The Lord Botetourt boys basketball team picked up the first win of the season last Friday when the Cavaliers took a 75-58 win over Pulaski County in Dublin.
LB came into the game at 0-3, looking for their first win under new head coach Josh Aliveto. The Cavaliers were coming off a tough loss to a strong Salem team the night before, leading the Spartans after three quarters but letting it slip away in the late going.
On Friday, that wasn’t going to happen. Blake Lovern scored 30 points to lead the Cavaliers to a 75-58 win over the Cougars in Botetourt’s third road game of the week. Braydon Whorley had 14 points for the Cavs and Brady Kish contributed a dozen.
“Quite a few players, such as Jase Lisle, Landon Gray and Caleb Muterspaugh, came off the bench to give us quality minutes,” said Aliveto. “Offensively, we had our most efficient night against Pulaski. The players were able to handle their pressure and make many right decisions at the right time with the basketball. Our effort and execution on defense continued to show signs of improvement.”
The Cavs opened the week with a trip to Fishersville to take on Wilson Memorial. The Green Hornets had a good night and took a 68-47 win. Lovern led LB with 15 points.
Photos by Brian Hoffman
“This was a good early road test for our program,” said Aliveto. “We struggled to get stops early on defense and did not have our best shooting night.”
On Thursday the Cavaliers played in Salem and dropped a 62-55 decision. The game was tied at the half, 29-29, and a three-pointer by Kish at the buzzer gave LB a 48-45 lead after three quarters. However, Salem scored some big buckets down the stretch and pulled out the win. Lovern had 18 for Botetourt while Whorley and Landon Hayes had 10 each. Carson Edwards had nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
“We were able to play our first complete game against Salem,” said Aliveto. “Our energy, effort, and execution was much more consistent throughout the duration of the game.”
The Cavs were scheduled to host James River in an intra-county game on Tuesday. Tonight, Pulaski will return the trip and this weekend the Cavs are in a two-day Christmas tournament at Hidden Valley. They open Friday with Rockbridge County, then play an opponent to be determined on Saturday.
