First Fluvanna County celebrated. Then a referee indicated the game had a second remaining and it was Woodgrove’s ball. Then after the teams traded timeouts, Fluco Nation held its collective breath for a second as Woodgrove’s Brad Gilson hoisted yet another shot during his incredible 40-point performance.
“As long as we win them, I’ll keep surviving them,” said Fluvanna County coach Munro Rateau.
Fluvanna lived on with a 67-64 victory as Gilson’s shot careened off the gym ceiling and fell to the floor, sending the Flucos to the Division 3, Region II final and the Group AA tournament.
It didn’t hurt the Flucos that YaYa Anderson was putting together a vintage performance to counter Gilson’s outburst on the other end, with 27 points, burying 13 of 22 shots from the field. Anderson also yanked down 10 rebounds to complete a double double and dished out six assists.
The difference was Anderson’s supporting cast—while Gilson’s struggled to scratch together points, Anderson’s put together solid nights. Jamal Tolliver had seven points, seven rebounds and four assists. Josh Hinkle had 12 points and Jordan Green had eight points, including a critical fourth quarter 3-pointer.
Green’s 3-pointer helped end a frustrating slide for the Flucos in the fourth quarter that started with a technical foul after a shooting foul that essentially handed Woodgrove a six-point lead at 57-51. Shortly after Gilson buried all four foul shots, Anderson helped settle the Flucos down.
“I saw everybody’s heads down when we were down six points,” Anderson said. “I brought the whole team in during the timeout and said ‘this isn’t a time to put your head down.’ And as soon as we got back out there we got one stop and then another stop.”
Gilson, understandably, slowed down during the latter stages of the fourth quarter just as Anderson got into a grove. Anderson scored nine points, including six in a row, during the critical fourth quarter, answering each time the lead swung back to Woodgrove. Tolliver then put some critical distance between the Flucos and Wolverines with a 3-pointer that gave Fluvanna a 66-64 advantage.
After Fluvanna made a stop, Hinkle apparently injured his ankle and was carried to the bench as the officials sorted out the situation. Woodgrove ended with a second on the clock and one last shot at a tie. The ball got into Gilson’s hands for the shot despite a hounding Fluvanna defense and the 3-point attempt clanged off the ceiling and fell to the right of the basket.
“He didn’t miss many shots out there…that was one of the rare misses he had all night,” Anderson said.
Fluvanna County will take on Charlottesville — who survived Millbrook in double overtime Thursday night — Saturday at noon at home.
