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R-HHS Statesmen Boys Tied at the Top of JRD

   Written by on February 8, 2018 at 11:28 am

CHARLOTTE COURT HOUSE – Randolph-Henry Varsity boys basketball has been on a roll in recent weeks as they rolled off seven straight wins and jumped to 8th in the state by Virginia Preps last week before dropping a game to Goochland in a battle at the top of the James River District.

The loss against Goochland has the team tied for 1st place in the JRD with three games to play.

In winning two of three games last week, R-H opened on Tuesday against Nottoway who at the time was the only team to defeat R-H in the district.  The Statesmen led after the 1st quarter by 1, but Nottoway turned that around and took a 6 point lead at the half.

R-H fell behind further early in the 3rd quarter by as much as 15 points, before making a big run led by Jordan Jones with 11 of his points in the 3rd and Nasheim Pettus, who hit a long 3 point shot at the buzzer to make the score 46-45.

The team had to battle foul trouble during their comeback as starting forward Treymon Roberts fouled out midway of the 3rd quarter and Pettus fouled out early in the 4th.  The Statesmen took the lead early in the 4th and Billy Brantley hit 2 free throws in the final seconds to secure the 62-58 win.

Coach Graves stated, “The players really stepped up, especially without Pugh (out with an illness) in the lineup and two more starters out due to fouls during the crucial moments of the 4th period. Great team effort in the face of adversity.”

Scoring Leaders:  Jones 25, Pettus 14, Brantley 8, Roberts 6, Moore 4, Benu 3 and West 2.

On Thursday, R-H traveled to Buckingham and started off slowly as the Knights were up 20-9 after the first quarter and extended their lead to 14 at the half 37-23.

R-H came out with another big 3rd quarter behind Jashon Puryear with 10 of his 15 points in that frame. This cut the lead to 3 going into the 4th.  R-H took over early in the final quarter and came away with a 72-70 victory.

Coach Graves described the effort as “another strong team performance with different players stepping up in key situations.”

Scoring Leaders:  Pettus 19, Jones 17, Puryear 15, Roberts 8, Benu 8, Boyd 4 and Brantley 1.

The final game last week was a battle for first in the JRD against second place Goochland.  The game was a defensive battle from the start with the game tied at 6 after the 1st quarter and the Bulldogs taking a 6 point advantage in the second before the Statesmen cut their lead back to 17-15 at the half.

Coach Graves stated, “We came out and took control early in the 3rd gaining a 6-point advantage but were unable to hold it.”
The game was 31-31 going to the 4th, but the R-H squad couldn’t get the offense going in the fourth quarter and fell by a 46-36 score.  Coach Graves stated, “We never were able to pick the pace up in the game. We really forced the issue when we got behind in the 4th leading to numerous turnovers, but I am very proud of the teams’ performance last week.”

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