By Logan Riddick / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Monticello bounced back from a two-game slide by pulling away from Fluvanna in the second half for a 72-60 win on Senior Night. To do it, the Mustangs had to eradicate a the main problem that had plagued them in those two losses.
They had to get out of the gates better.
“We just wanted to get off to a good start,” said Monticello senior guard Jhalil Mosley. “We couldn’t let them hit open shots and get the momentum. We wanted to get out and run and we did that early, and we set the tone on how we wanted things to go all night.”
The Mustangs’ win prevented the Flucos from tying for a share of the Jefferson District regular season crown and forcing a one-game playoff with Western Albemarle. Instead, the Warriors are the outright champions while Fluvanna is the tournament’s two-seed based on tiebreaker criteria that came down to numbers drawn back in December, with the order determining seeding between Monticello (third) and Fluvanna (second).
With the stakes particularly high for the Flucos, the student sections turned out from both schools, and a furious pace made the crowd that much more rowdy. Particularly in the first half, Fluvanna not only hit long passes after defensive rebounds and loose ball scrambles, but often beat Monticello down the court after made baskets. To counter, Monticello employed a three-quarter court press to disrupt the Flucos’ guards.
“They did a good job of pushing the ball,” said Monticello coach Robert Shelton. “I had to burn at least two timeouts trying to figure out what’s going on, letting my guys know we were getting out-hustled. They were doing a great job of utilizing the pass, and we were fortunate enough to get some stops.”
Fluvanna sophomore forward Jalen Harrison opened the game with a dunk. He also grabbed two rebounds in the opening minute en route to six in the first half. Midway through the first quarter, Monticello’s Mosley crossed the 1,000-career point mark with his first basket, a three. Fluvanna led 14-13 entering the second, where the teams continued to alternate one- and two-point leads. With little time for brainstorming, the student sections traded chants of “scoreboard” for most of the quarter, until it was no longer feasible as the teams headed into halftime deadlocked 26-26.
With the score tied at 30 early in the third, Monticello fired off a 7-0 run as Fluvanna forward Tre’vonne Bradley picked up his second and third fouls. Senior guard James Banks fired up the home students with a fast break layup-and-one. Senior forward Jahvon Shelton found room in the post to tally six points before committing his third foul at the 4:42 mark. A minute later, junior forward Alex McNair followed Shelton to the bench with his third, but a technical on the Flucos’ coach allowed Monticello to open a 46-36 lead at 2:33. Fluvanna tallied a couple of buckets as the Mustang offense stalled without their inside threats, but senior guard Denzel Terry hit a three to give Monticello a comfortable 49-40 edge heading into the fourth, when Shelton returned and picked back up inside with a couple of lay-ins.
“In the second half, I thought we gave up some easy shots around the basket,” said Fluvanna coach Munro Rateau. “Instead of getting the defensive rebounds and getting out running, we had to take the ball out of bounds, and that slows us down. Once they got the six or eight-point lead, it was tough to catch back up.”
Agee and Harrison battled for Fluvanna, each scoring nine in the quarter, but Monticello’s trio of senior guards were a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line as the Mustangs’ lead hovered around 10. Mosley effectively sealed the game with an acrobatic basket-and-foul to put MHS up 13 with 1:47 left. He and Shelton led Monticello with 17 points each. Terry added 14 and Banks posted nine.
Agee led Fluvanna (17-4, 7-3) with a game-high 26 points, 18 coming after halftime. Conversely, Bullock scored 11 in the first half and finished with 15. Harrison had a solid night with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
