The Lord Botetourt boys moved into third place in the Blue Ridge District basketball standings with two district wins last week, both on the road. The Cavs beat Staunton River in Moneta and William Byrd in Vinton.
With the two wins, LB improved to 3-2 in district games, trailing only the two “big boys” of the Blue Ridge, 6-0 Northside and 5-1 William Fleming. The Cavs were scheduled to host Fleming Tuesday and Northside Friday along with a third home game against Staunton River tonight.
Last week in Moneta, LB beat the Eagles, 62-55, behind 18 points by Blake Lovern. Brady Kish had a dozen and was seven-for-eight at the line down the stretch as LB sealed the deal.
“We had to play behind for three-plus quarters,” said coach Josh Aliveto. “I was proud of how we fought back in the fourth quarter to win the ball game.”
On Friday in Vinton, the Cavaliers spoiled Byrd’s “Senior Night” with a 65-59 win. Carson Edwards had 19 rebounds and eight assists to go with eight points. Lovern had 19, Landon Hayes had 14 and Conner Dowdy had 13.
“It was nice to be able to go into Vinton and come away with a key district and region win,” said Aliveto.
Photos by Brian Hoffman
The Cavaliers got on the bus to Salem about 12 hours later to play in the Adam Ward Classic against North Cross at Salem High. Unfortunately, they packed the white uniforms and North Cross showed up with their whites, as well. Host Salem had played Friday night and weren’t on the Saturday schedule, so LB donned black Salem High uniforms for the game.
For a while they appeared to be lucky, as the Cavs opened as much as a 14-point lead against a solid Raiders team. However, North Cross made a run in the fourth quarter and tied the game on a three-point shot that banked in at the buzzer. The Raiders then won in overtime with two seconds to go on a steal and a layup with the game tied, stealing an 80-78 win.
“We were able to play solid basketball for three quarters but were unable to close out the game in the fourth,” said Aliveto. “I was proud of how we handled a four-game week by going three and one for the week.”
Kish hit six three-pointers and finished with 22 points against North Cross. Lovern had 15, Hayes had 12 and Edwards had a dozen points, 14 boards and six assists.
Botetourt is now 8-10 overall. Tonight is Rec Night at LB.
