The Hargrave Tigers hit the road on Tuesday afternoon for a VIC Conference matchup against the Blue Ridge School Barons. The Tigers fell 69-41, dropping their overall record to 10-3 and 0-2 in the VIC.
Coming off an encouraging late game comeback in their loss on Friday (1/10) evening against Virginia Episcopal, the Tigers felt prepared to take on Blue Ridge. Prior to the start of the game, the first VISAA Division 2 Boys Basketball State Rankings came out and Blue Ridge was tabbed as the #1 team in the state while Hargrave came in at #7 in the polls. The entire poll can be found at the bottom of the game summary.
Blue Ridge jumped out to an early 11-0 lead due in large part to some hot shooting for the Barons and some dismal shooting for the Tigers, which seemed to be the theme of the evening for Hargrave. Despite the early deficit and shooting woes, the Tigers pressed on and found themselves trailing 25-22 late in the second quarter. A late Blue Ridge surge gave the home team a 36-26 lead at the half.
Starting the second half, both teams traded baskets as Hargrave couldn’t cut the Blue Ridge lead to single digits. Midway through the third period, Blue Ridge held a 43-31 lead and they closed out the quarter on a 13-2 run as the Tiger struggled to get anything going offensively. Blue Ridge held serve in the final stanza, as they wrapped up the 69-41 victory over the Tigers. Hargrave shot 14-57 from the field (24.6%) which included an 0-15 performance from behind the three point arc.
Notable Performances Included:
IJ Ezuma ’21–12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
Zion Russell ’21–11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal
Mazae Blake ’20–8 points, 3 assists, 3 steals
VISAA Division 2 Boys Basketball State Rankings (January 14, 2020)
#1–Blue Ridge School (107)
#2–Steward School (87)
#3–Middleburg Academy (82)
#4–Nansemond Suffolk Academy (78)
#5–Norfolk Collegiate School (77)
#6–Highland School (68)
#7–Hargrave Military Academy (61)
#8–Miller School (43)
#9–Norfolk Christian School (35)
#10–Virginia Episcopal School (32)
#11–Atlantic Shores Christian School (19)
#12–Peninsula Catholic High School (7)
RV–North Cross School
RV–Seton School
The Tigers are on the road this weekend for a pair of contests. Friday evening, January 17th, Hargrave heads to #6 Highland School (Warrenton, VA) for a 6:00 PM tip-off. On Saturday, Hargrave takes on Eastern Mennonite (Harrisonburg, VA) with a 4:00 PM tip-off. Eastern Mennonite currently ranks #1 in the VISAA Division 3 Boys Basketball State Rankings.
