The Lord Botetourt boys basketball team will have a busy week with two tough district games and a morning game in the Adam Ward Classic on Saturday. Botetourt is coming off a big week and hopes to keep the momentum going.
The Cavaliers were scheduled to play 10-5 William Fleming in Roanoke on Tuesday. LB and Fleming went in tied for second in the Blue Ridge District with two district losses each.
On Friday the Cavs will take on the top team, Northside. The Vikings were 15-3 after last week’s action, and their only district loss was to Fleming.
Less than 16 hours after the Fleming game the Cavaliers will be at Salem High Saturday morning to take on Auburn in the Adam Ward Classic. The game is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. and is the second of seven games on the day. The rest of Saturday’s schedule has Roanoke Catholic versus Jefferson Forest at 10 a.m., the Fleming girls against Carroll County at 1:30 p.m. in the only girls game of the day, George Wythe against Narrows at 3:15 p.m., Patrick Henry against Spotswood at 5 p.m., Northside and Radford at 6:45 p.m. and the day wraps up with Cave Spring against Fleming’s boys at 8:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for the whole day and proceeds go to the Adam Ward Scholarship Fund.
Botetourt comes into the week at 10-8 overall and 5-2 in the district after getting some revenge on William Byrd last Friday. The Cavs lost a prior meeting in Vinton but last Friday they built a seven-point lead after three quarters and held on for a 47-44 win in front of a big crowd in Daleville.
“A great win and a great atmosphere for high school basketball,” said LB coach Andrew Hart. “Really proud of the scrappiness we played with throughout the game. We made a few mistakes late in the game, but were able to respond and finish out the victory against a really good William Byrd team.”
Carson Edwards led LB with 18 points, hitting eight of nine from the floor and both foul shots. Conner Dowdy had 11 points, Landon Hayes had seven and Blake Lovern and Edwards had nine rebounds each.
Photos by Brian Hoffman
On Saturday afternoon the Cavaliers traveled to Franklin County for a makeup game and took a 71-57 win less than 24 hours after an emotionally draining win over Byrd. Brayden Wells led five Cavaliers in double figures with 17 points. Lovern had 15, Edwards had a dozen, Evan Bannwart had 11 points and Dowdy had 10. Edwards had 14 rebounds and six assists.
“You never know what you are going to get on a Saturday afternoon, especially when it is your fourth game of the week,” said Hart. “However, our guys showed up ready to play and took control of the game early. We played tough and smart and rebounded well against a physical team.”
LB went 3-1 for the week. Last Tuesday the Cavs won at Staunton River, 65-34, and on Wednesday of last week they lost to Floyd at home, 75-63.
“Tough loss in an important game for us,” said Hart. “Floyd has a really solid team and they are tough and physical.”
Next Tuesday the Cavaliers will wrap up their regular season schedule with a home game against Franklin County. The Blue Ridge District tournament is scheduled to begin February 9 and this week’s games will have a lot to do with where LB is seeded.
