Coming into the week, if it wasn’t evident that the Jefferson District is a wide-open slug-fest, when the dust settled Friday, it was clear. Everyone is beating everyone. But you have to go back to the 2009-2010 season to the last time that Louisa County was a formidable factor in the JD. After a tough previous week with narrow losses to both Western Albemarle and Orange County, the Lions bounced back with a crucial and tightly contested win over Albemarle, 55-49, to remain players in the district with three games left on their regular season schedule.
“This is the thing we talked about trying to do before the season,” said Louisa coach Nick Schreck. “We wanted to change the mentality, getting everyone to believe we can win. When (this team) believes it can win and plays together, they’re a tough bunch.”
In a first half that mostly belonged to the hosting Patriots, the Lions had an early hole to dig out of as they trailed by five going into the second quarter and by 10 in the middle of that frame before they got things headed in the right direction.
“We were able to out-rebound them there, finish at the basket,” said Albemarle coach Rachel Proudfoot said. “I thought we did a good job early of converting off the defensive rebounds, but unfortunately not enough on the steals.”
Behind a balanced offensive attack from Ty Skinner, Yasmine Tyler, Anna Grace-Agee and DaNikqua Marshall, Louisa was able to stop the bleeding and make it a 6-point game heading into the break. And the momentum carried over after that.
“The third and fourth quarter, we played out style of basketball,” Schreck said. “It was missing in the first half — playing scrappy. Fundamentally we were patient on offense, knocked down the key shots and then got some turnovers and it turned the tide of the game.”
By outscoring Albemarle 14-7 and putting the Patriots in foul trouble, the Lions were able to stake a 1-point lead at the end of the third quarter. The Louisa defense came up big in the second half both on the glass and particularly in the shot blocking department with Marshall, Grace-Agee and Tyler combining for five blocks.
“It was a lot of hard work, a really close game,” said Skinner, a freshman. “We had to keep our head in the game. It’s been a long season and the team came through. Team defense, everyone hitting free throws. We just pulled together and I’m glad we got this win.”
Albemarle was able to keep pace with Louisa thanks in large part to sophomore Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper who was able to penetrate and finish at the basket most of the night. As such, the Patriots held tight with the Lions at 43-43 midway though the fourth.
“It’s been fun to watch her develop,” Proudfoot said. “Sometimes you have to tell her that she can take a game over and she’ll figure it out and go do it. She’s naturally athletic and basketball isn’t all natural to her yet, but when she gets a feel for the game or the team we’re playing, she rises to the occasion.”
In the last two minutes of the fourth though the Lions got hot from outside and a 6-0 run put them ahead before Albemarle’s lone senior, Brooke McAllister, led a 6-0 response to knot things up at 49-49 late. It was there that Grace-Agee hit a big shot to put her team up by two, and with the Lions forcing a turnover on the ensuing Patriots possession, the last 35 seconds of the game were spent at the free throw line where the Lions put away more than enough foul shots to hold on for the win.
“This was good see, surviving and holding together,” Schreck said. “We’ve been on both sides of that now this year in a number of games, both holding on and letting it slip.”
Louisa’s balance offensively was widespread with Skinner leading the way with 11 points and five assists. Tyler finished just shy of a triple-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with seven steals. Nya Anderson had five rebounds. Both Marshall and Grace-Agee had eight points and two blocks.
“We got a couple of good looks late but we didn’t adjust to their shot blocking and finish,” Proudfoot said. “They put two or three great blocks on us (late) but we also have to do a better job of taking care of the ball when we have it, not turn it over.”
For Albemarle, Tyler-Cooper had 13 points. Anne Ridenhour had nine points. McAllister and Aneesha Debruhl both had six points.
The Patriots head to Powhatan on Monday at 6:30 p.m. to start a week of three road games, the others with Orange and Western. On the other side, the Lions host Monticello on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
