By Liz Keller / Scrimmageplay.com correspondent
PALMYRA – YaYa Anderson found a way to top off explosive offensive performance on Tuesday night against William Monroe with a little defense.
With the game hanging in the balance, the junior standout made the biggest defensive play of the night as he intercepted an inbounds pass and raced the length of the court for an easy layup as the Flucos staved off the upset-minded Greene Dragons, 50-47 in the Region II, Division 3 quarterfinals.
Fluvanna, the region’s top seed, will play host to the winner of the Monticello-Woodgrove matchup on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“At the end of the games, I love to turn my intensity up on defense,” Anderson said. “The last time [we played], I stole the ball, and the same thing happened in this game. I just saw the ball go up and I stole it and scored.”
Anderson’s stingy defense on William Monroe’s Desmon Shaver kept the ball out of the senior guard’s hands in the final seconds, and a 3-point attempt from Gary Morris fell short at the buzzer.
“YaYa had asked during our walk through if he was going to guard Shaver, and I said at the end of the game. That was a good time to put him on him,” said Fluvanna coach Munro Rateau. “We knew at the end of the game he was going to have to guard him and we didn’t want to put him [on Shaver] too early because of fouls and Shaver is such a good player. That last possession we didn’t want Shaver to catch the ball and YaYa kept the ball away from him. If somebody else makes the shot, he makes the shot. We just didn’t want Shaver to make the shot.”
Anderson poured in a game-high 33 points for Fluvanna and reached a milestone along the way. The 6-foot-2 guard surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career in the first half.
However, William Monroe kept the game close the entire way with its gritty play. In fact, there were four ties and four lead changes in the second half alone. The Dragons’ biggest lead was six early in the first, and the Flucos led by as many as six points (28-22 at halftime).
The Dragons held a one-point lead entering the fourth quarter and after the visitors had taken a 39-36 advantage, Anderson drained a 3-pointer to tie the game. Shaver, who finished with a team-high 21 points, answered with a trey of his own as Monroe battled back.
Trailing by one point, Fluvanna retook the lead as Josh Hinkle got the rebound off his own miss and made a nifty reverse layup.
Morris was left wide open on the other end and hit a 3-pointer, but Fluvanna again tied the game with an Anderson tip-in. Shaver responded with a basket of his own as Monroe took a 47-45 lead. Anderson tied it with a pair of free throws with 1:53 remaining and the Flucos held on for the thrilling finish in front of an energetic home crowd.
“William Monroe, they played their hearts out and we’re just fortunate to win,” Rateau added. “I tried to tell the kids before the game we’d have to play for 32 minutes and we did have to play for 32 minutes. We’re used to playing tight games, so we’re just ecstatic that we get to keep playing.”
Fluvanna senior Jamal Tolliver contributed five points and five rebounds, while Morris was Monroe’s second-leading scorer with nine points. Markel Williams and Jo Jo Krynitsky scored six points apiece.
