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Finish Strong: Blue Ridge basketball wins third straight VISAA title

Photo by Matt Newton

On paper, it will look like it was easy. Blue Ridge won their three state tournament games by a combined margin of 115 points, culminating in Saturday’s 68-37 thrashing of Norfolk Collegiate to win their third consecutive VISAA state championship. 

 

The Barons will tell you, however, that their journey to become VISAA state champs once again was not without some serious challenges. 

 

“We went on a month-long pause,” said senior point guard Kobe Jerome. “We didn’t have a single game or practice. Coach just preached to us day in and day out — just keep on working and results will come.”

 

Blue Ridge played significantly less games than they normally do, which meant not having as many opportunities to prepare themselves for their postseason run. Plus, they played after the pause without Michael Gray, the George Mason pledge, reigning state player of the year and a critical leader for the Barons, on the court.

 

In the championship game, it seemed for a moment early on that Norfolk Collegiate would give Blue Ridge a tough matchup. After Blue Ridge scored the game’s first seven points, Norfolk responded with an 8-0 run to take the lead. 

 

Unfortunately for the Oaks, that was the last points they’d score for the next eight minutes of the game. 

 

The Barons made three consecutive three-pointers from the senior trio of Jerome, Zion Clark, and Derrick Jones. Jones, who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, added a dunk to finish an 11-0 run to end the first quarter with Blue Ridge leading 18-8. 

 

But the Barons were not done yet. 

 

Blue Ridge suffocated the Norfolk Collegiate back court, forcing several turnovers which turned into layups on the other end. The Barons also dominated on the glass, scoring more than a few times on second-chance opportunities. Jerome, who led the Barons with 17 points and three assists, drained a three to cap off a 22-0 Blue Ridge run. 

 

“It feels amazing,” Jerome said after the win. “We won it last year but this year it’s just unexplainable to get another one.”

 

Norfolk Collegiate’s CJ McPherson stopped the bleeding and got his team back in the game with nine second quarter points. But the Barons just kept coming. At halftime, Blue Ridge led 39-22 with Jones leading the way with 15 first half points. 

 

In the third quarter, Blue Ridge locked down Norfolk defensively, an outcome which the Barons expected. 

 

“We’re a third quarter team,” Jones said. “For some reason, every time we come out of halftime, no matter what is said, we just come out and lock in.”

 

The Barons held Norfolk scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half and allowed only two points on one made field goal in the entire third quarter. 

 

“We knew we could play better,” said Blue Ridge head coach Cade Lemcke. “The defense has to be our identity. We knew we were a third quarter team. This is a group of seasoned guys that understand how to play defense.” 

 

Blue Ridge’s pace of play helped as well, as the Barons were content to work very slowly on the offensive end against Norfolk Collegiate’s 3-2 zone. At the end of the third quarter, Blue Ridge led 51-24 and had all but sealed the victory. 

 

Junior Maliq Brown did not score much himself, but had a very impactful performance with four points, six rebounds, six assists, and three blocks. Jerome hit back-to-back threes in the fourth quarter before Blue Ridge gave their seniors a curtain call with the game well in hand. 

 

“I was proud of the guys,” said Lemcke, whose Blue Ridge program has now won four state titles in the past five years and five of the last seven. 

 

It’s been a truly dominant run for one of the premier high school basketball programs in the state of Virginia and with a lot of developing young talent in the fold, it doesn’t appear likely to end any time soon. 

 

“It feels great,” Jones said . “We worked really hard towards this.”

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