The Monticello girls’ basketball team did not have much time to rest after their season opening loss to Fluvanna County on Friday night before they visited Albemarle on Saturday afternoon.
Early in the game, it looked like Mustangs might have a little bit of a hangover from the loss, as Albemarle ran out to a 7-0 lead. But the Mustangs rallied and ended up handily defeating Albemarle 55-46 for their first win of the season.
“In the past two games, I’ve gotten to see that this team is really resilient,” Monticello head coach Juwuhn Smith said.
They’re also young. Two freshmen, Dylan Wood, who finished with 17 points, and Samantha Shifflett, who scored 11 points, led the Mustangs in scoring. It was Albemarle’s Amaya Pendleton, however, who dominated the game early, scoring 13 of her team’s fifteen points in the first quarter.
“She [Pendleton] is always looking to create offense, and that really opens up shooters,” said Albemarle head coach Rachel Proudfoot. “As aggressive as she is, if she stays that way, there’s a lot of openings.”
Pendleton, a junior, finished with a game-high 21 points. Riding Pendleton’s strong performance, Albemarle held a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Monticello ratcheted up their defensive intensity in the second quarter. Pendleton was held to just two points and the Patriots scored just four points as a team in the second frame.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs turned their strong defensive play into effective offense, getting out in transition and frequently getting to the free throw line. Samantha Shifflett scored six of her 11 points in the second quarter. Monticello took a 31-19 advantage into the halftime break.
Albemarle looked to get Amaya Pendleton going again at the start of the second half and scored a couple of baskets to start the third quarter, appearing to get the Patriots back into the game, but Monticello responded again with tight team defense and continuously forced Albemarle into tough shots.
Monticello senior Katelyn Williams scored five of her 11 points in the third quarter and the Mustangs held a 46-34 lead at the end of the third. The Mustangs leaned on multiple players to handle the ball throughout the game, and that was crucial to Monticello’s success.
“It’s very good that we have that versatility,” Smith said. “It’s important that we can rotate who brings the ball down.”
Albemarle fought hard to stay in the game and even cut it to a 51-44 score with just 33 seconds remaining.
“I felt like we didn’t give up,” Proudfoot said. “We had a lot of energy.”
Nevertheless, Monticello was able to hold Albemarle off for the remainder of the game. Dylan Wood scored nine of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, 7 of which came from the free throw line to ice the game for the Mustangs.
While Monticello faced the challenge of playing games on back-to-back days, Albemarle was playing in its first game of the year with limited time to mesh and practice as a team.
“We like to work out our kinks in the scrimmage and we didn’t have that,” Proudfoot said. “No excuses, Monticello played great. We just have to kind of get that chemistry back.”
On the other side, Monticello’s players and coaches felt great to get one in the win column.
“It felt really good, especially coming back from yesterday,” said freshman Samantha Shifflett.
Up next, Albemarle will play at Western Albemarle on Tuesday night while Monticello plays at Charlottesville the same night.
