Let’s hope this is one of at least two meetings between Charlottesville and Fluvanna County — basketball fans were robbed of what likely would have been a dandy last year. Only two Jefferson District teams were able to beat Charlottesville last season, and Fluvanna County was one of them.
The Flucos would have loved to have had a second chance, but the second meeting of the year was called off because of weather, and Fluvanna fell to Western Albemarle in the JD semis, preventing a reamatch with the Black Knights in the tournament championship.
Obviously that’s all in the past, and both squads graduated key players — no Maurice Jackson for Charlottesville, no Cameron Coles for Fluvanna — but it looks like the storyline from last year will still be in play. Boiled down, it’s one man versus the field.
Just three weeks into the season, no player has been more valuable to their team than YaYa Anderson has for the Flucos. The junior guard is a scoring machine right now and has been working the ball around to teammates masterfully as opposing defenses throw everything but the kitchen sink at him. Before his team faced Anderson this weekend, Madison County coach Ben Breeden broke it down quite simply.
“I don’t know what you do against him,” Breeden said. “We had trouble against him last year with all we had.”
The Mountaineers scraped by Anderson and Fluvanna both times, but narrowly. That was an undefeated Group A Division 1 championship team.
It’s going to be tough for Charlottesville to try and lock down and contain Fluvanna’s big star, but the Black Knights are one of very few teams in the area that have all the weapons to do so.
Charlottesville might be one of the youngest teams in the district this year, but that hasn’t stopped them at all in the first four games of the year. Some of the early credit has to go to one of the district’s more underrated players, senior guard Devin Turner.
Turner is one of just two seniors on the Black Knights roster, Richard Washington being the other. Last season Tuner was a pleasant surprise for Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor as he showed amazing versatility in his first season as a starting guard. Turner’s rebounding and physicality almost seems to catch most opponents by surprise. He’s back at it again this year, giving Minor that kind of end-to-end player that has made Charlottesville so successful in years past.
Each year, Minor likes to set the goal of keeping opposing teams from scoring 60 or more points. The Black Knight defense allowed an uncharacteristic 82 points to the Flucos last year, so don’t be surprised if Charlottesville comes out in this game with an axe to grind. They’re going to press hard as they always do and look to turn this game into a track meet.
However, Anderson has the ability to change all of that. A strong dribbler and passer, should he and his teammates break the press and turn down the tempo, the Flucos have a chance to run one of the best offenses the JD has.
All-in-all, this first meeting between these two schools has the makings of an early classic. Let’s just hope it lives up to hype and furthermore, that we don’t have the same thing happen like last year where this is the only meeting of the season.
Boys Top Five
1. Blue Ridge (7-0) — The Barons head into the break starting this week with a pair of wins over Massanutten Military Academy and Southern Tech (NC) at the VA Prep School Challenge. They’ve certainly earned some time off.
2. Charlottesville (4-0) — Hopefully the next time the Black Knights and William Monroe meet, both teams will be at full strength — hard to draw any meaningful conclusions after that game. Still, in each win this year the CHS bench continues to shine and prove this team is 10 players deep.
3. Fluvanna County (5-0) — The Flucos jump into the heart of their JD schedule tonight. A win instantly thrusts them to the top of the district. For this game and those games going forward, the key is to establish depth. If Fluvanna finds a scoring alternatives outside of Anderson, watch out.
4. Fork Union (5-0) —Hard fought 1-point win over Woodberry sends the Blue Devils into their 21-day break feeling good. Coming out of the break might be tough though — FUMA plays three times in four days to begin January.
5. Albemarle (5-2) — The Patriots get the opportunity to establish county dominance after Christmas — it’s possible they’ll see Covenant, Western Albemarle and Charlottesville in the NBC29/Daily Progress Holiday Classic. That could be helpful as they jump back into Commonwealth District play in January.
Lurking — Buckingham County (3-1), William Monroe (5-3), Woodberry Forest (4-3), Monticello (4-3), Miller (3-4)
Girls Top Five
1. St. Anne’s-Belfield (5-1) — STAB handles its business in its one game before its break by drubbing St. Margaret’s 69-21. Sarah Imovbioh’s 28.5 points, 21.7 rebounds and 4.8 blocks per game have a lot to do with the great start, but Haley Kent has been impressive as well with her averages of 8.0 assists and 3.5 steals per contest.
2. Western Albemarle (6-1) — The Warriors will head into the NBC29 Daily Progress Holiday Classic as the odds on favorite to take it all. It would be very interesting if they could make it to the finals and have a competitive cross town matchup with Miller, who’s on the other side of the bracket, meet them there.
4. William Monroe (7-1) — The toughest slate of the Greene Dragons schedule is almost behind them and they’ve weathered it well so far. Alexa Smith is major reason why. The junior forward can shoot outside and rub elbows underneath the basket. Philip Lamb’s team has a lot of weapons this season.
4. Miller (2-0) — The Mavericks are essentially coming out of a break with 15 days between games, but will be very busy before and after the Holidays playing five games in seven days. In the NBC29 Daily Progress Holiday Classic, they have a chance to make a major statement.
5. Orange County (4-2) — Courtland accounts for both losses this year. A win over William Monroe today at home would go a long way towards establishing confidence for this young team. This Hornets team could use that as their next two JD games are against Western and Charlottesville.
Lurking — Charlottesville (2-2)
