The Lord Botetourt boys basketball team bounced back from their first loss of the season with two wins over teams from high classifications, beating Class 4 Carroll County and George Washington of Danville. The Cavaliers will return to the court tonight to play county rival James River in Springwood.
Radford, a perennial state contender in Class 2, rolled to a 39-22 halftime advantage and defeated the Cavaliers in Radford last week, 84-55. The Bobcats have been playing since December and it showed.
“Radford was very impressive and looked in post-season form,” said LB coach Andrew Hart. “We weren’t ready to match their intensity and didn’t shoot the ball well. They are a tough squad, but we didn’t perform at the level we are capable of. Hopefully, we will use it as a learning experience and find ways to continue to get better in games and practices.”
Three Cavaliers were in double figures, Dylan Salvi with 11 and Owen Prince and Jackson Crawford with 10 each. Kyle Arnholt had eight rebounds.
A night later the Cavaliers bounced back with an 81-50 win over Carroll County in Daleville. LB led by a point after one quarter, 14-13, then exploded in the second period to outscore Carroll 33-7 and take a 47-20 halftime lead.
Dylan Compton led LB with 13 points and seven rebounds while Tanner Selkirk had 11 points. It was Senior Night for Compton, Selkirk and Arnholt and all three played well.
“Great win for our players on Senior Night,” said Hart. “We played hard, had fun and had a lot of players contribute to our success.”
On Monday the Cavs were home again to take on GW-Danville and LB took a 72-63 victory. Botetourt trailed by nine points at the half but outscored the Eagles, 47-29, after intermission.
“Awesome win for our program,” said Hart. “We played with great mental toughness to overcome an early deficit. We had key players (Selkirk and Arnholt) out in the second half, but our young guys battled hard and made plays to win the game. I am very proud with our toughness and our effort in the second half.”
Conner Tilley led the Cavs with 16 points and seven rebounds. Owen Prince and Arnholt scored 12 points each and Crawford had three assists.
Following tonight’s game at River, the Cavaliers will have a rematch with Radford on Thursday night at LB. Then, on Friday, they go to Franklin County.
