Photos by Jim and Regina Devinney
The Lord Botetourt girls are hoping measles, bird flu or any of a number of diseases don’t dismantle this week’s state championship basketball games at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The Cavaliers are scheduled to play undefeated James Monroe on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Richmond for the Class 3 state championship.
The last time the girls made the state final they didn’t get to play. That was in 2020 when their state championship game with Spotswood was cancelled due to the spreading COVID epidemic just days before the scheduled championship game. The two teams were declared co-champions and first year coach Renee Favaro was confident the girls could have won the final game had they been allowed to play.
Fast forward five years and the Cavaliers and Spotswood got to play this time, only it was in the state Class 3 semi-final. The Botetourt girls left no doubt as they took a 57-39 win over the Trailblazers in Penn Laird last Friday. It was their third win over Spotswood this season in what has become a heated rivalry in girls basketball.
“I do not think many, if any, people expected us to be in this position a year later after losing five seniors, four of who went on to play college basketball,” said Favaro, who had eight varsity players to begin the season, then lost one to an injury. “This team has found a new identity in defense. It has carried us to this point and the reason we are one of two still standing. We have worked hard to make it a focus every day in practice, to prepare for what we will see from every team we play, and our plan of attack in guarding them and all their offensive actions.”
The Cavaliers will be put to the test against James Monroe, who comes to Richmond with a 25-0 record. The Yellow Jackets, from Fredericksburg, are Region 3B champions and in the state tournament after they defeated Hopewell in the quarter-final round, 94-70, and Grafton in the semis, 64-48. They have no common opponents with LB and in January they beat John Marshall, who is playing for the Class 2 championship, 73-38.
“James Monroe is going to be a very different team than the last two we have seen,” said Favaro. “They press full court all game, they try to turn you over, out-rebound you, and play a faster style. They will not have the ball long on offense and do not run a lot of actions.
“We will need to control the pace, handle pressure, and maybe, most importantly, box them out. They have two post players who are first team All-Region kids, one who is averaging 30 and 12.”
LB is the Region 3D champion with a record of 25-3. Botetourt has lost just one game to a Class 3 team, a two-point loss to Staunton River. They beat Staunton River in the Region 3D final and the Eagles were then eliminated by Spotswood, 47-44, in the state quarter-final round. Botetourt’s other two losses were to Class 5 William Fleming in Blue Ridge District games.
The Cavaliers opened state play at home on March 4 with a game against Region 3C runner-up Western Albemarle. LB held the Warriors to just 24 total points in a 57-24 win, holding their opponent to 27 percent shooting from the floor.
“It may have been one of our best showings of the season on both ends of the floor,” said Favaro. “We defended extremely well and did not let them get anything off their sets. We shot 54 percent and controlled the game from start to finish. I was really proud of our execution on offense as well as our execution of the game plan and scout on defense. To play as sharp as we did in front of our home crowd for the final time was a great feeling.”
Madilyn Winterton led the way with 24 points and four assists. Maddie Caron added 14 points, including her career 1,000th, although not all of those points were at Lord Botetourt. Maggie Hoover had seven points, eight rebounds and three assists and Abby Kingery had seven points and four assists.
That set up a third meeting with Spotswood with a spot in the state final on the line. Botetourt had swept the Trailblazers back in December, 46-32 in Penn Laird and 35-28 in Daleville, but Favaro was taking nothing for granted. Spotswood has a great basketball tradition, including the shared state championship with LB in 2020.
This one, at Spotswood, was close for a half. The Cavaliers led by three points at intermission and eight heading into the fourth quarter before finishing strong. Botetourt outscored the host team 16-6 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the 57-39 win. Spotswood scored 24 of their 39 points from the three-point line, and only eight points on twos.
“At times we struggled to guard the three-point line but down the stretch, particularly the fourth, we were able to shut them down,” said Favaro.
Winterton, the Blue Ridge District Player of the Year, was scoreless through the first three quarters and finished with six points. However, the Trailblazers found out LB is far from a one-player team.
“Spotswood’s game plan was to get the ball out of Winterton’s hands,” said Favaro. “She was face-guarded and double-teamed throughout the game. Once that double started to come, she passed immediately out of it and we took advantage of a four-on-three opportunity.”
Caron led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds. Hoover posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards and Kingery added 11 points and five assists. Jaiden Dann added nine points, with eight in the first half. Botetourt shot 55 percent as a team while holding Spotswood to 29 percent.
“This was a truly awesome team win and the girls played awesome in the second half to close it out, again proving our defense and preparation is our difference maker,” said Favaro.
