The Lord Botetourt boys will look to pick up a win tonight, Wednesday, when they travel to Salem for a non-district basketball game. The varsity game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.
The Cavaliers could use a win. Pending Tuesday night’s game at home with Northside, the boys were in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, including three games last week.
The Cavs opened last week with a trip to Vinton and dropped a 63-57 decision in a Blue Ridge District matchup. Botetourt fell behind in the second quarter and rallied in the second half but couldn’t make up the difference.
“We played well for three quarters, we were just cold from the floor during the second quarter,” said LB coach Josh Aliveto. “That seemed to be the difference, since we played well in the second half and won both of those quarters.”
Landon Hayes scored 26 points and had four rebounds for LB. Brady Kish had 13 points to go with five assists.
Last Friday the boys hosted William Fleming and dropped a 64-56 decision to a strong Colonels team. Jairdan Pennix led the way with 18 points and five rebounds while Rylan Lavinder had eight points and six rebounds.
“The score doesn’t necessarily show it, but we saw growth during this game,” said Aliveto. “Several times during this game, when things were a little chaotic on offense, I thought the boys did a good job of regaining their composure and working for a good shot instead of just settling. We keep preaching paint touches, and we saw a better trend in this game and our team’s rebounding is continuing to improve. We miss Landen Gray’s (injured on Jan. 9) defense against teams like Fleming.”
On Saturday LB hosted Jefferson Forest for a non-district game and lost a heart-breaker, 40-38. Hayes led the team with 10 points and Pennix had nine.
After tonight’s game at Salem the Cavaliers are off until next Tuesday, Jan. 27, when they host Franklin County. LB comes into the week at 2-12 prior to Tuesday’s game with Northside, which was too late for press deadlines.
