By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
The Charlottesville Black Knights visited Fluvanna County High School on Jan. 3. For much of the game, it looked like the Fluco girls five-game winning streak was going to come to an end. However, with 14 seconds left in the game, and the score tied, senior forward Tatyana Turner went to the line for two free throws. She missed the first, but the second was dead on. Fluco Coach Josh McElheney explained after the game that, after Turner put the Flucos ahead, he put his defense into a box and one to keep the ball out of the hands of Charlottsville’s best guard. This strategy worked and the Black Knights were unable to get off a decent shot as the clock ran out.
The first quarter of the game was even with the Flucos up by one as it ended. Senior guard Alana Carter-Johnson had six points in the quarter and freshman Molly McCall had four. In the second quarter, Charlottesville burst into the lead with a 12-2 run. The Black Knights went to a full court press and the Flucos had a run of late turnovers. At the half, it was Charlottesville 34 and Fluvanna 25. In the quarter, senior guard Aniah Webb had seven for the Flucos and senior guard Abby Seal nailed two three-point shots on consecutive possessions early in the quarter.
The third quarter of the game was even and slow. The Black Knights still led by nine when it ended. Carter-Johnson scored nine of her team’s eleven points. The fourth quarter was all Flucos. It started with a pretty assist off a drive from Carter-Johnson to McCall. Seal then hit on another three-point shot and the Flucos were within four. At mid-quarter Seal hit Turner with a nice pass for a Turner lay-up, but the Flucos still trailed by four. A three-point shot by Carter-Johnson closed the gap to two with 3:06 remaining. Webb then made two free throws for a tie with 2:11 on the clock. The Black Knights got a breakaway basket to regain the lead, but Carter-Johnson fed McCall inside for a lay-in to retie the score with 30 seconds remaining. The Flucos forced a turnover and with 14 seconds left Turner was fouled inside. She made one of two very high-pressure shots and the Fluco defense protected the one point lead for a 53-52 win.
After an extremely exciting finish, McElheney was happy to get his sixth straight win, and he commented that “our seniors came through for us, as we have come to expect them to do.” Carter-Johnson led the way in scoring with 19 points. Webb had 11. McCall had 10, and Seal finished with nine.
Since this game ended, the Fluco girls have been busy. On Jan 6, they traveled to Goochland and on Jan. 9 they had a makeup game at Orange County. On Jan. 10 they hosted Monticello High. On Jan. 13 they will play at Louisa High.
At halftime, there was a brief ceremony to celebrate Carter-Johnson scoring the 1,000th point of her Fluco career in the previous Fluco girl’s game.
