It had been a long wait.
One tournament snowed out. Another a loss to Charlottesville in the final. A year ago, a loss to Western in the final.
But Friday for the first time since 2007 back in the Commonwealth District and for the first time since they joined the Jefferson District, the top-seeded Albemarle’s boys basketball hoisted a district championship trophy after an 81-53 victory over No. 3 seed Charlottesville.
“This one means a lot to us,” said Albemarle junior Cartier Key. “Last year we came close but this year we stuck it out, we played hard and we got the job done.”
They wasted little time in completing that job too, leaving little drama in this one. The Patriots poured in 29 second quarter points to take a 45-19 lead over the Black Knights at the half. Na’il Arnold did the heavy lifting early with seven of his 10 points coming in the first quarter and then J’Quan Anderson took over in the second quarter with 13 points including a trio of 3-pointers. Anderson, who usually earns his points by slashing to the basket, got into a bit of a groove behind the arc and had 15 points before halftime and finished with 17.
“We played really well in that first half to get a nice lead with a few key players in foul trouble,” said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard. “(In the second half) even when J’Quan and Jake (Hahn) were sitting over there with four fouls we were still expanding the lead or at least holding on to the league.”
In the the third quarter, a third guard stepped into a scoring role as Key scored seven in that frame as part of an 11-point, six-assist night. Key had to play more point guard than usual with Anderson dealing with some foul trouble, and he handled the pressure Charlottesville’s guards look to create well, minimizing turnovers while also finding ways to attack.
“He was forced to play a lot and the main thing with Cartier is I want him to limit the turnovers and (get) assists,” Maynard said. “If he gets any scoring it’s an extra bonus, I don’t even stress for him to score.”
Meanwhile Austin Katstra kept steadily building on the Patriots’ lead with a team-high 21 points while also pulling down nine rebounds and rejecting five shots. The Albemarle big man knocked down three 3-pointers of his own in the effort. Jake Hahn pulled down seven rebounds in a game that gave those two decorated seniors their first district title after years of coming out on the short end of the stick.
Arnold also had six boards while Anderson grabbed five.
Isaiah Washington led the Black Knights with 15 while Jaylen Hudson finished with 14.
Charlottesville will host E.C. Glass in the Conference 23 first round Monday night. The Black Knights are seeded fourth in that tournament and will play top-seeded Amherst if they can get past E.C. Glass.
Albemarle gets a bye in Conference 16 and will play Orange County or Atlee in the semifinals Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
