Albemarle couldn’t find its stroke from behind the 3-point line, but with a strong stretch from Andrew Mann and a couple of Daiquan West steals, the Patriots found themselves within striking distance of Brooke Point late Tuesday night.
It just wasn’t enough.
The calm, collected play of freshman guard Carlton Carter lifted the Blackhawks to a 53-46 victory over the Patriots in the two squads’ Commonwealth District opener.
“He’s very very mature to be a ninth grader, the kid can play all day long,” said Brooke Point coach Joe Kania. “I thought the foul shots he made at the end just showed what kind of character he has — we’re just tickled to death to have him.”
Carter, one of three freshmen who played big minutes for the Blackhawks, buried four critical free throws in the closing minute to give Brooke Point (1-2, 1-0 Commonwealth) space to breathe after West stole an inbounds pass and found Rashad Talley for a bucket with under a minute to play. The play cut the Blackhawks’ lead that once stood at 12 to just one point. But with Carter controlling the tempo and knocking down free throws, Albemarle needed a couple of 3-pointers and the Patriots’ shooting continued to flounder down the stretch.
“When you’re shooting as bad as we were and you don’t get after people on defense, you’re going to fall behind,” said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard.
Mann, who had a rocky first half, bounced back with a big-time stretch over the late third quarter and early fourth that put Albemarle back in the game. Mann hit back-to-back buckets to pull Albemarle within eight, then had a putback and a steal and a score to make it 38-32. That’s eight straight points and a chance for Albemarle.
“In the second half, he really gave us a good spark — he goes after the ball, he’s tenacious after the ball,” Maynard said. “We were struggling to score, so everything he could give us in the second half was key.”
Mann even had an energizing block just a couple of possessions later that helped sustain the rally. Of course it helped that West’s pressure defense forced a five second call and resulted in a pair of steals on inbounds passes including the theft that led to Talley’s late basket. West also dished out five assists in the loss.
Mayn Francisco buried a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 11 points to tie Talley, who also had six rebounds, for the team scoring lead. Mann had 10 points and six boards while Jake Hendrix hauled in 10 boards.
But the shooting woes — Albemarle went 3-for-40 from long range — sunk the Patriots. Without a consistent outside threat, Albemarle couldn’t get Brooke Point out of its matchup zone.
Carter, who knocked home 13 points and escaped the press on a critical late possession with a tightrope act down the sideline, did some damage too, as did Phillip Holmes, who had 13 points and six rebounds.
Talley had a strong second half defensively against E.L. Smiling, a Virginia Tech-bound football prospect. Smiling finished with six points and nine boards, but Talley held him scoreless in the second half.
Albemarle (1-1, 0-1) hits the road to take on North Stafford Friday before hosting Western Albemarle Saturday night.
