Photos by Regina Devinney
The Lord Botetourt girls will be home tonight, Wednesday, to host William Fleming with the Blue Ridge District basketball tournament championship on the line. Tip-off is 6 p.m. in Daleville.
The Cavaliers are 20-3 on the season after defeating Staunton River in the tournament semifinal on Monday, 66-41. Top-seeded LB had a first round bye, as did second place Fleming. The district rivals split head-to-head matches during the regular season and Fleming comes to town with a 19-4 overall record after defeating Franklin County in the other semifinal Monday night, 65-25.
Whatever happens tonight, LB won’t have to contend with the Colonels in the region tournament as the Cavaliers are Class 3 and Fleming is Class 5. The 10-team Region 3D tournament opens Friday with the seventh and eighth seeds hosting the 10th and ninth. LB gets a first round bye and will host a quarterfinal game next Tuesday, February 20. The region semifinals are Thursday, February 22, at Virginia Tech and the championship is Saturday, February 24 at Tech with the two finalists qualifying for the state tournament.
Monday at LB, Madilyn Winterton led the Cavaliers with 17 points. Grace Hufford had a dozen, Maddie Caron had seven points and 11 rebounds and Ainsley Anderson had seven points, seven boards and seven assists.
Last week the girls wrapped up a great regular season with two more wins. On February 6 they defeated Franklin County in Rocky Mount, 60-21, as Caron had 14 points and a dozen rebounds. Then, a night later, LB downed Jefferson Forest in Daleville, 66-40. LB had four girls in double figures with Caron scoring 15, Winterton 13, Taylor Orange 13 and Hufford 12. Orange scored her 1,000th career point during the game.
