During warm ups, both teams were silent and focused, as they prepared both mentally and physically while sizing up the competition. “[My goal was to] keep my composure and help lead us to a win,” said Sophomore Vincent Agee.
Scoring the first eight points of the game, Agee went on to help the team take a 10 point lead going into the second quarter. The Flucos worked hard on the glass both offensively and defensively, converting nearly all free throws and connecting with the basket from all over the court. By halftime, they were leading the Knights 35-19.
Thanks to key Flucos like Junior Dorian Butler, the second half of the game wasn’t any brighter for the Knights, as they racked up turnovers, and missed key lay ups and jumpers. The Flucos took advantage of the Knight’s misfortune and capitalized on it nearly every drive. The rebounds sky-rocketed in Fluvanna’s favor as the Flucos pulled away even further. At the end, the Flucos finished a blowout of a game with a final score of 55-39.
“I think everyone played their roles tonight and kept together,” Agee said after the game.
On Jan. 10, the Flucos had another home match versus their Jefferson District rivals, the Powhatan Indians. It was a muddle at first, with off-target passes, missed shots and turnovers by both teams, until the Indians gained a small 4-8 advantage. Rising to the challenge, the Flucos came out much better in the second quarter, scoring 15 to gain a three point lead.
As the third quarter began, the Flucos came out of the locker room exploding with 27 points. Leading the charge was senior Dashon Tibbs who grabbed rebounds both offensively and defensively, converted free throws, and sank multiple jumpers to give the team a 46-31 lead. Running away with the ball, the Flucos ended up closing out the game 60-44.
Tibbs finished the night with 24 points and 15 rebounds.
On Jan. 12, the Flucos took on the Kettle Run Cougars, who were first in their district. The Flucos completely obliterated the Cougars, racking up 45 points in the first half.
The second half of the game was a near-repeat of the first, as the Flucos easily racked up another 38 points, for a final score of 83-58. Their overall record now stands at 12-2 (3-1 in district play) as they taken on Louisa on Jan. 17.
While the varsity squad gets more accolades, the junior varsity basketball team is also having an impressive season led by sophomores Hunter Deforge, Rashad Bruce, and 8th grader Aamir Simms. On Jan. 8, the squad started a little sluggish, but eventually picked up steam as they completed key drives to close the gap and eventually pull away to beat Charlottesville 59-43. Deforge was one standout for the night, with 14 points and eight assists.
A long-lived rivalry between the Indians and the Flucos erupted on Jan. 10 in a fiercely-fought match. While the Flucos were down in the first quarter, they picked up the pace, eventually downing the Indians 40-30. On Jan. 12, at the last game of the Flucos’ three-game home stretch, the team pulled out the stops and beat the Kettle Run Cougars. They
next take on the Louisa Lions on Jan. 17.
Girls’ basketball
The first week of school after New Year was a busy one for the varsity Lady Flucos. On Jan. 8 they emerged victorious in a match up again Charlottesville, then went on to beat Kettle Run on Jan. 12. In between, however, they had a loss to Powhatan on Jan. 11, with a score of 25-38.
“Against Kettle Run…we stooped to their level. We didn’t play our game at first. It took us a while to fix that,” said senior Agerianna Scott. “But we did. And by the end of the game we were back to playing our game again,” she said. The girls are led by returning coaches Chad White and Nick Ward. “We’re progressing well,” said Ward, “[and] getting better every day. I think we’re playing pretty well for how young we are.”
As for the junior varsity team, which is coached by Feda Morton and Warner Howard, they have an overall season record win-loss record of 9-4 (2-1 in district play) as of Jan. 10. That record makes the Lady Flucos serious contenders for second place this season. “We have a strong, fast, experienced team this year,” said Morton, “and I fully expect to finish in the top three.”
The team had a busy week back from break. They lost to Charlottesville on Jan. 8, fell to Powhatan on Jan. 11 by a score of 37-16, and beat Kettle Run on Jan. 12 with a score of 51-27.
Wrestling
The Fluco wrestlers returned to the mat this year with a new coach and an old goal: to win. Led by Dean Hall, the boys went to Deep Run, ready for the challenge and determined to win. Unfortunately, the meet didn’t go as planned. The match began on Jan. 11 and continued the next day. According to Sophomore Raejan White, the meet didn’t go poorly – just not as well as they’d hoped. “We didn’t win,” White said. Instead, the team placed 17 out of 20 teams.
“Friday, we didn’t do well,” said sophomore Erin Zimmerman. “We started off and ended the day flat, and we lost 0-3. Saturday was better; coach gave a speech. We still lost the first match, but we completely dominated the three after,” he said. “Both coach and the team agreed…we got closer because of it; we grew as friends and as a team,” said White.
Swim Team
“We’re deep,” is how swim coach Connie Banton describes her team which has been practicing long and hard this season. “I’m new this year, so I can’t tell you about the teams past,” sophomore Haley Kline said, “but we’re pretty good this year. I think we’re doing well.”
Both teams competed in the Ben Hair meet at the University of Virginia pools on Jan. 9. “The best part of that meet–at least for me–was when Western got disqualified,” said Junior Jonah Supa. “They’re one of the best teams [so] their disqualification boosted us ahead a bit,” he said.
The girls’ swim team is unusually large this year with 38 girls–quite a number when compared to the boys’ team, which is significantly smaller than normal. “We have such a small team this year that it’s hard to win,” said Coach Jimmy Small. “We can’t enter all the categories. But we’re doing the best we can. We’re improving,” he added.
Thus far, two Fluco swim athletes have qualified for States, Bryce Campanelli and Kelsey Schlein.
Indoor Track
On Jan.12, the indoor track team attended a mini invitational meet at Fork Union Military Academy. Although no points were scored during the meet, the Flucos still managed to shine. For example, Jordan Thacker placed first in the 300 meter race, while the 4×200 meter relay team of Karel Bruce, Jessie Vandyke, Terrell Key and Thacker placed first overall. For all the Flucos, the event served as great practice for their Polar Bear meet at Lousia scheduled for Jan. 16 and 17.
ACE team
Scholastic Bowl, more commonly known as Academic or ACE Team, is a VHSL-sanctioned activity that does not test the athletic power of the team members. Instead, it tests their brain power. Every Wednesday, the teams from the Jefferson District meet to compete with four other teams. During each match, the team members either “buzz in” or confer together to give answers to obscure questions. The first and third round of the match is the toss-up round, where they buzz in. The second round is a directed round where the students “stop, collaborate, and listen” said team member Brittney Sherman. The team captain then answers the question.
The ACE team practices every Monday to learn new facts about literature, geography, history, and architecture. Coached by Jimmy Small, the team looks over old questions from previous years or bounces around the internet to soak up as much information as possible.
The sport may be stereotyped as being dominated by “nerds” who focus on knowing some very obscure facts, but for many team members, it’s a passion. “Not only is it a lot of fun, but it also looks great on college applications,” said senior Krista Petzold. “It’s my first, but sadly, my last season as I will be graduating this year. But I seriously recommend it for any underclassmen,” Petzold added.
The Fluco Speech team, under the direction of Craig Edgerton, consists of well-spoken student athletes who use their words rather than athleticism to win over judges. In their latest competition on Jan. 12, the team traveled to the Waynesboro High School Forensic Invitational where they placed second overall. The following students all advanced to power rounds: Matt Anderson, Camden Cassell, Heather Chambers, Zach Dobrin, Johnny Douma, Sam Federico, Matt Fragola, Jamie Hall, Nick Lauterbach, and Kelsey Schlein. Anderson and Cassell placed second in “Humurous Duo” while Schlein took second place in Storytelling. Schlein also received the Children’s Choice award.
