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Empty House, Same Battle: Warriors’ boys edge Patriots in latest rivalry installment

Photo by Kristi Ellis

Albemarle and Western Albemarle boys basketball’s annual clashes have been some of the highlights of the winter season for years. 

 

Monday, with Western winning 56-52 over the Patriots on the road, was different. There wasn’t the deafening dueling student sections, the loud roars after every made shot, the electric atmosphere that seemed to crackle when you entered the gym.

 

“Part of the Albemarle/Western rivalry is coming into a packed gym and that atmosphere but any time you play, fans or not you’re going to have a close game,” said Western’s Andrew Shifflett, who scored 22 points and hauled in eight rebounds in the win. “It comes down to grit.”

 

Put aside the atmosphere and it wasn’t that much different as the two squads played another possession-by-possession slugfest that made evident exactly how well the two programs know one another. 

 

“I didn’t even notice that the crowd not being there, I just saw the war on the court and that’s how it is every time we play,” said Albemarle coach Greg Maynard. “I’ve got to give Western credit, they executed better than we did.”

 

Western prevailed in this installment, surviving while Albemarle refused to go quietly. After out-executing the Patriots for much of the game and building a 44-38 lead midway through the fourth, the Warriors got stuck having to hit free throws to offset a series of impressive shots down the stretch by Albemarle. That included Christian Humes’ acrobatic shot with 3.4 seconds to play, a one-handed three-pointer from the rightside, pulling Albemarle within one at 53-52. 

 

Several Albemarle players and the Patriots’ bench instinctively called timeout but Albemarle didn’t have any left. 

 

That sent Isaac Sumpter to the line to shoot due to the technical foul where he went 1-for-2. Then Lucas Farmer was fouled on the inbounds and buried two more to put the game out of reach and ice the win. 

 

“I was thinking I have to hit at least one of these and two would be great,” said Farmer of his thought process heading to the line.

 

Farmer finished with eight points and seven boards.

 

The game was nip-and-tuck the whole way through, with Albemarle scoring most of its points in unsettled situations while the Warriors executed well in the half court. That execution led to some solid balance with Isaac Sumpter and Josh Sime’s scoring 11 points each (with Sime also grabbing six rebounds). Those two combined with Shifflett and Farmer to account for the bulk of the Warriors’ offense. Western hit 11 of 15 free throw attempts in the fourth, each one critical to keeping Humes’ eight fourth quarter points from overtaking the Warriors. Shifflett went 6-for-9 on his own at the charity stripe and did a good job of melting the clock and controlling tempo down the stretch. 

 

“He just keeps getting better, he’s a more complete player than last year and still does all the stuff he did last year like defense and rebounds,” said Western coach Darren Maynard. “He’s tough to handle.”

 

Josh Morse finished with 14 points and seven rebounds despite contending with Farmer and Sime all night while Humes finished with 13 to set the pace for the Patriots. Humes’ emergence was a good sign for the Patriots despite the loss. 

 

“Christian gave us a big lift, he gave us some penetration,” Greg Maynard said. “I was really pleased with the way he battled.”

 

Keeping Morse at least in check was crucial for the Warriors and Farmer did the bulk of the heavy lifting. 

 

“I thought he was a big key to the game because he had Morse most of the time,” Darren Maynard said. “We planned initially to rotate a lot of people but he was doing such a good job we stuck with him. He rally manned up and did a nice job for us.”

 

The Warriors will face a quick turn around as they host Orange County and Sihle Mthethwa Wednesday night. The Patriots travel to Orange Saturday.

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