By Ben Sheridan / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
After months of uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, basketball season just got going Monday for a number of local public school squads.
But the Louisa County girls were in late season, maybe even playoff form Tuesday in the Lions’ opener, rolling 79-26 over Orange County.
“These girls were excited to get out here and play, we’ve been biting at the bullet ever since our season ended last year,” said Lions coach Nick Schreck. “We’ve got a special team this year, so for us to come out and play like that and play at the level we expect to play at, it was really good to see”.
From the opening inbound pass, the Lions took control of the game, creating havoc on the defensive end by forcing the Hornets into turnovers on their first four possessions. Those turnovers turned into easy points for the Lions, helping them jump out to a big lead they never looked back from. They were attacking in the paint, from the midrange, and the perimeter as the Lions appeared capable of scoring at will. Sophomores Olivia McGhee and Sylvie Jackson led the way for Louisa, as they ended up with 25 and 21 points respectively.
The Lions, firing on all cylinders, ended the first quarter leading 32-2 and things never got any closer after that. But while they were rolling, the team was still able to keep things energized on the court and on the bench.
“We knew that we had to bring a lot of energy since the fans weren’t going to be here,” McGhee said. “We already had our bench celebrations planned out and everything, so we knew that we had to be loud and cheer everybody on.”
That energy combined with how well they played helped the Lions surge to victory over the Hornets. Leading the way for Orange was Sophomore Olivia Sciabbarrasi with six points.
After this season opener, both teams will regroup for their games next week, with Orange County playing Fluvanna on January 4 while Louisa will look to move to 2-0 against Fluvanna on the road December 29. As usual in the current state of athletics, schedules could change at any moment.
