By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
It was a ragged and chaotic game, filled with turnovers, blocked shots, and steals. The Lancers employed a full-court press for the entire game, and sometimes it forced turnovers, but on other occasions it led to easy Fluco baskets, as is often the case with full-court presses.
It is not often that a review of the score sheet leads to a conclusion that the game was decided in the first quarter. This may have been one of those rare occasions. The Lancers won the first quarter 14-7. The Flucos outscored the Lancers by six over the second, third, and fourth quarters combined.
The game started with Amherst scoring the first four points. The Flucos came back to tie the score on two nice passes by Fluco sophomore Gunner Marks for easy lay-ins. The Lancers then ran off seven straight points for an 11-4 lead. The Flucos had trouble making up that lead, but eventually they did.
The Flucos won the second quarter 14-13, so the Lancers led by six at the half. In the quarter, six Flucos scored, but no one had more than one basket. Marks and sophomore Kayron Douglas each had three-point baskets,
The Flucos solved the Lancer’s press a little better in the third quarter and came back to tie the score at 40-40 after three. Junior Shawn Smith and junior Isaiah Thompson led the way in the quarter with six and five points, respectively. Both had three-point baskets in the quarter.
The fourth quarter started with baskets by Fluco junior Antwon Carter and senior Andre Key. The Lancers responded with six in a row to take a two-point lead. As time was running down, Thompson sank a three-point shot to give the Flucos their last lead at 51-50 with just over a minute remaining. With the game on the line late in the final quarter the team that makes its free throws usually wins. In this game, both teams made their clutch free throws, but the Lancers were six for six and the Flucos four for four. Smith and Douglas were both two for two, but it was not enough.
The Flucos had balanced scoring in the game. Thompson had ten, Carter and Marks had nine, and Smith had eight.
The Fluco boys played at Heritage High on Jan. 5 and at Western Albemarle on Jan. 6. They host Goochland County on Jan. 9 and travel to Charlottesville High on Jan. 13.
