The Lord Botetourt girls’ basketball team will take on William Fleming Thursday night in what has become a terrific rivalry. LB and Fleming will play in Roanoke with a jayvee game at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity game.
Last year Fleming was the only team to beat LB during the regular season. The two split regular season games before the Cavaliers defeated the Colonels in the Blue Ridge District tournament final. That was the last meeting since the two are in different classes of the Virginia High School League.
Fleming had a 10-2 record after defeating city rival Patrick Henry in Saturday’s Leas Winter Classic at the Berglund Center. Botetourt was also 10-2 after two wins last week, and the Cavaliers were scheduled to play at Northside on Tuesday.
Last Wednesday in Moneta the Cavaliers downed the host Eagles, 44-37. Botetourt was up 12 at the half but was outscored after intermission.
“Staunton River was a game where we overcame a very poor shooting performance, especially in the second half, to grind out a win,” said LB coach Renee Favaro. “I felt like at times Staunton River just played harder than us. It was a good test for us to overcome some things and still pull out a win.”
Miette Veldman led the Cavs with 21 points and a dozen boards while Taylor Robertson had a game high 14 rebounds.
On Friday in Daleville the Cavaliers had a rematch with visiting Franklin County. The Eagles gave LB all kinds of trouble in Cave Spring’s Christmas tournament, which LB won, but this time the Cavaliers took a 54-38 win in convincing fashion. Botetourt was up by 23 late in the game after leading by just two points at the half.
Meredith Wells led the Cavaliers with 16 points while Veldman had 15 points, 17 boards and six assists despite sitting out most of the second quarter with foul trouble. Robertson had 13 points and Brianna Myers had seven assists.
After Friday the girls are off for a week, returning January 24 to take on William Byrd in Vinton.
