Saturday, March 08, 2014
SNAPSHOTS: Randolph-Macon Men in the NCAA Tournament.....
In spite of the outcome, what an electric atmosphere in Crenshaw Gymnasium Friday night for the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament!
Friday, March 07, 2014
Double Blow: Randolph-Macon Men, Women See Season End in NCAA Tournament Round 1....
For the Randolph-Macon women, it was a learning experience for a team on the rise.
For the Randolph-Macon men, it was a devastating blow for a team primed for a deep run in March.
The women's team were soundly defeated by a fundamentally-sound Messiah College team 91-62 in New Jersey Friday evening to finish their season at 23-6. The Jackets finished second in the regular season, and went into the tournament as the ODAC Tourney Champions.
Patrick Henry duo Taylor Huber and Katie Anderson led Randolph-Macon with 16 and 13 points, while Hannah Livermon added 10.
*******
In front of a jam-packed Crenshaw Gymnasium crowd, the DeSales Bulldogs came to Ashland and avenged a loss from four years ago.
Teams change, so comparison isn't there. But tonight, the Bulldogs found a way to stop Randolph-Macon down low, holding Andre Simon to six points in his final game as a Jacket. A sterling free throw performance by senior guards Mike Coleman and Kyle Hash in the final minutes of regulation and overtime helped DeSales upset the Yellow Jackets 76-70.
"Credit DeSales. They made plays when they needed to, and we didn't do that," Randolph-Macon head coach Nathan Davis said, giving Coleman, who finished with a game-high 29 points, full credit. "He hits a deep three in overtime with a hand in his face, he hits a jumper on the baseline that was fully contested. It wasn't bad defense on our part. He made plays."
Coleman, and Hash, who ended with 26 points, gave full praise to their teammates down low for the defense that held Simon, Joe Hassell and Akeem Holmes to 16 points in the low post.
"Their defense kept us in the game in the first half," Hash noted.
So did a cold stretch for the Jackets. Up 27-18 with 4:00 to go, Randolph-Macon went scoreless the rest of the half, allowing DeSales to cut the lead to two at 27-25.
"We felt coming in that if we could keep it close in the first half, be 3-4 points either way with 7, 8 minutes left, we'd have a shot," DeSales head coach Scott Coval said.
Mission accomplished. In fact, the Bulldogs held a 60-55 lead with a minute to play, but fouled Trent Walker with 50 seconds left. Walker made both free throws for a 60-57 game.
In Randolph-Macon's best defensive possession of the night, the Jackets played the full shot clock, denied the Bulldogs the basket, and got the ball with 11.9 seconds left down three.
In a play Davis said he's run since his days at Bucknell, Chris Hamilton got the ball, and, with a DeSales Bulldog draped all over him, he hit the trey with 4 seconds left to force the extra session.
In a stunning admission, Coval said he believed Hamilton may have been fouled on the play. Had that been called, there may not have been overtime.
But the Jackets went cold again in the extra session, falling behind by as many as nine, watching their season slip away with every made Hash or Coleman free throw. The Bulldogs finished 25-of-28 at the line.
The season ends in harsh fashion for the Jackets, especially for seniors Simon and Jamie Robinson, who did not play in the game. Simon, the 40th player in school history to score 1,000 points, says he'll remember his teammates and the good times the most from his four years.
Tonight, for Simon, Davis, and Yellow Jacket Nation, will be tough to overcome for a long time. But Randolph-Macon returns everyone else next season, and, if Hassell and Holmes are able to take care of business down low, a sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament is certainly a possibility.
For the Randolph-Macon men, it was a devastating blow for a team primed for a deep run in March.
The women's team were soundly defeated by a fundamentally-sound Messiah College team 91-62 in New Jersey Friday evening to finish their season at 23-6. The Jackets finished second in the regular season, and went into the tournament as the ODAC Tourney Champions.
Patrick Henry duo Taylor Huber and Katie Anderson led Randolph-Macon with 16 and 13 points, while Hannah Livermon added 10.
*******
In front of a jam-packed Crenshaw Gymnasium crowd, the DeSales Bulldogs came to Ashland and avenged a loss from four years ago.
Teams change, so comparison isn't there. But tonight, the Bulldogs found a way to stop Randolph-Macon down low, holding Andre Simon to six points in his final game as a Jacket. A sterling free throw performance by senior guards Mike Coleman and Kyle Hash in the final minutes of regulation and overtime helped DeSales upset the Yellow Jackets 76-70.
"Credit DeSales. They made plays when they needed to, and we didn't do that," Randolph-Macon head coach Nathan Davis said, giving Coleman, who finished with a game-high 29 points, full credit. "He hits a deep three in overtime with a hand in his face, he hits a jumper on the baseline that was fully contested. It wasn't bad defense on our part. He made plays."
Coleman, and Hash, who ended with 26 points, gave full praise to their teammates down low for the defense that held Simon, Joe Hassell and Akeem Holmes to 16 points in the low post.
"Their defense kept us in the game in the first half," Hash noted.
So did a cold stretch for the Jackets. Up 27-18 with 4:00 to go, Randolph-Macon went scoreless the rest of the half, allowing DeSales to cut the lead to two at 27-25.
"We felt coming in that if we could keep it close in the first half, be 3-4 points either way with 7, 8 minutes left, we'd have a shot," DeSales head coach Scott Coval said.
Mission accomplished. In fact, the Bulldogs held a 60-55 lead with a minute to play, but fouled Trent Walker with 50 seconds left. Walker made both free throws for a 60-57 game.
In Randolph-Macon's best defensive possession of the night, the Jackets played the full shot clock, denied the Bulldogs the basket, and got the ball with 11.9 seconds left down three.
In a play Davis said he's run since his days at Bucknell, Chris Hamilton got the ball, and, with a DeSales Bulldog draped all over him, he hit the trey with 4 seconds left to force the extra session.
In a stunning admission, Coval said he believed Hamilton may have been fouled on the play. Had that been called, there may not have been overtime.
But the Jackets went cold again in the extra session, falling behind by as many as nine, watching their season slip away with every made Hash or Coleman free throw. The Bulldogs finished 25-of-28 at the line.
The season ends in harsh fashion for the Jackets, especially for seniors Simon and Jamie Robinson, who did not play in the game. Simon, the 40th player in school history to score 1,000 points, says he'll remember his teammates and the good times the most from his four years.
Tonight, for Simon, Davis, and Yellow Jacket Nation, will be tough to overcome for a long time. But Randolph-Macon returns everyone else next season, and, if Hassell and Holmes are able to take care of business down low, a sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament is certainly a possibility.
Thursday, March 06, 2014
The Road Begins: Randolph-Macon Women's Hoops Off To New Jersey!
For the ninth time, the Randolph-Macon Women's Basketball team is on The Road to the Final Four!
Head Coach Carroll LaHaye and her team left Ashland earlier today for Madison, New Jersey for the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament where they will face Messiah College on Friday at 5pm.
Complete details on the game, and how to listen, watch, or follow stats are available HERE.
We will, of course, offer real-time score updates on Twitter, @hanoversports and will be LIVE at Crenshaw Gymnasium Friday night when the Men's Basketball team opens their NCAA Tournament journey against DeSales at 7:30pm.
Monday, March 03, 2014
CHAMPIONS: Randolph-Macon Women's Hoops On Top of ODAC
ODAC Tournament MVP, Beaverdam native, and Patrick Henry graduate Katie Anderson scored 16 of her 21 points in the first half, while longtime teammate both at PH and R-MC, Taylor Huber, scored all 13 of her points after intermission, as Randolph-Macon held off Guilford 91-84 to win the 2014 ODAC Tournament Championship Sunday at the Salem Civic Center.
The title is the eighth in school history, all under head coach Carroll LaHaye, and the seventh since 2003. Randolph-Macon last won the league tournament in 2011.
The Yellow Jackets now earn the automatic bid from the ODAC into the NCAA Division III Tournament. Brackets will be announced this afternoon at 2:30pm ET.
The title is the eighth in school history, all under head coach Carroll LaHaye, and the seventh since 2003. Randolph-Macon last won the league tournament in 2011.
The Yellow Jackets now earn the automatic bid from the ODAC into the NCAA Division III Tournament. Brackets will be announced this afternoon at 2:30pm ET.
Saturday, March 01, 2014
SNAPSHOTS: Atlee Girls Basketball!
HCS salutes the Atlee girls basketball team for one of their best seasons since their 2003 State Group AAA Championship! Three of their seven losses came to powerhouse Highland Springs, including last night in the 5A South Regional Semifinal. They avenged an early loss to Hermitage by eliminating them in the Conference 11 Tournament.
Losing Cierra Shelton and Jayme Matthews to graduation, everyone else returns. They'll need a new #1 scorer to replace Shelton, but if they can find that, and get solid off-season improvement, especially in team shooting, the Raiders could make a return to Regional action come February, 2015.
Congratulations, Atlee!
Losing Cierra Shelton and Jayme Matthews to graduation, everyone else returns. They'll need a new #1 scorer to replace Shelton, but if they can find that, and get solid off-season improvement, especially in team shooting, the Raiders could make a return to Regional action come February, 2015.
Congratulations, Atlee!
Saturday, February 22, 2014
THE WRAP: Another Tournament Classic for Patrick Henry; Hanover, Atlee Fall...
Late in the second half Friday night in Ashland, the Conference 16 Tournament Championship began to sound echoes of a game played 53 weeks earlier...
...the 2013 Colonial District Tournament Championship, where a outmanned Patrick Henry squad knocked off Mills Godwin in double overtime to win an emotional championship.
Fast forward a calendar year plus a few days, and the Patriots found themselves in a fierce battle with another set of Patriots, these from Albemarle High.
Last year Ashley Samuels fouled out early and had to watch. This year it was Amber Lee, leaving the game with 15 points, five minutes plus still on the clock. Samuels watched two overtimes from the bench last year.
Lee would watch three.
Patrick Henry and Albemarle would battle for 12 extra minutes before the visiting Patriots' immense size advantage wore down the Patrick Henry bench, called into duty after three starters were disqualified, capturing the 82-76 win in triple overtime.
Summer Price, who played all three extra sessions with four fouls of her own, scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and had 10 steals. Price went over the 1,500 career point mark, but would gladly give that up to have made two three-point attempts in the final 70 seconds of the third overtime which could have forced yet another session.
PH had their chances, especially in the first overtime, when Albemarle went 0-for-7 at the free throw line at one stretch. Last year, Mills Godwin missed all of their free throws in the second overtime, not scoring a point in the final extra session on the way to the Patriot win.
This year, though, Patrick Henry couldn't take advantage. Critical turnovers doomed them. One in particular, a traveling call on Ashley Samuels when the Patriots led and had the ball. Samuels herself fouled out with 1:42 left in the first overtime.
PH led 66-63 in the final seconds of that extra session when Albemarle's KK Barbour, who led all scorers with 35 points, drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with seven seconds left to force a second overtime.
Price's drive to the basket to win at the end of double overtime fell off the mark. By then, Adams had also fouled out and the homestanding Patriots were short on height. Albemarle took full advantage, going on a 7-0 run to start the third and final overtime, mostly by drawing fouls on offensive rebounds down low. Their size simply overwhelming the remaining Patriots on the floor.
Patrick Henry is now 16-5 and turns its attention to the 5A North Regional Tournament First Round, where on Monday night at 6pm they will host Massaponax.
OTHER CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS:
Conference 16 Boys: Halifax County 57, Patrick Henry 39 (Patriots host Massaponax in 5A North First Round Game Monday, 7:30pm)
Conference 20 Boys: Glen Allen 71, Hanover 44 (Hanover plays winner of Saturday's Conference 19 Final between Grafton and Smithfield on the road Tuesday in 4A South Region Quarterfinal)
Conference 11 Girls: Highland Springs 91, Atlee 32 (Raiders play Prince George Tuesday, 8pm at L.C. Bird High School in Chester in 5A South Region Quarterfinal)
...the 2013 Colonial District Tournament Championship, where a outmanned Patrick Henry squad knocked off Mills Godwin in double overtime to win an emotional championship.
Fast forward a calendar year plus a few days, and the Patriots found themselves in a fierce battle with another set of Patriots, these from Albemarle High.
Last year Ashley Samuels fouled out early and had to watch. This year it was Amber Lee, leaving the game with 15 points, five minutes plus still on the clock. Samuels watched two overtimes from the bench last year.
Lee would watch three.
Patrick Henry and Albemarle would battle for 12 extra minutes before the visiting Patriots' immense size advantage wore down the Patrick Henry bench, called into duty after three starters were disqualified, capturing the 82-76 win in triple overtime.
Summer Price, who played all three extra sessions with four fouls of her own, scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and had 10 steals. Price went over the 1,500 career point mark, but would gladly give that up to have made two three-point attempts in the final 70 seconds of the third overtime which could have forced yet another session.
PH had their chances, especially in the first overtime, when Albemarle went 0-for-7 at the free throw line at one stretch. Last year, Mills Godwin missed all of their free throws in the second overtime, not scoring a point in the final extra session on the way to the Patriot win.
This year, though, Patrick Henry couldn't take advantage. Critical turnovers doomed them. One in particular, a traveling call on Ashley Samuels when the Patriots led and had the ball. Samuels herself fouled out with 1:42 left in the first overtime.
PH led 66-63 in the final seconds of that extra session when Albemarle's KK Barbour, who led all scorers with 35 points, drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with seven seconds left to force a second overtime.
Price's drive to the basket to win at the end of double overtime fell off the mark. By then, Adams had also fouled out and the homestanding Patriots were short on height. Albemarle took full advantage, going on a 7-0 run to start the third and final overtime, mostly by drawing fouls on offensive rebounds down low. Their size simply overwhelming the remaining Patriots on the floor.
Patrick Henry is now 16-5 and turns its attention to the 5A North Regional Tournament First Round, where on Monday night at 6pm they will host Massaponax.
OTHER CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS:
Conference 16 Boys: Halifax County 57, Patrick Henry 39 (Patriots host Massaponax in 5A North First Round Game Monday, 7:30pm)
Conference 20 Boys: Glen Allen 71, Hanover 44 (Hanover plays winner of Saturday's Conference 19 Final between Grafton and Smithfield on the road Tuesday in 4A South Region Quarterfinal)
Conference 11 Girls: Highland Springs 91, Atlee 32 (Raiders play Prince George Tuesday, 8pm at L.C. Bird High School in Chester in 5A South Region Quarterfinal)
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
CHAMPIONS: Jackets Clinch ODAC Title on Senior Night Over Tigers....
The perfect set-up Wednesday night at Crenshaw Gymnasium: Senior Night for Andre Simon and Jamie Robinson, a sold-out crowd pumped to face arch-rival Hampden-Sydney, and a chance to clinch the ODAC Tournament title.
Chris Hamilton decided to lead the party in Ashland, and single-handedly sent the Tigers back to Farmville disappointed. Hamilton was 8-for-8 from three-point land, and hit three free throws when fouled behind the arc with 4.1 seconds left in the half as Randolph-Macon rolled 90-67 to clinch the regular season crown and the number one seed in next week's ODAC Tournament in Salem.
"He's the best shooter I've ever seen, and I have to guard him every day in practice," said Connor Sullivan, who had nine points on the night. "He's the best shooter in the country."
"I know my job here is to be a shooter," Hamilton noted. "It's great to have the confidence of my teammates and coaches to know whether I make five in a row or miss five in a row, they want me to shoot the ball."
His final trey, after the ball was almost knocked away from him, came when he pulled up from 30 feet in front of HCS Media's courtside position. When it went in the basket, the sold-out crowd, already providing the best atmosphere for a game in Crenshaw in years, exploded into celebration.
On Senior Night, Andre Simon wasn't called to carry the load inside, scoring seven points and happily finding ways to pass the ball to the hot outside shooters. The Jackets shot 56.7% from the field.
Lost in it all for the Tigers was a 49% shooting performance and great inside play from Khobi Williamson, who had 17 points, 8 on dunks, and 11 rebounds. But there was simply too much for the Tigers to overcome defensively.
Twelve Jackets scored in the game, a sign of their immense depth and ability to continually throw fresh, and talented bodies, at the opposition. If this team can avoid the "ice cold" shooting game, they could go further than the 2012-13 squad, who won the ODAC Tournament from the #3 seed, then made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division III Tournament despite having to travel six plus hours to play three weekends in a row.
Randolph-Macon looks to avoid a letdown in their regular season finale Saturday, 7pm, at Washington & Lee.
NOTES: The win was 112 overall for head coach Nathan Davis...witnessing the win at courtside was Hall of Fame head coach Paul Webb, the father of Randolph-Macon basketball with 315 wins from 1956 to 1975...in this, his fifth season at the helm, Davis has yet to miss an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Chris Hamilton decided to lead the party in Ashland, and single-handedly sent the Tigers back to Farmville disappointed. Hamilton was 8-for-8 from three-point land, and hit three free throws when fouled behind the arc with 4.1 seconds left in the half as Randolph-Macon rolled 90-67 to clinch the regular season crown and the number one seed in next week's ODAC Tournament in Salem.
"He's the best shooter I've ever seen, and I have to guard him every day in practice," said Connor Sullivan, who had nine points on the night. "He's the best shooter in the country."
"I know my job here is to be a shooter," Hamilton noted. "It's great to have the confidence of my teammates and coaches to know whether I make five in a row or miss five in a row, they want me to shoot the ball."
His final trey, after the ball was almost knocked away from him, came when he pulled up from 30 feet in front of HCS Media's courtside position. When it went in the basket, the sold-out crowd, already providing the best atmosphere for a game in Crenshaw in years, exploded into celebration.
On Senior Night, Andre Simon wasn't called to carry the load inside, scoring seven points and happily finding ways to pass the ball to the hot outside shooters. The Jackets shot 56.7% from the field.
Lost in it all for the Tigers was a 49% shooting performance and great inside play from Khobi Williamson, who had 17 points, 8 on dunks, and 11 rebounds. But there was simply too much for the Tigers to overcome defensively.
Twelve Jackets scored in the game, a sign of their immense depth and ability to continually throw fresh, and talented bodies, at the opposition. If this team can avoid the "ice cold" shooting game, they could go further than the 2012-13 squad, who won the ODAC Tournament from the #3 seed, then made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division III Tournament despite having to travel six plus hours to play three weekends in a row.
Randolph-Macon looks to avoid a letdown in their regular season finale Saturday, 7pm, at Washington & Lee.
NOTES: The win was 112 overall for head coach Nathan Davis...witnessing the win at courtside was Hall of Fame head coach Paul Webb, the father of Randolph-Macon basketball with 315 wins from 1956 to 1975...in this, his fifth season at the helm, Davis has yet to miss an NCAA Tournament appearance.
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