The Lord Botetourt boys will be back in the Daleville gym Friday after playing four straight games on the road. The Cavaliers will host undefeated Northside in a big Blue Ridge District game.
Friday will be the first home game for LB since they played host to William Fleming on February 13. The Cavs had four straight games on the road after that and they won the first three and were scheduled to play William Byrd in the fourth in Vinton Tuesday night. Results of that game were too late for publication.
The Cavaliers started the four game trek with an 82-52 win over Franklin County in Rocky Mount last Tuesday. The game was close through one quarter with LB holding a 16-15 lead, then increasing the margin to 32-24 by the half. Botetourt blew it open by outscoring the Eagles, 32-15, in the third quarter.
“We had a great bounce back victory after three tough losses to three great teams (Radford, Northside, William Fleming),” said LB coach Andrew Hart. “Our guys had a great response and we played our best game of the season on both sides of the ball. It was a fun game to be a part of.”
Evan Bannwart had his season high with 28 points, hitting five of eight three pointers and five for five on twos. Botetourt had four players in double figures as Jackson Crawford had 16 points and five assists, Tyler Meade had 13 points and six assists and Blake Lovern had 11 points.
On Friday the Cavs were in Moneta for a district game against Staunton River and LB came away with another 30+ win, 65-32. The game started slowly with the Eagles leading 7-5 after one quarter, but LB was in control by the half, 23-15. Then, like at Rocky Mount, they exploded in the third quarter as they outscored Staunton River 26-9 to blow the game wide open.
“We started out slowly against Staunton River, their zone defense was giving us some issues and we just weren’t capitalizing on some opportunities,” said Hart. “ However, we played pretty well after the first quarter and put together a solid performance with a lot of players contributing.”
Crawford hit five threes and led the Cavaliers with 25 points. Bannwart had nine points, Meade had four assists and KeSean Anderson came off the bench to grab a team-high six rebounds.
On Monday the Cavs were off to Low Moor for a non-district game with Alleghany and they returned winners again, this time by a 74-55 score. This time it was LB who got off to a fast start, winning the first quarter 22-8 and leading 45-18 by the half.
“Great first half by our guys,” said Hart. “We played with great energy and made a lot of plays on offense and defense. Proud of our effort for the third straight game on the road.”
Meade had 27 points as LB had a different leading scorer in all three road wins. Tyler was 11-15 from the floor, including five for eight on threes. He also led the team with seven rebounds and six assists. Bannwart and Crawford had 15 points each.
Monday’s win lifted LB to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in the Blue Ridge District pending Tuesday’s game at Byrd. Tuesday’s game marked the start of the second time through the Blue Ridge schedule.
