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District Control: Albemarle boys beat Western to take district’s top spot

It took some work and some help, but Albemarle basketball is back control of the Jefferson District regular season title race.

 

Withstanding a late fourth-quarter surge by Western Albemarle, Albemarle beat the Warriors 68-62 Friday night to put themselves up one game in the Jefferson District standings with only a week left in the regular season.

With a sold-out crowd at Albemarle as loud as it ever has been, the spirit and energy were flowing from the jump.

“It’s awesome, especially since COVID,” said Albemarle Senior Carter Wesson. “Everyone can come, it’s great. It’s great having that environment, especially at home.”

In the first period, Albemarle couldn’t have asked for a better start on both ends of the floor. On offense, Carter Wesson hit his first 2 three-pointers, Senior La’mari Parler found ways to score, and as a result, the Patriots jumped out to an early lead.

On defense, the Patriots’ goal was clear: keep the ball out of the hands of Josh Sime. Albemarle strategically matched up Noah Grevious on the 6-foot-7 Josh Sime. On paper, one might think it was a mismatch in favor of Western, but like the first matchup between the two during the Holiday tournament, it went the other way.

Grevious largely contained Sime in the first half, limiting him to three points. About halfway through the second quarter, Sime found himself in foul trouble that has plagued the Warriors’ big man much of the season in big games. Western seemed to find its rhythm towards the end of the first half, but Albemarle led 36-28 at halftime.

In the third quarter, both teams were largely evenly matched. The difference in the margin with the score was never drastic; each team traded bucket for bucket. For the Warriors, they started to gain a significant advantage in rebounding. James Dahl would make his presence felt on the glass with putbacks and rebounds. Dahl went on to post a double double, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds on the night.

Western’s Wes Gobble, who had a quiet first half, also turned it on, finding ways to penetrate Albemarle’s defense and finish. Gobble finished with 15 points, 14 of which came in the second half.

Late in the fourth quarter, Western rallied and found themselves within a point of Albemarle. From that point on, Albemarle senior Christian Humes took over the game. Humes finished in transition and executed the Albemarle offense to perfection. But it was a Lamari Parler with an and one bucket that sealed the deal for the Patriots.

“We did some good things at various stretches of the game,” said Western coach Darren Maynard.  “We had a lot of toughness, but we kind of lost our toughness right in that one stretch. We got it to one, we didn’t do anything right defensively or offensively for about two minutes. At that point in the game, it was too late to come back.”

For Albemarle, Carter Wesson is excited about the implications the result of the game has going forward.

“(The win) gives us a home court advantage when it comes to the district tournament,” said Wesson. “As long as we win out these next two games, we will be the regular season district champions, which is huge. It’s a big win.”

Western will take on William Fleming Saturday afternoon before facing a tough Fluvanna County team that beat the Warriors in their first matchup while Albemarle travels to face Louisa on Monday.

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