when arguably the biggest nail in the coffin was hammered down – Abuhawwas, with three fouls himself, took a run from the baseline to the basket and Anderson stepped in to draw a charge. It was ruled a block and with 4:46 to play, Anderson was on the bench for good, fouling out for the first time ever in his high school career thanks to a trio of charges, a push and a block. With the double-digit deficit, Fluvanna tried to foul its way back into the game, but the Knights sunk their free throws and wrapped up the win.
“Like I told my kids in the locker room, this isn’t about today’s game, but the journey that we had to get here,” Rateau said. “I want to say that the seniors on this team have been tremendous leaders.”
Abuhawwas led all scorers with 29 points fueled by 5 for 8 shooting from beyond the arc and an 8 for 12 showing at the foul line. Teammates Terrell Simmons and Connor Baker joined him in double figures with 13 and 11 respective points.
Anderson, despite missing a huge portion of the game, still managed to lead Fluvanna in scoring and rebounding with 20 points and 10 boards. Harrison added 13 points. Agee poured in 15 and was the only Fluco to connect on a 3-pointer, hit a pair to account for Fluvanna’s 2 for 12 performance from outside.
The loss ends Anderson’s storied high school basketball and the Flucos will move on next year with out the Radford-bound senior and his fellow upper classmen in Lintecum and Jake Smith and Darien Dews. Anderson ends his Fluco days with more than 1,700 points and the school’s all-time leading scorer.
“It’s nice to know that I could have this journey with this group of guys,” Anderson said. “Last year we did the same thing, lost in the semifinals. It’s just this much more special though because I did it with a different group of guys. At the begining of the season everyone was doubting us. We came out and showed them that we could make it back.”
Cave Spring faces the Brunswick for the state title Saturday.
