The last time Monticello beat Western Albemarle in girls basketball, point guard Bridgett Holleran was in middle school. Heck, two of her fellow starters were still in elementary school.
The Mustangs’ five-year wait is over.
“It feels so good,” Holleran said. “We’ve wanted it so bad ever since I’ve been on varsity. We’re definitely hyped.”
Monticello ended its long skid Friday night, holding off a late charge by the Warriors to grab a 35-32 victory. The loss also avenged the Mustangs’ loss during the Holiday Classic back in late December at the hands of the Warriors.
More importantly though, it proved the Mustangs could win a tight game on the strength of their defense, which hasn’t been the case all season.
“The games we’ve won, we’ve had to score a lot of points,” said Monticello coach Josh McElheny. “We haven’t been able to win low-scoring, close games so it was nice to not get a lot of shots off but still hit some clutch shots down the stretch.”
With former Western assistant McElheny now leading the Mustangs, these two teams are about as familiar with each other’s style and approach as two teams possibly could be. That led to a physical, low-scoring contest as both teams leaned on their defensive prowess.
“Two teams that know each other really well, run similar systems if not identical plays—it really just came down to a few points here and there,” said Western coach Kris Wright. “They really were aggressive in the second half.”
Bridget Holleran, in particular, put the ball on the floor and got to the rim during the second half. She drew four key fouls and buried the eight ensuing free throws. She finished with 16 points to lead all scorers.
Meghan Comer also got into double figures with 10 points including a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. But her tenth point with less than five seconds to play was the most critical, as she knocked down her second of two free throws to extend Monticello’s lead and force Western to attempt a 3-pointer to tie at the buzzer. The freshman calmly bounced back from a miss on the first attempt to hit the second.
“I thought she was going to make both, I knew she was going to put one in, there was no question in my mind,” McElheny said.
Western had to work just to get the chance at the game-tying buzzer beater. Sydney Fewell knocked down a key 3-pointer to pull Western within one, and then came up with a steal at the 1:39 mark.
“We ran an out of bounds play to get her the shot which I think she missed but then we ended up getting her the shot in the exact same spot,” Wright said. “Then we got the ball back and we just couldn’t score. Most of the games we’ve lost have been because of empty possessions on offense.”
Kathryn Crickenberger led the Warriors with 10 points, going six for seven at the line.
The Warriors will get a few days off for exams before taking on Powhatan Friday while the Mustangs will take on Louisa County Tuesday.
