Louisa County’s Sylvie Jackson and Olivia McGhee are both looking to pass first. That unselfish approach by the Lions’ two standouts is part of why Louisa has so many players involved through three games.
“It’s really something you can’t coach, they already have it,” said Louisa coach Nick Schreck. “That’s what makes this team really special — those two find the open person, they hit them with the open passes and that’s what keeps us going.”
Jackson was still looking to pass first Friday night in the Lions’ 70-39 victory over Charlottesville, but when Jackson was open, she was feeling it, pouring in 28 points despite sitting with more than half the fourth quarter left to play. The performance came on the heels of Jackson picking up her first Division I offer, to Radford, earlier in the day.
“I’m a pass-first player but if I’m open I’m going to shoot it,” Jackson said. “Tonight I was just on so I was just shooting it.”
Jackson knocked down four 3-pointers, hit an array of tough jumpers, unleashed an impressive post move and finished in transition as the Lions’ press jumpstarted a lot of their scoring against the Black Knights. That press is a nightmare all its own, with a variety of players including Emion Byers and Taylor Fifer serving as the tip of the spear while Jackson and then McGhee are waiting to trap a few feet behind or close to halfcourt.
“We emphasize transition defense and making stops,” said Louisa’s Alexis Chapman. “That’s one of the big things we take away. And when you get the rebound, have your people running, look for them and that’s where we get our easy layups and points.”
Even Charlottesville, a team that’s used to playing fast, struggled at times to advance the ball past half court and when they did they had to work for it. The Lions’ length makes it particularly challenging.
“Our defense is going to carry us, we’re a long group, we have a lot of long girls and the more aggressive we can be on the defensive end it really helps us offensively,” Schreck said. “That’s what gets us going every single game.”
McGhee finished with 12 points after a slow first half where she drew a ton of attention from the Black Knights’ defense which helped open things up for Jackson.
“Having another high level player on the court helps speed us up but keep it composed,” Jackson said.
McGhee in turn offset that slow-for-her offensive production with savvy defense and a number of big-time passes that weren’t always finished at the rim but got a lot of different players involved like Byers (eight points), Fifer and Lydia Wilson. Sydney Perkins and Haley Walter also knocked down threes for the Lions in the fourth quarter. McGhee’s distribution in particular (she averaged 5.0 assists per game coming into the CHS matchup) and her ability to work off pick and roll action is why Louisa had 10 different scorers in the mix.
Charlottesville hung tight early with the Lions, before Louisa’s press got going, but the Black Knights’ young roster kept fighting every minute of the game. The Black Knights provided the Lions’ most significant challenge of the young season, scrapping for loose balls and forcing the Lions into a lot of second chance opportunities that Louisa cashed in on.
“Our effort was there, we had a lot of girls play really hard all night but to (Louisa’s) credit they’re relentless,” Daly said. “We’ll look at the film and see the second chance points but I bet that’s the difference in the score.”
Freshman Rayquel Allen led the Black Knights with 16 points while Andrea Lefkowitz notched 12 points on senior night. Lefkowitz is CHS’s lone senior on a roster that includes a trio of freshmen.
“I know the score separated there in the second half but I think our effort was even better than it was on Tuesday (in a win over Fluvanna),” Daly said. “That’s what we’re really focused on is week-by-week, game-by-game, if we get better, that’s how teams grow over the years.”
The Black Knights will travel to take on Monticello Tuesday while the Lions will host Chancellor Monday night.
