February 17, 2012

The Charlottesville boys' basketball team claimed their second straight Jefferson District crown Friday night with a 59-46 win over Western Albemarle in the tournament finale. The loss ends the Warriors' season while the Knights stay alive with a berth into the Region II tournament next week. They will be the No. 5 seed and play at Fauquier on Tuesday night.

"I think we came in here as underdogs and got it done," said Charlottesville junior guard Jamar Pierre-Louis. "We played tight defense and we closed out on the three-point shooters."

The Knights were firing on all cylinders this week. On Wednesday, they upset the second-ranked team in the state with a win over Fluvanna in the district semifinals. In the championship game, Charlottesville jumped out to an early lead, up five after the first quarter. The Knights extended their lead to 12 at halftime and 15 early in the third quarter.

The Warriors cut the deficit to eight points more than once in the second half, but never got any closer. Western was without sophomore guard Chase Stokes who broke his foot in Wednesday's semifinal win over Monticello.

This was the fourth meeting between Western and Charlottesville this season, the first victory for the Knights.