Sports
UPCOMING EVENTS
02
04 2022
02
Prep basketball: Patrick Henry at Hanover 6:00 p.m./7:30 p.m.
04 2022
Prep basketball: Atlee at Mechanicsville 6:15 p.m./7:45 p.m.
| Youth, High School, College, Recreational & Professional
Patriots get much-needed wins at Atlee By Rob Witham for The Local MECHANICSVILLE — It was the perfect combination of youth and experience. Players who knew no better paired with a grizzled veteran who knew exactly what needed to be done. In spite of being assessed a pregame technical foul and watching the Atlee Raiders break open an early 7-0 lead, Patrick Henry’s boys basketball team hung around in the first half, took the lead in the third period, then held on to earn a critical 57-50 victory, a win not just over a rival, but against a team just above them in the standings in Region 4B. “We’re coming down to the end, and everybody’s jockeying for, trying to move up in the bracket, man,” noted Patriots head coach Randy Anderson. “As a county game, a rivalry game, we knew it was going to be tough.” It was an emotional night as well, as the Raiders honored their nine senior members of the team. The most prolific of the group, Rival Axselle, hit a pair of treys in the first period, the two technical foul shots to start the game, and made a beautiful pass to fellow senior Bronson Davis for a basket to give the Raiders an early 14-5 lead. Dave Lawrence/The Local
Atlee’s Rival Axselle (13) gets fouled by Patrick Henry’s Christian Berry (5) in the Patriots’ 57-50 come-frombehind win over the Raiders Thursday night. Axselle led all scorers with 25 points.
Patriot big man Micah Dabney picked up his second personal foul with 2:31 left in the first, meaning senior Christian Berry would have a load to bear in the paint. First, it was defensively, helping Patrick Henry keep it close in the first half. After Axselle hit a trey to up the lead to 22-14 with 5:50 left in the half, he would help repel not one, but two Patrick Henry rallies, making 4-of-5 free throw shots in the last two minutes of the half to allow the Raiders to take a precarious 30-29 edge to halftime. “Grit. Straight grit and toughness,” Anderson said of his team’s defensive performance down the stretch in the first half. “In the first half of the season, you probably would have been looking at a team that had their heads down, and [Atlee’s] lead probably would have (increased). The second half of the season? Everybody understands who they are now.” That understanding helped a third period unfold which stunned the Raider faithful in attendance. Berry would make a basket down low, then hit a reverse layup to give Patrick Henry the lead at 37-36 midway through the third. Then the freshmen contributed. Aiden Trimiew buried a jumper, then, later, Landon Peterson, who scored the first five points of the game for Patrick Henry, scored off a steal, part of an 11-2 run to end the third period as the Patriots took
The Mechanicsville Local
see WINS, pg. 22
February 2, 2022
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