BOTETOURT – The Lord Botetourt boys won their first two basketball games of the new year last week as they beat Jeffereson Forest at home and then won their district opener at William Byrd. Botetourt is back home this Friday to host Staunton River.
Despite 14 days off over the holidays the Cavs didn’t look at all rusty last Wednesday as they took a 52-46 win over visiting Jefferson Forest. LB trailed 24-17 at the half but rallied in the third period, outscoring Forest 16-7 to take a 33-31 lead.
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“We came out strong in the third quarter,” said LB coach Chad Conner. “I think that shows character, when you get behind and come back. One thing about our boys, they’ll never quit.”
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Justin Goode had 19 points to lead the Cavaliers and Dustin Hassell had 16. Both are sophomores.
“I think they’ve adjusted to the speed of the varsity game,” said Conner. “We’re real fortunate to have them both for two more years.”
On Friday Botetourt got out of the gates quickly at William Byrd. The host Terriers didn’t have an answer for LB center Lucas Smith, who had 11 points in the first quarter as Botetourt raced to a 20-10 lead. Botetourt led 33-19 by intermission.
 “We’ve had trouble starting games, but on Friday we got off to a great start,” said Conner. “We didn’t do anything differently, but Byrd always has a great crowd and I think our kids fed off the crowd.”
Smith finished with 17 points and four blocks. Goode had a dozen points and nine assists and Ross Wimmer had nine points and eight rebounds.
The two wins lifted LB to 4-6 on the year and the Cavs put their 1-0 Blue Ridge District mark on the line Tuesday at home against Rockbridge, but results were too late for publication. On Friday Staunton River is here and next Tuesday, January 17, the Cavaliers are at Alleghany.