Martinsville 71, Brunswick 59
Martinsville outlasted Brunswick using balanced scoring and with clutch play down the stretch. The Bulldogs used balanced scoring and did a great job at getting to the foul line.
Martinsville went 22-29 from the line including 11 out of 15 in the last 3 minutes to preserve the victory. Brian Frasier and Jermaine Thompson led the scoring with 15 a piece. Javon Williamson added 14. Center Robbie Williams scored 11 points, grabbed 8 boards and had 4 block shots. Kameron King scored 9 points and had 5 big steals.
The game started off at a scary fast pace with both teams running and scoring at will. Martinsville battled back from an early 10-2 deficit to take a 20-18 lead after the first quarter.
Martinsville kept the momentum going into the second outscoring Brunswick 19-10. With
a minute left in the half Rache Waller made a steal underneath passed it to Williamson who relayed it
downcourt to Thompson. Thompson made an acrobatic lay-up that put Martinsville up 13 giving them there
biggest lead of the night. Martinsville took a 39-28 lead into the break.
As much as the second quarter was all Martinsville, the third belonged to Brunswick.
Down 46-37 Brunswick went on a 12-3 run to end the quarter tying the game at 49. Darius
Hargrove had 2 monster dunks during the run that fueled the Brunswick fire.
Martinsville jumped out quick in the fourth to a 6 point lead but Brunswick was able
to close the gap back to 2 with 4:30 left on the clock. Down the stretch Martinsville came up with all the big plays
and knocked down free throws to prevent a comeback. With the lead at 6 with 1:30 on the clock
Thompson drove to the basket and finished strong. Thompson then stole the ball
from a Brunswick player and passed it ahead to Williamson who was fouled and subsequently made 2 free throw's.
The big plays by Thompson put away any Brunswick threat pushing the lead to 10 with just over
a minute left. Martinsville will face Caroline in the VHSL AA State Championship game
on Saturday at 9:00.
Video Highlights:
Martinsville's Robbie Williams
Martinsville's Kameron King
Martinsville's Rache Waller
Brunswick's Embar Parham
Caroline 61, Heritage 54
The second semi-final was a doosy of a game. Both crowds were hot, both teams were ready to go, and everyone's elbows were flying. Caroline jumped out to a big lead in the third quarter and then held off a furious Heritage charge in the last minute to escape with a 61-54 win. The win set up a match-up with Martinsville in the VHSL AA State Championship game for Saturday night at 9:00.
Caroline held an early 11-8 lead and Heritage had a thrown in underneath the basket. Heritage guard Germaine Carter through the lob from out of bounds to big Brad Scott who simply brought the pain on a rim rocking alley oop you had to see to believe. The dunk started a 9-0 run for Heritage that ultimately led to a 17-13 lead for the Pioneers after one quarter.
Caroline battled back tough in the second quarter. Trae Brandon drove baseline and kissed it off the glass as the first half buzzer sounded sending Caroline to the locker room with a 29-26 lead.
Sophomore point guard Brandon Freeman played sparingly in the first half but had himself a wail of a second. Freeman didn't score a ton of points but he took over the game with his ballhandling, his passing, and his demeanor. Freeman scored 5 points had 4 assists and 3 steals a third quarter run that built the Caroline lead to 14. After three Caroline led 50-34.
Caroline continued to control the game through the fourth quarter on the strength of some good inside play by Fox Vicheal who scored 12 points and snatched 6 boards. Most of Vicheal's work came in the critical fourth stanza. With just over two and a half minutes left Caroline had a comfortable 54-42. Jonathan Riley nailed a three pointer for Heritage cutting the score to 54-45. Then Germaine Carter stole the inbounds pass and converted a lay-up suddenly cutting the lead to 7 at 54-47 with a lot of time still on the clock. Heritage big man Brad Scott (22 points, 6 rebounds) stepped in front of a Caroline pass giving Heritage the ball again. On the offensive end Brandon Stanley (12 points) knocked down a jumper cutting the lead to 54-49. Stanley swatted away Caroline's next attempt at the basket giving the ball back to the Pioneers yet again with just under 2 minutes to play. On the ensueing posession Scott missed inside but battle for his own rebound and layed it in off the glass cutting the lead to just 3 at 54-51 with 1:25 still left on the clock. The 9-0 run took just over one minute to reel off and had the Heritage faithful going nuts. In need of a big play the sophomore point guard stepped up to the challenge for Caroline. Freeman penetrated down the right side of the lane and threw a sweet dish down low to a wide open Vicheal who layed it in off the glass giving Caroline some cushion and halting Heritage's momentum with just 1:05 on the clock. The bucket seemed to take the life out of the Heritage comeback and Caroline cruised the rest of the way in for a 61-54 victory. Caroline advances to face Martinsville in the VHSL AA State Championship game.
Video Highlights:
Caroline's Brandon Freeman to Fox Vicheal to seal the deal
Caroline's Brandon Freeman
Caroline's Fox Vicheal
Caroline's Micheal Waller
Caroline's Brandon Freeman
Caroline's Fox Vicheal
Caroline's Micheal Waller
Caroline's Trae Brandon
Caroline's Micheal Waller
Caroline's Trae Brandon
Caroline's Micheal Waller
Caroline's Eddie Freeman
Heritage's Brad Scott
Heritage's Brandon Stanley
Heritage's Germaine Carter
Heritage's Brandon Stanley
