February 15, 2012
The Charlottesville boys basketball team pulled off the upset Wednesday night in the Jefferson District semifinals, defeating No. 1 seed Fluvanna, 74-65. The Black Knights' Darius Watson hit seven threes in the win.
"It's really overwhelming," Watson said. "I wasn't expecting to shoot like that tonight but I just had to play hard for the seniors."
The Flucos led 36-31 at halftime, thanks to Jefferson District Player of the Year YaYa Anderson drilling a three-pointer just past midcourt at the buzzer.
But Charlottesville came out of the break energized and outscored Fluvanna 22-7 in the third.
"I always tell them, down 10 or up 10, keep your composure and continue to play hard. Two points at a time. If you're down, continue what you're doing, and you'll get 10 points ahead," Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor explained. "So I thought our guys came out and played with a lot of intensity."
In the other semifinal, No. 3 Western Albemarle jumped out to a 14-0 lead over No. 2 Monticello en route to a 73-62 win. The Mustangs got within five but couldn't come any closer thanks to the three-point-shooting of Western sophomore Parker Morris.
"People were saying stuff. We all got real fired up, and we wanted to beat them because of what they did, about skipping (the suspensions); got that game so their players weren't suspended," Morris said. "So we were real fired up about that."
"We wanted to start well; that was a little beyond even my wildest dreams. We came to play tonight," said Western coach Daren Maynard. "I think our kids didn't feel real good about some things that happened over there a week-and-a-half ago or so, and some other things that happened tonight. And I think they wanted to make a statement tonight."
No. 4 Charlottesville and No. 3 Western Albemarle square off Friday night at WAHS at 8 p.m.
In other action the Buckingham boys took care of rival Cumberland, 80-66, to advance to the James River District final. Five players scored in double-figures for the Knights.
Boys Basketball
Charlottesville 74, Fluvanna 65
Western Albemarle 73, Monticello 62
Buckingham 80, Cumberland 66
Blue Ridge 53, STAB 40
Girls Basketball
Central Woodstock 60, William Monroe 42
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