The Western Albemarle boys basketball team traveled to Monticello high school on Friday night looking to continue their five-game winning streak. They had to fight hard to keep it rolling, but a fourth quarter surge helped the Warriors roll to a big win 55-33.
“We’re always a gameday circle on their calendar, they get up for us and they played super hard tonight, and it was a dogfight for most of the game,” said Western coach Darren Maynard.
Right from the start it was apparent that it was going to be a tough, physical, defensive-minded contest, with both teams coming out with intensity on that end of the floor. Western’s defense proved to be the more suffocating of the two, allowing only five points in the entire first quarter to help build a 23-17 lead at halftime.
The Mustangs gave the Warriors everything they had on defense for three quarters and had enough offense to hang in it. Dylan Scheel led the Mustangs with 10 points and helped cause a lot of Warriors turnovers that turned into baskets for his teammates. Drew Hall also had a standout performance, contributing to the defensive effort while scoring eight points of his own.
But eventually the defense and offensive firepower of the Warriors proved to be too much. Isaac Sumpter led the way with 16 points, knocking down four big three-pointers along the way. Josh Sime was a force down low and on the defensive end, scoring 11 points for the Warriors. And in the fourth quarter the Warriors were able to put the game away, outscoring the Mustangs 17-7 to get the win.
“We struggled in the first half, they were responsible for that largely, we didn’t function very well against their half-court trap,” said Maynard. “But I thought we played really well in the second half, and we were able to get things under control.”
The Warriors are slated to host Albemarle on Monday night, while the Mustangs will head to Orange Tuesday night.
