With the 2012-2013 school year officially over we’re looking back and compiling top-10 lists of the best campaigns, best individual performances and best games we saw. Second up now are the individual performances, a sampling of athletes from Central Virginia transcending the game and team sports in general where their efforts were so dominant there was nothing anyone could do to change the outcome of the games in question.
No. 1 – Monticello’s T.J. Tillery carries the load for Mustangs
With Monticello’s season on the line and facing a Western Albemarle squad that had absolutely taken the Mustangs apart during the regular season clash, someone was going to have to carry the load. Someone was going to have to out together one of the area’s finest performances of the season if Monticello was going to escape Crozet and advance to the Region II final.
As he had so many times that season, junior running back T.J. Tillery proved to be the man for the job. Tillery ran roughshod over the Warriors, piling up a career high 203 yards at a clip of nearly seven yards per carry. He scored three times, including a 49-yard jaunt on the Mustangs’ opening possession. He also had a signature moment, his 11-yard touchdown run that, as Scrimmage Play’s Logan Riddick put it, “appeared to end in a pile-up near the right hash before he emerged and turned the corner on remaining defenders on the left side.”
He was Monticello’s most consistent answer to another brilliant performance by Western’s Kent Henry — 443 yards of total offense for the Warriors — and Tillery came up big on defense too. He played nearly every play for the first time all season in a nearly perfect two-way performance from the junior.
The best part? We’ll likely get at least one more change to watch Henry and Tillery try and one-up each other in 2013.
No. 2 – Monticello’s Molly Shephard blows up in state semifinals
This area has seen it’s fair share of incredible individual performances in basketball over the past few years, performances that have made waves across the state.
There was Fluvanna County’s YaYa Anderson’s state-record setting 47-point night in 2011, Miller product Andrew White’s 21-point first quarter against VES in 2012 (all the Mavericks’ points), and Sarah Imovbioh’s 53-point, 21-rebound outing in the state semifinals in 2010, among many others.
Apparently, Molly Shephard was ready to provide this year’s installment in the Group AA semifinals against Spotswood. The Trailblazers, known for their defensive prowess and widely considered the tournament’s favorite, couldn’t find an answer for Shephard. With the Mustangs’ season on the line, the Mustangs’ sophomore exploded for 28 points and nine rebounds against the vaunted Trailblazers, forcing Spotswood to shoot the absolute lights out in the second half to hold off Monticello.
Shephard was unreal before the momentum shifted at halftime, with 20 of her 28 points coming before halftime when she just couldn’t miss.
Let’s just say this. Spotswood coach Chris Dodson has seen a lot of basketball over the years and if he’s impressed — “I told her at the end, that’s a night people will remember” Dodson said in the postgame press conference — you’ve done awfully, awfully, well.
No. 3 – Woodberry Forest’s Jacob Rainey returns, puts up numbers against Episcopal
It was literally the compelling inspiration story you see featured on national television. ESPN’s E:60 crew showed up to see him play and conduct interviews. After having his right leg amputated in 2011 after a freak accident during a scrimmage, the very idea that Jacob Rainey could take the field seemed out of the question at first. While there have been a number of athletes across the country to ceremoniously take the field after injuries or coming down with a severe disease – a shining example came this spring when Fairfax’s Drew Bonner, an 18-year team manager with a debilitating case of muscular dystrophy was allowed to leadoff a baseball game and draw a walk – but the idea of Rainey suiting up and actually playing the most violent of all high school sports was insane to even think about.
But when push came to shove, Rainey delivered. After almost a year of rehab and then serious discussions after that, the Tigers’ senior wasn’t bluffing, nor was he intimidated by returning to the field. In Woodberry’s season opener against Benedictine he led the Tigers to a 7-0 lead going 1-for-1 on the drive, but it was his only series of the game. You could make the argument that just stepping back on the field with a prosthetic leg would be good enough for a top individual performance, but this return to the field wasn’t a publicity stunt or a ceremonial effort by Rainey or Woodberry. This was about a true desire to play football at a competitive level, despite the obvious disadvantage and further health risks. Against the Tigers’ biggest riva, Episcopal, in the season finale, Rainey got more than just a chance to throw a screen pass or hand the ball off out of shotgun formation. Rainey’s final high school game saw him complete three of his six passes for 66 yards and a touchdown. Woodberry went on to beat Episcopal 41-14.
Rainey’s comeback story is well documented. His journey back to the field alone warrants a spot on this list alone, but the way he played when he was given the opportunity made this more than just a feel good story. Now that he’s headed to UVa, all eyes will stay on him to see if he gets another chance to play the game he loves.
No. 4 – Charlottesville’s Rashard Davis and Western Albemarle’s Kent Henry quarterbacking show on October 19th
Yeah, we’re aware this is a list of individual performances. But the way Kent Henry and Rashard Davis played during their squads’ 50-49 duel in Crozet it’s impossible not to highlight both star performers from that night.
There’s Davis who, in the Black Knights’ narrow loss, unleashed a 293-yard, three-touchdown night on the ground, answering nearly everything Henry threw at Charlottesville. Davis looked uncatchable all evening long, particularly on a second half sprint for a 90-yard touchdown.
Henry edged Davis though with his own brilliant performance. The junior rushed for 205 yards and four touchdowns while also throwing for two scores and 143 yards. The deceptively fast Henry pounded the CHS defense on tough runs off zone reads and on scrambles off broken plays. He found Daniel Kuzjak twice for touchdowns through the air and put together his usual versatile, multi-faceted outing when Western needed every single ounce of energy and skill he had to hold off the Black Knights.
It was a signature game in the two teams’ long rivalry and Davis and Henry’s individual performances were a huge part of the matchup.
No. 5 – Buckingham County’s Kyree Koonce goes off in Region B football playoffs
Buckingham football’s Kyree Koonce put together a monster season, earning first team All-Scrimmage Play honors as a return man and a second team nod as a running back. He’s become one of the area’s finest backs since stepping on the field as a freshman, proving to be a versatile, multi-dimensional threat who can take the ball to the house any time he gets it in his hands.
In the process of his incredible campaign, he strung together a number of eye-popping games, including the Cumberland rivalry clash where he scored on two return touchdowns, a punt and a kick, before Buckingham even took an offensive snap.
But Koonce’s finest moment came in the Knights’ playoff victory, a 48-20 win at home against Clarke County where the sophomore tailback unleashed for 255 yards and a touchdown on the ground on just 22 touches while also returning another punt for a touchdown, his sixth return score of the season.
He was lightning in a bottle in the clash that earned the Knights a second shot at James River District rival Goochland in the playoffs’ second round, showing why the Knights entrusted him with so much responsibility so early in his career.
Koonce and his running mate Kenneth Johnson ran ragged over Clarke in the elimination game for the Knights, with Johnson piecing together his own incredible outing going for 247 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. Johnson’s presence can’t be underrated either. He’s a big reason why Koonce has become one of the most dynamic threats in the area — after all, Johnson is pretty dynamic himself and teams had their hands full in 2012 trying to account for both of them.
No. 6 – Charlottesville track and field’s Taylor Watkins day at the Group AA T&F championships
Charlottesville High’s Taylor Watkins can fly, there’s just no question about that at this point. But the only question that really remained was could she do it on the season’s biggest stage, with a state title on the line?
Central Virginia hasn’t had a female sprinter emerge as a major factor in a state meet in the last four years, with only Monticello product Sherrie Timberlake placing in the 200 in 2010 over that span.
Watkins erased those memories with her outing in early June in Harrisonburg, stepping into the area’s spotlight vacated by injured great Javanique Burruss with an incredible day in three events.
As just a sophomore, Watkins exploded to win the 400-meter dash, take second in the 200-meters after posting the fastest qualifying time, and a fourth in the 100-meters. And that second place in the 200? A photo finish with E.C. Glass’ Zakiya Bateman as both finished in 25.5 seconds.
Watkins piled up enough points on her own to give Charlottesville an eighth place finish as a team and it immediately set her up to be the must-see local star at the Group AA meet in the next two years.
No. 7 – STAB boys lacrosse’s Colin Bressan comes up 17 saves on 18 shots on goal
Colin Bressan is everything that we talked about early back in 2012 when we first wrote about him as a junior. He’s a hardworking athlete who went from likely being St. Anne’s-Belfield’s third string goalie that year to taking hold of the starting job and never letting go. He brought a certain frenetic energy to the position, constantly moving and bouncing around as if he was ready to explode while the ball was on the offensive end. Keepers have to believe they’ll make every single save, and Bressan had that confidence.
He built on those intangibles in the last two years, and, through sheer force of will, he became one of the state’s elite keepers. He’s the prototypical late bloomer, earning praise from coaches and opponents alike as he expanded his game and improved at every step along the way.
While he had a string of incredible games as a senior, the most clearly dominant performance came in a rivalry clash with longtime STAB foe Norfolk Academy. Bressan looked like nobody was going to score on him the rest of the year against the Bulldogs, coming up with 17 saves while allowing just a single goal in the 8-1 win over Norfolk Academy. While Norfolk wasn’t the force it has been in the past, the rivalry is always a heated one and Bressan rose to the occasion, shutting the Bulldogs down en route to the huge win, making up for an unusually slow day on the offensive end for the Saints. In the process, he completed one of the most memorable performances of the year.
No. 8 – William Monroe basketball’s Gary Morris goes off for 35 in the BRD semifinals
Was there a better 1-2 punch this year in boys basketball than Gary Morris and Markel Williams at William Monroe? We’ll listen to the argument, but the deck is probably stacked in the Dragons favor here, you can’t argue with the result this duo produced. And we make that point on a list like this to point out just how important the play of Williams was all year long as Morris found a way to develop into one of the best pure scorers to help out his teammate who had a hand in everything.
You could make the case, and Morris and/or Williams would probably do it for you, that the one wasn’t pouring it on without the other. And while there were more than enough nights to pick a highlight reel from this tandem as they barreled through to the Group A Division 2 final four showing, one game stood out in particular.
Monroe already had its Region B bid handy thanks to a regular season Bull Run District title, but that doesn’t change the kind of shoot night that Morris had in the BRD tournament in the semifinals against Manassas Park. In the third quarter with the Cougars threatening, Morris poured in 15 points alone as he knocked down jump shot after jump shot. By the end of the night, he had 35 points, a heavy feat when you consider there are only 32 minutes in a game. Add to it that the Dragons were up by so much that the bench came in chewed up the rest of the clock and you get an idea of just what kind of second-half groove that Morris was in.
Of course, a more than worthy side note is that Williams chipped in 27 points of his own. And while in most games it was the two working in tandem, against the Cougars in the playoffs, after Williams got Monroe off to a hot start, it was Morris who delivered the blazing hot finish on shooting effort you rarely see, especially when a team has more than one threat.
No. 9 – Orange County softball’s Aysha Richardson’s huge Group AAA quarterfinal performance
The first team to qualify for the Group AAA playoffs at Orange County, the Hornets’ softball team have banked on Aysha Richardson since she was a freshman. Her stuff in the circle is on a level of its own and on top of that, she’s arguably the best leadoff hitter in the state with the ability to reach first on a single or bunt and get herself to third base after just two more pitches. Richardson, playing for the last time at home in her high school career left a packed house with something to remember her by as she paved the way for a 3-0 win over James Madison to propel her team to the Group AAA final four.
Let’s start with the offense where Richardson singled to lead off the bottom of the first, and in familiar fashion, stole second, then third and was squeezed in on a Haley Jones bunt to make it 1-0. Even though she got two more runs of support, the first run was all that was needed. Richardson was perfect going into the top of the seventh. She gave up one hit in the dominant pitching performance while striking out 17 batters along the way.
Seniors, much less a product like Richardson who’s headed to play at Virginia Tech next year, are expected to deliver in the postseason. But there’s a big difference between delivering and taking over and that’s exactly what Richardson did against James Madison. Playing at the highest level in high school ranks, Orange’s celebrated senior put together a true playoff style senior night performance that will be the measuring mark from here on out for future athletes taking the field for the Hornets.
No. 10 – William Monroe baseball’s Jack Morris throws 15-K no-hitter
For more than a month between April and the middle of May, it didn’t really matter when you saw Jack Morris pitch, you were going to see him deliver double-digit strikeouts, very few hits and then offensively, at least one big extra base hit. It was like that every Tuesday during William Monroe’s repeat run to qualify for the Group A baseball tournament. But one effort stood out in particular.
The Dragons entered Bull Run District play in April somewhat unsure of what to expect from a young group after the mass exodus of seniors from the 2012 Group A Division 2 championship squad. Facing Clarke County, a team that was highly competitive last year and went on this year to again qualify for the Region B tourney, this was the first supposed test for the Dragons. The previous two years, coach Mike Maynard made Jordan Gentry his Tuesday pitcher. This year, Morris stepped up to take over that role and did so brilliantly, the climax coming with a three game stretch where he was unhittable striking out 44 batters total during those three games.
That run started with his Bull Run home debut, an 18-0 routing of Clarke County where Morris picked up a 5-inning no-hitter where he struck out 15 batters. In a five inning game there are only 15 outs, and the only thing that kept Morris from recording a strikeout every time was a K in the dirt where the runner reached first. It was a boring game for the Monroe defense as they were only allowed to record one out in the winning effort.
Morris, the Region B player of the year and an All-Group A Division 2 first teamer had a brilliant spring with so many efforts to pick from worthy of being on this list, but his first showing against Clarke both set the standard for future starts and stood out as one player simply dialed in where almost nothing else mattered.
Honorable Mentions
Christian Hackenberg, Fork Union football
Senior threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns on 21 of 29 passing in 39-30 win over Benedictine
Greer Martini, Woodberry Forest football
Junior linebacker had four tackles for a loss, a sack and caused a fumble while also hauling in three catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns on offense in a 43-33 come-from behind win over Blair Academy
Tyler Pace, Blue Ridge boys lacrosse
Senior had bigger games as far as points but showed his unselfishness in a wild two-goal, eight-assist game in a crucial 16-15 victory over St. Christopher’s
Joe Burris, Albemarle baseball
Senior threw a complete game one-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a regular season 2-0 win over North Stafford
Julia Haney, St. Anne’s-Belfield girls lacrosse
Sophomore went for five goals and five assists for the Saints in a balanced effort in a critical win over St. Catherine’s
David Taylor, Western Albemarle boys track
Senior won 3200 and 1600 meter Group AA indoor track
Jessica Block, Albemarle volleyball
Senior setter dished out 51 assists in 3-2 victory over Broad Run that secured state berth for Patriots
Shawn Steen, Blue Ridge football
Senior rushed for 134 yards and three touchdowns, kicked seven PATs, two interceptions on defense against Hargrave
Kendall Ballard, Charlottesville field hockey
Sophomore scored both goals in the second half of Charlottesville’s 2-1 Jefferson District tournament final win over Western in overtime
Dashon Tibbs, Fluvanna County football
Senior rushed for 197 yards and two touchdowns (including the game-winner) for Fluvanna’s first win over Louisa in 10 years
Ryan Thomas, Albemarle boys track
Junior won 1000-meter Group AAA championship in indoor, Northwest Region title in 1600-meter run, won 800-meter at Commonwealth District and set new school mark in 800-meter
Isaac Copeland, Miller boys basketball
Junior went for 20 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in 73-71 win over Middleburg Academy
Vinny Agee, Fluvanna County boys basketball
Sophomore helped put away Monticello in Jefferson District semifinals with 22 points and 11 rebounds
Bridget Shaffrey, Western Albemarle girls lacrosse
Senior had five goals and five draw controls in 14-13 victory over Albemarle High
Matt Crist, Albemarle boys lacrosse
Junior went for five goals and six assists in 15-14 sectional playoff win over Salem
Emily Kochard, Western Albemarle girls tennis
Group AA state singles runner-up
Hannah Miller, Fluvanna County volleyball
Senior posted 20 kills in 3-1 victory over Monticello, just four off school record
Connor Carson, Albemarle girls lacrosse
Senior finished with eight goals in narrow must-win against Monticello
Lauren Seale, Madison County softball
Junior struck out 20, surrendered just three hits in win over William Monroe
