The Hargrave Tigers took the short trip up 29 North to take on the Bishops of Virginia Episcopal School for a midweek matchup. In a fast paced, high scoring affair, the Tigers fell 112-77 bringing their overall record to 1-5 on the season.
Hargrave and Virginia Episcopal have a storied history of intense, hard fought, competitive matchups, particularly over the past few years as Virginia Episcopal eliminated the Tigers twice in the VISAA Elite Eight (2017 and 2019) by a combined four points. But the Tigers got their revenge late last season in a thrilling 76-70 victory at Virginia Episcopal to secure the #2 overall seed in the VIC Conference Tournament and clinch a spot in the top eight for the VISAA State Tournament.
Fast forward almost 11 months and both teams found a way to prevail through the pandemic to provide an outstanding basketball game in an empty gym where all that could be heard was communication, shoes squeaking, and the sweet sound of the basketball swishing through the net. Virginia Episcopal got off to a hot start as they poured in 63 first half points and the Tigers found themselves trailing 63-35 at the break. Head Coach Alan Petty noted, “The offensive firepower was on full display tonight. After scoring 39 points in our last game to scoring 35 in the first half tonight is a huge improvement. We were sharing the ball and taking full advantage of our open looks as a team.”
The second half mirrored the first half, as Virginia Episcopal increased their halftime margin early in the third quarter. However, senior leader, Collin Himmelberg (Chapel Hill, NC) put the team on his back and started to really propel the Tigers offensively in the second half. Himmelberg poured in 29 of the Tigers’ last 31 points en route to a career high 44 points. Ultimately, the Tigers were defeated 112-77 but showed some promise despite the losing effort. “We took some strides forward tonight. Still need to clean some things up defensively but if we continue to build and stay connected then we will continue to make progress,” remarked Petty. “Quick turnaround to this weekend but I have a feeling our guys will be all juiced up for a pair of rivalry games!”
Notable Performances Included:
Collin Himmelberg ’21–44 points (8 3PM)
Keegan Barnhart ’21–10 points
Nick Hammock ’22–9 points
CJ Farmer ’22–8 points
The Tigers have a pair of games scheduled for this weekend against rival, Fork Union Military Academy. Hargrave will travel to Fork Union for a 6:00 PM tip-off on Friday, January 22nd and will host Fork Union on Saturday, January 23rd with an anticipated 3:00 PM tip-off. Both games should be streamed on each school’s respective YouTube Channel.
