Photo by Brian Hoffman
The Lord Botetourt boys had a tough road to travel in the Region 3D basketball tournament and they fell in the quarterfinal round last week, ending their season. The Region 3D tournament included schools that won the state championship for the past two years, and neither was even the top seed last week.
Botetourt was the fifth seed and the Cavs drew fourth seeded Cave Spring, the 2022 state champion, in the quarterfinal round. The Cavaliers battled the Knights but came up short, 60-47, as their season came to an end.
The Cavaliers jumped to a 19-14 first quarter lead and were still ahead, 29-28, at the half. However, the Knights regrouped and outscored LB 32-18 in the second half to pull away.
“We were ready to play and came out playing well,” said LB coach Andrew Hart. “I thought we did a really good job defensively throughout the game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get much going offensively in the fourth quarter and they were able to pull away. It was a great environment and I know the kids enjoyed competing and battling against Cave Spring.”
Conner Dowdy led LB with 16 points and Blake Lovern had 11 points and five rebounds. Cave Spring hurt the Cavaliers on the boards, outrebounding LB 33-17.
With the win Cave Spring advanced to the semifinal round, where the Knights lost to top-seeded Tunstall, 60-45. Northside, the defending Class 3 champ and a Blue Ridge District rival of Botetourt, then beat Tunstall in the region final, 64-55.
Lord Botetourt finished with an 11-12 overall record and the Cavs were 6-4 in the tough Blue Ridge District.
“Our staff is proud of our guys for continuously showing up to improve each and every practice and game,” said Hart. “We didn’t always play our best, but the team was eager to improve in different areas throughout the season. We had some guys really step up their play and leadership this season, and it was fun watching their growth. We were a little short-handed by the end of the season due to some injuries, but our guys worked hard to put the team in a position to compete and win a lot of games.”
Botetourt will graduate six seniors, Brayden Wells, Evan Bannwart, Ethan Ikenberry, Danny Kidd, Walker Sutton and Tyler Cronise. Wells was first team All-Blue Ridge District and second team All-Region 3D. Blake Lovern, a junior, was second team All-District and All-Region.
“We will miss the leadership and character of our six seniors that had a big impact on our program for the last four years,” said Hart. “Hopefully, our underclassmen were able to gain some valuable experience this year and will be ready to showcase their improvement next season.”
