The Lord Botetourt boys used a 19-3 run in the first half to take control, then held off a late James River rally to win their intra-county basketball game on Monday night. LB took a 67-57 win in Daleville.
The game was tied at 12-12 late in the first quarter when LB went on a run and took a 31-15 lead. The Knights settled down to cut the lead to 35-24 by the half, but the Cavaliers outscored them in the third quarter, 22-17, and River was never able to draw even.
“I thought we played really well in different periods of the game and pulled out a good win on Senior Night,” said LB coach Andrew Hart. “Several guys stepped up with a lot of effort and made plays throughout the game. There were some stretches of the game where we lost focus and James River was able to capitalize on our mistakes.”
Tanner Selkirk and senior Luke Hale had 14 points each to lead the Cavaliers. Kyle Arnholt and senior Mason Wheeling were also in double figures with 10 each. Hale led the Cavs with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Freshman Ryan Steger led River with 17 points while Isiah Moran had 14 points and 13 rebounds as River outrebounded the Cavs, 43-38, as a team. Patrick Clevenger had 11 points and 12 boards for River and led a late rally that saw the Knights cut the lead to seven with possession in the final minutes.
“We had couple good looks but we couldn’t get them to go down,” said River coach Mike Goad.
The win improved Botetourt’s record to 12-8 overall. The Cavaliers lost a 69-63 decision to Auburn in the Adam Ward Classic at Salem High School last Friday. Auburn jumped to a 45-28 halftime lead and that was too much for the Cavaliers to overcome against the Class 1 Eagles.
“Auburn played a really good game, probably their best game of the season,” said Hart. “They have a really solid team and earned the win. We didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half and that caused us to get down by a pretty big margin. We fought hard in the second half, but just couldn’t make enough plays to get back into the game.”
LB shot 36 percent from the field while Auburn shot a stellar 52 percent. Auburn won despite turning the ball over 16 times to just eight for LB.
The Cavaliers have a tough schedule this week with a game at 14-6 Northside Tuesday and at 15-3 William Fleming on Friday.
James River will be at Giles on Thursday as coach Goad looks his 400th win for the seventh game in a row. The Knights have lost their last six, including a heartbreaking 61-59 loss at Carroll County last week. The Cavaliers scored as the clock expired for a disappointing loss for the Knights, who played well and took a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t continue to do what we were doing to get that lead,” said Goad.
Steger led River with 28 points, including five three-pointers.
