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Berry’s double-double nets win for PH
By Dave Lawrence Sports Editor
MECHANICSVILLE — For a while, it looked as if Hanover’s girls and boys basketball teams would sweep their visitors from Ashland, Patrick Henry, in a pair of games with consequences for the forthcoming Region 4B tournament.
The Hawk girls opened the night by holding off the stubborn Patriots with a 44-35 win. The Hawk boys hoped to keep the trend alive, and looked as if they might succeed after a 26-16 first quarter.
But this time, the recent history wouldn’t repeat itself. Patrick Henry’s boys regrouped and outscored Hanover 16-8 in the second quarter and went on to close within two points at halftime and pull ahead in the second half for a 64-55 win.
“I’m so proud of these guys,” said Patrick Henry boys basketball head coach Randy Anderson. “I feel like we’re gelling, connecting as a unit. I think they all believe now.
“I think the first half of the season, it was kind of like a scrimmage. We had so many guys we weren’t used to starter roles. It took us the first half of the season to get right, get our rotations right, see who our main guys are.”
One of the Patriots’ main guys is Christian Berry, the only four-year varsity player on the team. Berry did not disappoint, scoring 25 points and grabbing 17 rebounds.
“He’s a football guy. He’s going to play at Davidson. But
Dave Lawrence/The Local
Patrick Henry’s Christian Berry (5) battles through to the basket despite the defensive efforts of Hanover’s Charlie Rohr (2) and Owen DeShazo (12) in the Patriots’ 64-55 victory over the host Hawks Friday. Berry fi nished with 25 points and 17 rebounds.
we told him, we said, ‘Big dog, you have a skill set that you can get big on this basketball court. Don’t settle for anything.’ I’m so happy for him.
“At one point I thought he wasn’t going to survive the whole game. He was getting winded. But he kept sucking it up.”
Hanover head boys basketball coach Rob Rice expected a battle.
“We knew that they were going to always fight,” he said. “I knew it was going to be a tough game. I thought we needed to be a little bit mentally tougher. I thought we broke too many times.
“But we still have time to improve. I still believe we will get to where we are trying to go.”
The Hawks began the evening on the attack and controlled the fast tempo through the first quarter. But Rice said Patrick Henry made adjustments and managed to knock Hanover off balance.
“They did a good job of constantly changing things to make our guys think. And when you think, you’re slow,” Rice said of the Patriots’ defensive adjustments. “We want our defense to dictate our offense, but tonight our offense dictated our defense. When we weren’t shooting well or getting the shots we wanted, our defense was not as good. And that’s a bad recipe for a basketball team.”
Berry had plenty of help in the offense department for the Patriots. Landon Peterson scored 14 points and Micah Dabney added 10.
Beau Sahnow led Hanover with 17 points, with Owen DeShazo adding 10.
In the girls game that opened the doubleheader, the Hawks stayed a few steps ahead of the Patriots throughout, but most of the time, not by much.
“Patrick Henry’s a great team. They’re well coached. They’ve got great players,” said Hanover head girls basketball coach Dave Butler. “I’m pretty
Raider boys halt 6-game skid with victory
By Rob Witham for Th e Local
MECHANICSVILLE — In a period of three weeks, Atlee boys basketball went from confidently expecting a playoff bid in Region 4B to desperate for a win of any kind.
Losers of six consecutive games when they entered the gym of archrival Mechanicsville Friday night, the Raiders needed something, anything, to jump start their season with only three games left.
Interestingly enough, the first points of the game were a microcosm of the past 21 days for Atlee, as — a minute into the Raiders’ 60-34 triumph over the Mustangs — Drew Hollins launched a 3-point shot which hit the rim, bounced high in the air, then dropped through the net, that moment of waiting for an outcome representative of all Atlee has gone through while seeing a 7-6 record tumble to 7-12.
“I think it’s been hanging on them pretty tough,” Atlee head coach Rally Axselle said of the losing streak. “We’ve had guys in and out and we’ve had no continuity. You know how it is, you start losing, and you start thinking about it more and more.”
Further proof that it would be Atlee’s night was another trey, this one from Rival Axselle, who banked it in for an 8-3 lead just 2:14 into the game. When Kenneth Martin Jr. knocked down another 3-pointer later in the period, the lead was 10. It would rise to 11 at 20-9 after eight minutes.
The best performance by Mechanicsville (5-12) came in the second period, using a Jordan Callahan 3-pointer and a baseline floater from Samuel Grubbs to draw within six at 25-19.
When Christion Eldridge grabbed an offensive rebound off his own miss and scored, the Mustangs were within four at 27-23 with just a minute to play before halftime. This is a moment that, over the past three weeks, a crack would be discovered in Atlee’s foundation.
Instead, the Raiders ripped off a quick 6-0 run to return the lead to double digits at 33-23 at the break. Atlee returned in the second half, doubling down on defense, yielding just four points to the Mustangs in the third period, seven in the fourth. Key to that was holding Grubbs, Mechanicsville’s most reliable offensive player, to only six points.
Jamil Mashore was the only Mustang to reach double figures, finishing with 12 points. Garrett Bralley led Atlee with 13 points, while Brady Raso had 12 and Axselle added 11.
The victory bounced Atlee back up to ninth place in Region 4B, where only the top twelve teams make the postseason. The loss for the Mustangs, coupled with an upset win by Dinwiddie over Hopewell, places Mechanicsville in 15th place, still less than two rating points behind No. 12 Powhatan. The Mustangs host Powhatan Thursday night before ending the regular season with a home-and-home series with rival Hanover on Monday and Tuesday.
The Raiders see their regular season end Thursday night with a trip to resurgent Patrick Henry, who, with a four-game winning streak, have passed Atlee in the region standings, now in seventh. Friday’s win proves an axiom the Raiders have been preaching down the stretch, trying to change their fortunes.
“We’ve really been hitting it hard the last three weeks to make sure our defense (improved), because we weren’t really shooting the ball very well,” Axselle said.
In the girls varsity game played earlier Friday evening, Madi Butler scored seven of her game-high 19 points in a first quarter which saw Mechanicsville start slowly offensively, but pulled away in the second half to turn a 25-22 halftime lead into a 62-32 triumph to improve the Mustangs to 14-2.
Kate Carlton scored 15 points for Mechanicsville, while Lydia Elkins added nine, and Bennett Carlton and Ashley Owens each contributed eight. Allison Schools led the Raiders with 10 points.
This past week saw Mechanicsville fall from the perch atop Region 4B, passed by both Eastern View and rival Patrick Henry. Fellow rival Hanover is just behind the Mustangs in fourth, thus, their two head-to-head matchups coming Monday and Tuesday could mean the difference between a first round bye in the regional tournament and having to play in the first round come Friday, Feb. 18.
Rob Witham can be reached at sports@mechlocal.com.
Joel Klein for The Local
Left, Atlee senior forward Garrett Bralley (1) drives for two of his game-high 13 points as Mechanicsville’s Joseph Evans (23) and Christian Eldridge (4) defend in the Raider boys’ 60-34 win Friday. Above, Mechanicsville’s Madi Butler parts the Atlee defense for two of her 19 points in the Mustang girls’ 62-32 win.
Mallory takes lumps in win over Quakers
By Dave Lawrence Sports Editor
ASHLAND — RandolphMacon forward Miles Mallory took a licking and kept on ticking when the Guilford Quakers came to Crenshaw Gymnasium for an Old Dominion Athletic Conference battle Thursday night.
Mallory, a junior, scrapped for rebounds, drew fouls on offense, drew charges on defense, and kept a steady hand whether shooting from the floor or the free-throw line in racking up double-double stats and leading the Yellow Jackets to a 60-56 victory.
Mallory did not let getting repeatedly knocked on the floor rattle him. He got up and converted 5-of-7 free throws and 8-of-15 field goals for 21 points. He also grabbed 11 rebounds — three on offense and eight on defense — had one steal and drew five fouls in the win.
“They’re a physical team. I respect them,” Mallory said. “You know what kind of game it’s going to be. I stayed in there and took some hits. It was worth it.”
He said focus kept him from getting rattled when he had to pick himself off the floor and go to the line.
“I focused on the next play,” he said. “I know I’m going to get knocked down. But I think that’s the beauty of the game — you get knocked down, but still score and get rebounds, all that stuff.”
It was a battle from the start. The game was tied seven times, with 17 lead changes between the two teams. Guilford’s last lead was from 2:40 to 2:18 in the second half.
Randolph-Macon head men’s basketball coach Josh Merkel was not surprised by how close and hard-fought it was.
“I think Guilford is an awesome team, super well coached,” he said. “These are the type of games that are going to make you better.
“We haven’t been able to play them for two years. So there’s a lot of things — physicality — that we saw some guys earn a lot of confidence from today, a guy like Will Coble, a guy like Dan Mbangue. Miles has been his typical self.”
Coble hit five 3-pointers for 15 points. Mbangue, like Mallory, sacrificed his body on the inside, picking up 15 rebounds (seven on offense and eight on defense) and scoring nine points.
The Quakers (12-5, 8-2 ODAC) were led by Liam Ward with 14 points, Tyler Dearman with 12, and Jorden Davis with 11.
The Yellow Jackets did not get much time to rest after the scrap with Guilford. They hosted Roanoke Saturday in another ODAC matchup and claimed a 72-67 victory to finish the week at 20-1, 12-0.
The Maroons led the first 11 minutes before the Yellow Jackets overtook them on a 3-point goal by DaQuan Morris with 8:43 left in the first half. Roanoke briefly regained the lead early in the second half, but Mallory sank a jump shot with 14:56 left in the game to give Randolph-Macon the lead for good.
Again, Mallory led the way with 19 points. Three other Yellow Jackets joined him in double figures: Buzz Anthony with 16 points, DaQuan Morris with 12, and Josh Talbert with 10.
Dave Lawrence/The Local
Randolph-Macon’s Miles Mallory (10) launches a jumper over the outstretched hands of Guilford’s Julius Burch (23) in the Yellow Jackets’ 60-56 men’s basketball victory over the visiting Quakers Thursday. Mallory fi nished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Roanoke (15-6,7-5) was led by guard Efosa U-Edosomwan with a game-high 21 points. Kasey Draper added 19 points.
Dave Lawrence can be reached at dlawrence@mechlocal.com.
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proud of our girls.”
The Hawks began to finally pull away in the fourth quarter. They did so by finding the emotional and physical reserves to pick up the pace in the final eight minutes.
“We’ve just told the girls all year that everything that we want to do is just as much in the first quarter as it is in the fourth quarter: getting up and down the floor, rebounding — effort stuff.
“When it came down to it, everyone was exhausted, including myself from hooting and hollering all night. Our girls were getting up and down the floor, grabbing rebounds, diving on loose balls. When it’s a tie game at one point, those
