The Lord Botetourt girls were three wins away from a state basketball championship as the paper went to press this week. Lord Botetourt was scheduled to host Western Albemarle on Tuesday in Daleville with the winner advancing to Friday’s state semifinal.
The other quarterfinal on LB’s side of the state bracket found Spotswood hosting Staunton River on Tuesday. If LB and Spotswood both won, then Friday’s state semifinal would be at Spotswood. However, if LB and Staunton River prevailed, then the state semifinal on Friday would be in Daleville. The state Class 3 championship is scheduled for Saturday, March 15, in Richmond at the Siegel Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.
The Cavaliers met Staunton River for the third time this season last Saturday, and this one was for the Region 3D championship at Pulaski County High School. After splitting the first two games with the Eagles, the Cavaliers won the third, 45-39.
This one didn’t start out well. Staunton River scored first and jumped to a 15-6 lead after the first quarter. However, LB battled back and won each of the next three quarters, holding the Eagles to two points in the second, 10 in the third and nine in the fourth with a meaningless three-pointer at the final buzzer.
Photos by Jim & Regina Devinney
“We did not do a lot well and shot the ball the worst we have all season from the floor, but we still found a way to grind it out,” said LB coach Renee Favaro. “I’m proud of the girls for continuing to fight and compete even when things were hard. It was certainly not a pretty game for us, but we will take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day.”
Madilyn Winterton led LB with 24 points and Maddie Caron added 13.
The Cavaliers opened the Region tournament with a 79-34 drubbing of Christiansburg in Daleville as Winterton had 21 points, nine steals and four assists. Caron had 20 points and a dozen boards, Maggie Hoover scored 16 points and Abby Kingery had 12 points and four assists. LB shot 50 percent for the game and forced 32 Blue Demon turnovers.
That set up a Region semifinal with Abingdon and this was a big one as the winner was assured a state berth and the loser saw their season end. LB came out on top, 51-40, at neutral Pulaski County High.
Rebounding was the difference in this one, as the Cavaliers outrebounded the Falcons by 15 boards for the game. Botetourt had 17 second chance attempts while holding Abingdon to three.
“We controlled the pace of the game to keep them from getting transition opportunities and kind of lulled them into a slower game,” said Favaro. “We then changed our pace in the fourth quarter to push it.”
Caron led the way with 20 points and nine boards while playing excellent defense. Winterton added 16 points and 11 rebounds and Hoover had seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Also, Winterton was named the Blue Ridge District Player of the Year and was joined on the first team by Caron. Kingery and Hoover made the second team. The Cavaliers were 23-3 after the Region 3D championship win.
