By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
It was not a close game. LCA won the opening quarter 17-5 and the Flucos could never get close, even though they played their opponents evenly over the second half, only being outscored 30-28. Liberty led at the half-time 36-19, and that margin proved to be insurmountable.
In the first quarter, the Bulldogs were in a man-to-man defense that simply smothered the Fluco offence. Fluco senior big man Mason Kirby hit on a three-point shot early in the quarter and sophomore forward Antwon Carter hit on a lay-up to end the quarter and that was all the Flucos scored. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs sank three, three pointers on their way to a 17 point quarter.
The second quarter was a little bit better for the Flucos, but they were outscored 19-14. Kirby had eight of the Flucos’ 14 points. The Flucos only managed ten points in the third quarter and trailed by 23 going to the final stanza. In the third quarter, senior forward DeAndre McCloud had a crazy lay-in to start the quarter and a three-point basket. Junior guard Kemaan Massie made two impressive euro-step lay-ins.
In the final quarter, the Flucos converted on some close-in lay-ups and they outscored the Bulldogs 18-16. Junior forward Amir Toney scored seven of his nine points in the quarter, including a two pointer, a three pointer and two free throws. Five Flucos scored in the quarter. For the game, the Flucos had nine players in the scoring column.
After the game, Coach Heath Bralley noted that his team is quick, but the Bulldogs were simply bigger and stronger and had some quickness of their own. The Bulldogs did not have any giants, but on average their starters were probably two inches and 25 pounds larger per man than the Flucos.
LCA is a religious private school in Lynchburg that gives scholarships to help students meet the financial costs of a private school education. Accordingly, the Bulldog teams often excel in competition with public schools of the same size. The Virginia High School League (VHSL) has allowed LCA to compete against public schools because the Bulldogs had very few private schools to compete against that were reasonably close. It appears that they may still have problems finding opponents willing to take them on. Lynchburg to Fluvanna is a long bus ride.
