Western Albemarle was clinging to a one-point lead in overtime and a Monticello shot bounced off the rim. If the Warriors come up with the rebound, they more than likely hold on to win.
But the Mustangs’ Jhalil Mosley wanted that rebound. Bad.
“He wanted it — I tip my hat to him,” said Western Albemarle coach Darren Maynard. “He wanted that ball more than anybody on the floor.”
Mosley hauled in the rebound and buried a pair of foul shots to put Monticello up by one, and the Mustangs managed a 73-69 win as Western turned the ball over twice in the closing seconds.
Mosley finished with 27 points in the win, combining with fellow sophomore guard Denzel Terry to give the Warriors’ backcourt fits throughout the game. Terry finished with 16 points and an incredible 10 steals, many of them coming down the stretch as Monticello turned the pressure up in the fourth and kept it going during overtime.
Even after Mosley’s two free throws put the Mustangs up, Monticello kept the pressure on, forcing a traveling violation and a steal by Mosley that sealed the victory as time expired.
“Coach told us when (Western’s guard) came down he was going to turn his back and when he turns his back, jump him,” Mosley said. “And that’s what he did.”
Terry’s performance was an incredibly gutty one, as the sophomore battled a respiratory virus that caused him to spit up a little bit of blood at halftime. Terry decided whatever was giving him problems didn’t matter to him as much as knocking off the Warriors.
“I was really watching and whenever he needed a break we got him out of there,” Martin said. “But once he decided in the second quarter that he didn’t care if he was sick, he was just going to play — that’s when everything turned around for us.”
Terry’s ramped-up effort on the defensive end helped Monticello flip a 20-10 first quarter advantage by Western into a deadlocked game that went to overtime. Monticello grabbed its first lead since the early first in the third quarter with an 8-0 run capped by a Terry steal and two. Western answered back though with a solid spurt, building a 58-53 advantage during the fourth on a Ben Turner bucket.
“Denzel was playing lock down on his man, he really energized the team,” Mosley said. “It’s pretty much up to him to set the tone on defense.”
Another Turner basket with about one minute to play and a Cody Pillow free throw gave Western a 61-58 lead with 30 seconds on the clock. Monticello called a timeout and Martin called for a double screen for Kevin Archer, the junior scorer who’d had trouble finding his stroke much of the night. Archer didn’t flinch at the assignment and buried the 3-pointer from the top of the key off a Mosley assist.
“I said Kevin you’ve got to come off the double screen and I know you’re going to hit it,” Martin said.
Western was at its best when the Warriors pounded the ball inside to Christian Asher and Turner. Asher finished with 19 points while Turner had 17 of his own, burying seven of eight free throw attempts.
The Mustangs’ backcourt pressure, however, prevented the forward from getting the ball during overtime often enough as the game see-sawed back and forth.
“That’s a devastating loss,” Maynard said. “We’ve had a lot of those this year. We’re playing everybody tight but we can’t win down the stretch.”
Western will have to bounce back fast against Louisa County tonight on the road at 7:30 while the Mustangs will jump into a holiday tournament next week in Brunswick.
