On Saturday afternoon, the Hargrave Tigers faced off against Eastern Mennonite School (Harrisonburg, VA) in road tilt that shaped up to be a great matchup. The Tigers were victorious, 81-54, bringing their overall record on the season to 11-4.
Both Hargrave and Eastern Mennonite were ranked in the initial VISAA Boys Basketball State Polls, with Hargrave ranking #7 in Division 2 and Eastern Mennonite, the presumed State Championship favorite, ranked #1 in Division 3. Although both teams are members of the VIC (Virginia Independent Conference), this was considered a non-conference game as both teams compete in different divisions of the VIC.
The Tigers, reeling after a third straight loss on Friday evening against #6 Highland School (100-82), were in search of some positive momentum. After winning the tip-off, Brehon Lambert ’20 found Nathan Kania ’20 on the wing for a three pointer and the Tigers never looked back. Strong defensive pressure and timely shooting helped Hargrave out to a 20-4 advantage after the first quarter and held serve in the second quarter, heading into halftime with a 45-23 lead. “These guys are a really good team,” said Head Coach, Ben Veshi. “They are extremely talented and have an outstanding coaching staff. We knew they were capable of getting hot at any time and we needed to keep up our defensive pressure in the second half.”
Hargrave maintained that defensive pressure and let their defense lead to offense, as the Tigers nailed 11 three pointers and shot over 50% from the floor for the game and when the final buzzer sounded, Hargrave earned an impressive 81-54 victory. “We needed this,” Veshi stated. “Eastern Mennonite should be the favorite in Division 3 and they are capable of knocking off Division 2 opponents, as they already have this season. Our guys were locked in from the opening tip-off and finished the weekend strong with some positive momentum heading into next week. We shared the ball both games (this weekend) and shot the ball extremely well, the ball just didn’t bounce our way Friday night. We’re growing and improving as a group.”
Notable Performances Included:
Zion Russell ’21–24 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists
Mazae Blake ’20–12 points, 6 assists, 5 steals, 4 rebounds
Brehon Lambert ’20–11 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
Nathan Kania ’20–9 points, 3 steals, 2 assists, 2 rebounds
IJ Ezuma ’21–8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks
Reggie Walton ’21–8 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound
The Tigers are back in action on Thursday evening, January 23rd, as they head to Lynchburg, VA to take on New Covenant. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
