Saturday, February 28, 2009
Byrd's boys, Botetourt's girls notch wins
Region III Division 4 Boys: William Byrd 56, Amherst County 42 | Region III Division 3 Girls: Lord Botetourt 45, Brookville 37
Photos by KYLE GREEN The Roanoke Times
William Byrd's Derrick Palmer (left) passes while being defended by Amherst County's Jordan McCray.
Lord Botetourt's Grace Blaylock (right) drives by Brookville's Tabatha Maddox during Friday's game at Northside High School.
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William Byrd boys' basketball coach David Culicerto is in his 25th year of coaching the Terriers, the past nine as head coach. Friday night marked a significant first.
"This is uncharted territory for us," Culicerto said with a broad smile, referring to his team's opportunity to play for a regional championship.
What about qualifying for a state tournament berth? "We've been researching that and we can't find when the last time that happened," Culicerto said.
Byrd (14-11) broadsided Amherst County (12-12) 56-42 at Northside's gym Friday night. The Terriers return tonight to face Spotswood for the Region III Division 4 title, but regardless of the outcome, both schools will advance to the state tournament next week.
Northside's spacious confines turned out to be friendly territory Friday night for Byrd. It had a similar effect for another Blue Ridge District rival school, Lord Botetourt, as the Cavalier girls also recorded an important win in the second game of Friday's doubleheader. The Cavaliers (19-7) downed Brookville 45-37 in a Region III Division 3 semifinal and will play Robert E. Lee at 4 p.m. today at Brookville for the regional title.
Amherst coach Eddie Carter admitted his team was intimidated from the get-go in the night's opening act, and the Lancers' play reflected it.
"This is the same team that won just five games a year ago. We've played well against some really good teams this year, but we haven't beaten any of them and tonight was no different."
William Byrd's oppressive defense limited Amherst to just nine points in the first half, and when the Terriers opened the third quarter with three consecutive 3-pointers in a span of less than two minutes, the lead was suddenly 22 points (33-11).
Jake Mankin led the Terriers with 24 points, hitting seven of 12 shots from the floor (including 4-for-6 on treys), while Jon Michael Zimmerman and Wesley Brugh each notched eight.
"Coach told us at halftime to shoot if we were open," said Mankin, who had 11 points in the third, including three 3-pointers.
Byrd has now won 13 of its last 17 games.
"We've been playing a better brand of basketball since the holidays," Culicerto said.
No one from Amherst reached double figures.
In the girls game, Lord Botetourt avenged a 54-51 double-overtime loss to Brookville earlier in the year, but by accounts from both points of view, Friday night's chess match was a similar tempo to the first clash.
"This is the fourth year of the last five that one of us has knocked the other out in the regional semifinals," Cavaliers coach Chuck Pound said.
"[Brookville coach] Warner [Dyke] and I are really good friends, so that's the unfortunate part. Maybe one of these years we'll meet in the regional finals [and both still qualify for state]."
Grace Blaylock led the Cavs with 19 points, making five of six fourth-quarter free throws.
Several of her teammates made noteworthy contributions as well. Jade Lewis came of the bench to score 11 and Amanda Farmer hit a 3-pointer with 3:20 left that put her team ahead 37-30 after the Bees appeared to be seizing the momentum.
Katie Deacon and Talisha Watts each scored 11 for Brookville.
AMHERST COUNTY (12-12)
Boone 1 1-2 3, McCray 2 1-2 5, Vaughan 3 1-2 8, Bowling 3 2-2 8, Rose 2 0-0 4, T. Brown 3 0-2 6, D. Brown 2 2-2 6, Wilson 0 0-1 0, Richardson 0 0-0 0, Ware 1 0-0 2, Mays 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 7-13 42.
WILLIAM BYRD (14-11)
Mattox 2 1-2 6, Palmer 1 1-2 3, Brugh 4 0-0 8, Miller 0 0-0 0, Mankin 7 6-6 24, Zimmerman 1 6-8 8, Vest 2 0-0 5, Hammond 0 0-0 0, Trent 0 0-0 0, Pearson 1 0-0 2, Johnson 0 0-2 0. Totals 18 14-20 56.
Amherst County 4 5 14 19 42
William Byrd 13 9 18 16 56
3-point goals -- Amherst County 1 (Vaughan), William Byrd 6 (Mankin 4, Mattox, Vest). Total fouls -- AC 15, WB 14. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.
LORD BOTETOURT (19-7)
MacK. Tyree 1 2-2 5, Blaylock 5 8-9 19, Farmer 2 1-5 6, Mace. Tyree 0 0-0 0, Lyle 0 2-2 2, Ward 0 0-0 0, Alford 0 2-2 2, Lewis 3 5-6 11. Totals 11 20-26 45.
BROOKVILLE (19-5)
Dunton 2 0-1 5, Deacon 3 2-2 11, Watts 4 3-4 11, Sharman 2 3-5 7, Patterson 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 0-0 3, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Maddox 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 8-12 37.
Lord Botetourt 10 12 12 11 --45
Brookville 13 8 6 10 --37
3-point goals -- Lord Botetourt 3 (Blaylock, MacK. Tyree, Farmer), Brookville 5 (Deacon 3, Dunton, Smith). Total fouls -- LB 11, Brookville 22. Fouled out -- Deacon. Technical fouls -- none.
