05 MONTICELLO BASEBALL STILL ALIVE
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Last Days of Spring
Western Albemarle’s lacrosse teams head to respective state title showdowns. PAGE 07 & 13
VOL 6. ISSUE 19 :: JUNE 12, 2015
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05 MonticeLLo BASeBALL StiLL ALive
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x’s and o’s
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JUST KEEPS TICKING MHS baseball’s amazing run
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AGENTS OF CHANGE Western boys lacrosse puts it together
13
NEW FOUNDATION Allen’s play fuels Warriors girls lacrosse
19
GAME TIME Albemarle girls qualify for state tourney
23
DEFINITIVE IMPACT Class of 2015 leaves a big hole
Last Days of Spring
VOL 6 . ISSUE 18 :: JUNE 12, 2015
21 07
05
vol 6. issue 19 :: June 12, 2015
Western Albemarle’s lacrosse teams head to respective state title showdowns. page 07 & 13
S TA F F Bart Isley, Creative Director Bob Isley, Infrastructure Director Ryan Yemen, Creative Editor O N T H E COV E R Western Albemarle’s Ryan Ingram M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T Local sports are the lifeblood of every community in America, and we’re here to reach beyond the basics and give compelling accounts about Central Virginia athletes to our readers. CO N TAC T U S [ e ] info@scrimmageplay.com [ p ] 434-249-2032
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“
It has been a tragic day for our community and the Jeffers family. We did not only lose a player, teammate, brother, and son with the passing of Craig Jeffers — we lost an intelligent, kind, giving person. With the exception of his family, no one will feel the pain and sorrow of this more than his Monroe football teammates and coaches. Craig was part of a senior class that changed the football program here and redefined the term teammate at Monroe. This was his senior year and it was hard to see him leave, it will be even tougher letting him go. Our prayers at Monroe football are with his family.”
PREGAME
— Jon Rocha
In memoriam Each year in high school Craig Jeffers worked in the offseason to improve, to try and find a way to help out his team in a bigger way. He ran track and field in the spring, he played 7-on-7 games in the summer, worked out at combines, you name it. This year as a senior he earned All-Conference 28 and All-Bull Run District honors as a cornerback. Jeffers graduated this spring, but tragically, his life was cut short in an accident this week in Myrtle Beach. He was 18 years old. ✖ (Photo by Ashley Thornton)
03 :: @scrimmageplay
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Orthopedics
First Quarter
Just keeps ticking
Resilient Mustangs win six straight playoff games By Ryan Yemen
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Monticello’s Parker Heineman’s has risen to the occasion this postseason. (Ashley Thornton)
{ PLAYOFFS? } Monticello’s playoff wins since 2012 (* still active)
6* 4
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or a second straight year, it’s happening . Last year Madison County was the team with a Cinderella run, going from the bottom of its Conference 34 standings to the Group 2A final four. This year, Monticello is headed to the Group 3A final four. But it’s a bit different.
The thing is, Monticello isn’t a Cinderella squad that’s finally found that magic touch. This is a team with five straight region tournament showings, a team that finished second in the Jefferson District, went on to win the Conference 29 tournament despite facing substantial injury related adversity. And then the Region 3A West tournament happened — where this team’s definition of adversity was taken to a different level. The Mustangs have made a name for themselves during coach Corey Hunt’s tenure for winning tight games, and as of last year, overachieving, taking advantage of pure fundamentals. But this run Monticello’s put together is something else. The Mustangs lost one of their best arms in Luke Cieslewicz back in April but found a way to work through it. But when the team lost its lead off hitter and its next most productive arm in John Page who had to leave for Parris Island, SC, to join the Marine Corps, all signs pointed to the Mustangs running into real trouble after their Conference 29 championship victory. It’s not to say that this team didn’t run into real trouble, but some how, Monticello’s found a way to work through it each time. It’s walkoff win against William Byrd in the Region 3A West quarterfinals was special, a come-from-behind classic. Then to one-up that win, sophomore Parker Heineman officially claimed his job as the team’s staff ace by getting out of bases loaded jams in the second and sixth innings and throwing a complete game shutout to beat Christiansburg 2-0 and punch the Mustangs’
state tournament ticket. In the Region 3A title game, Monticello used four different pitchers, but had 17 hits and overcame a 6-run deficit to beat Rustburg 12-10 to secure a high seed in the Group 3A final four and face Lafayette. And now this team, minus Page, minus Ceisleweicz, has won five straight playoff games . It’s come out on top in eight of its last nine games dating back to the regulars season and heads to Liberty Univeristy on June 12 looking to pull off another head turner. There are such things as teams of destiny. Monticello doesn’t have to win a state title to prove that. In fact, given what this team lost and has seen rise from the ashes, this is a program simply playing with house money and thriving. But that’s what every team they’ve faced the last two weeks has thought of them. It’s not what the Mustangs think of themselves, it shows, and it’s why they’re so dangerous right now. If there’s anything to be learned here, it’s that a team with nothing to lose is the single biggest thing to fear. Look for no further reason why than this senior class. Leaders like Jack Decker, Robbie Deane and Jon Heuchert have laid the foundation. Heineman and Tre Dudley have risen to the occasion to keep this team motoring along. Nobody can deny this Monticello baseball team of what is already the most impressive run of the spring. There are a handful of underachievers that have made playoff runs in the past. This is different. This is a program hell-bent on defying logic, probability and the game of numbers. This is no Cinderella. ✖
go online »
For more coverage on the diamond head to our website at: www.scrimmageplay.com.
College Update
We’ve gone digital But you can have it in print too!
Old rivals look to break out as teammates for William and Mary By Ryan Yemen They were sworn rivals on the football field during their high school careers. They’ve had two years to get to know each other as teammates now in college. Now the two will be looking to officially make their impact on the field. Both Monticello graduate Jhalil Mosley and Western Albemarle alumnus Daniel Kuzjak head into this summer with the goal of solidifying substantial playing time at William and Mary. For Mosley, it’s been about getting healthy these past two years. He was able to redshirt his first year in 2013, but as a redshirt freshman he missed the 2014 season because of injury. The Tribe have five quarterbacks on the roster heading into the summer with Mosley looking to compete for time. Last year Steve Cluley was under center for W&M where he completed 164 of his 287 attempts for 2,048 yards and had 11 touchdowns to just four interceptions. Mosley’s athleticism at the position would provide a change of pace as
Cluley was not a rushing threat last year. Kuzjak also redshirted in his first year with the Tribe. Last year though he was able to appear in six games as a freshman and earned his first start when W&M faced Stoney Brook, a game the Tribe won in overtime. The Tribe will be without their top two leading receivers in Tre McBride and Sean Ballard, opening up the opportunity for Kuzjak to carve out a larger role for himself. In the spring game on April 11, Kuzjak caught a 37-yard touchdown pass and finished with three catches for 101 yards. Both Mosley and Kuzjak head into summer camp with work to do in their still very young collegiate careers. Should the two find a way rise to the top of the depth chart as they did in high school, it would be a former Mustang throwing to a former Warrior, an awkward situation just a few years ago. Times change though. The Tribe opens up the season on the road at Lafayette on September 5. ✖
BELOW » Monticello’s Jhalil Mosley (left) and Western Albemarle’s Daniel Kuzjak (right) head into 2015 looking to make their mark for the Tribe . (W&M sports infortmaion)
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Y R O T S
ASH LEY T HORNT ON
PHO TOS BY
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I
n the middle of a drill in practice, two days before the Western Albemarle boys lacrosse team was set to take the field in the school’s first ever VHSL boys lacrosse final, head coach Alex
Whitten was strolling around the edge of the field searching for lacrosse balls.
He wasn’t intensely drilling the Warriors on the finer points of their opponents’ offense. He wasn’t trying to fix anything or tinker with Western’s own players and own mechanics. He was just picking up balls and tossing them back toward a bucket while practice ran at breakneck speed more than 50 yards away. “I don’t want to over-coach, I don’t want to change anything and the other side of that is I’m comfortable with my staff running it and I love for my staff to have autonomy,” Whitten said. “There’s nothing really knew that we can teach these guys in the next three days that’s going to have a great impact on this game. The principles don’t change, the principles are the principles, it’s like the law of gravity.”
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“RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IS REALLY RIP-OFF AND DUPLICATE. I HONESTLY WATCH STUFF ON YOUTUBE.” — WHITTEN 09 :: @scrimmageplay
Whitten knew what he wanted Western’s boys lacrosse program to look like when he took over before the 2013 season. He had a strong blueprint for the high school from his time as the coach of a state title-winning team in Connecticut and as the leader of a premiere program that underwent a big turnaround. He focuses on teaching concepts, principles and fundamentals rather than installing a lot of complex offensive sets and or a long string of defensive options. He allows for a lot of creativity offensively and that in turn creates a capacity in players to adjust on the fly. “Research and development is really rip-off and duplicate,” Whitten said. “I honestly watch stuff on YouTube. I got a great quote from (Hopkins coach) Dave Pietramala while watching an interview on YouTube where during a fall ball practice he was like ‘this fall we’re not teaching the Xs and Os, we’re teaching these kids how to play the game because we find ourselves too reliant on plays’.” It’s also a more efficient way to approach practice and player development. “Do we want to sit there and spend hours on timing plays where a team can scout us and then just jump the time and then you’ve spent all this time on something that’s easily scoutable?” Whitten said. Whitten’s mission and logic is sound on all those points, but there’s also a simple side effect to playing that style -- the freedom and creativity inherent in the system make playing lacrosse for the Warriors a lot of fun. ““It’s a lot more fun because then everyone gets a piece, everyone scores and once everyone gets going...it’s just so much fun,” said Western senior and Charlottesville Conference player of the year Sumner Corbett. It isn’t complicated either. There’s a simplicity to it that sets the stage for an endless supply of variations. “He just teaches us to play the fundamental game -- moving the ball, driving hard, dodging and moving it to the backside and then driving hard again and re-dodging,” said Western junior Luke Reilly. “It’s not anything fancy.” In addition to a solid idea of how he wants his teams to play and, he also had a mastery of the kind of infrastructure a program needs from the youth level on up to create a team that can contend year-in and year-out, and he’s installed that as well in the Western Albemarle Lacrosse Club. But even with the knowledge, that vision and that infrastructure, Whitten still needed two more ingredients. For one, he needed time -- about 1,000 days to be specific. Whitten pulled that concept from Mike Pressler, the current Bryant University coach who used to coach at Duke, Whitten’s alma mater. Pressler points to a three year timetable that everything from philosophy to expectations would take to sink in. The Warriors reached that benchmark in the Whitten era around the time this year’s postseason started. Like the system approach, the cultural philosophy is also simple. “The rules are be a great kid and work as hard as you can,” Whitten said. “Ultimately the team has to govern itself. I’m not involved and you can see the guys in the back of the line (at practice in a drill) aren’t screwing around. Three years ago I didn’t have the emotional bank account built up that I had in those kids that I do now.”
ACADEMIC EDGE
S P O N S O R E D
B Y
H A R G R AV E
M I L I TA R Y
A C A D E M Y
MONTICELLO’S CAMERON SMITH
Cameron Smith played a unique role during his four years playing for Coach Adam Southall at Monticello — he spent time all over the field at different positions. Described by Southall as a “classic utility player” the only position Smith didn’t roll up his sleeves for was play keeper. “He’s talented in everything he does for us,” Southall said. “He has answered the call of so many different roles it is hard to identify anything specific. He has become our go-to player when we needed a role filled.” Of course you can’t be that type of athlete without two things — a special set of skills athletically, and then the smarts to learn each of those roles and execute in them. Southall never had to worry about the smarts part, Smith finished with a 4.62 GPA at Monticello, making him a perfect fit for a coach needing an athlete to be a jack-of-all-trades kind of soccer player. But this fall, Smith will be taking on a different challenge as he was accepted into Virginia Tech’s engineering school. There he will join fellow teammate Drew Wolanski, which will make his newest endeavor a little more familial. It’s not often that one program can claim two scholar athletes, but hopefully the two will continue to fuel each other as did at Monticello when they head off to Blacksburg.
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The Academic athlete of the issue is selected by Scrimmage Play’s staff with the consultation of coaches and athletic directors. To nominate an athlete email info@scrimmageplay.com
1-800-432-2480 | WWW.HARGRAVE.EDU I M P R O V E D G R A D E S / 1 0 0 % C O L L E G E A C C E P TA N C E F I N D U S O N FA C E B O O K
“HE KNOWS WHAT OTHER PLAYERS THINK AND HE KNOWS WHAT WE THINK AS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.” — ELLIOTT 11 :: @scrimmageplay
That emotional bank account is about trust, which also needs time to develop and it needs to develop on both sides of the coin. The Warriors have reached that equilibrium and it shows in moments like the state semifinal when Western had a miserable, ugly start. Whitten let them know that they could play better and that they just needed to figure it out. He trusted them to get things straight rather than grabbing the controls and micromanaging. “He knows what other players think and he knows what we think as high school students,” Elliott said. “He knows the right plays to make and he knows what we’re going to do. We just know it’s on us. He puts his trust in us.” The cultural shift he was trying to make wasn’t based at all on whatever happened before he got there. Whitten didn’t make a value judgement on that one way or another, he simply didn’t bother to learn whatever had happened before that. It wasn’t good or bad. “It was just the old way,” Whitten said. So it was out with the old and in with the new, and the new started to take hold quickly. That first year in 2013, the Warriors had one senior, Drew Abernathy, who’d been a major impact player and they stumbled early. Out of the gate they went 1-6 with a pack of young players fighting what was a particularly strong year in the district, with Albemarle, Monticello and Charlottesville all playing top notch lacrosse. How they closed the year though, beating Albemarle in the section semifinals to earn a regional berth, showed a glimpse of what was starting to happen in Crozet. In addition to time, Whitten also needed agents of change. Players that bought into the system, who understood where Western needed to go. To make it happen sooner rather than later, he needed players that were already in the program to come around and adapt quickly. That’s where players like Luke Riley, Sumner Corbett and Carter Elliott come in. “If we get away from the simple stuff we tend not to do very well,” Whitten said. “A guy like Carter, a guy like Luke or Sumner we’re like ‘just do what I’m asking you to do’ and all of the sudden they’re like ‘oh my god it works’.” That trio has emerged the last couple of years as the team’s most productive offensive members, but just two seasons ago they were freshmen and a sophomore on a program with a new head coach from essentially a world away when it came to lacrosse. Immediately though, most of the Warriors could tell that Whitten was jumping in with both feet. “Everyone cares a lot more because he has a good relationship with everyone on the team which I think makes a huge difference,” Corbett said. “.” That investment has helped create an open dialogue between the coaching staff and players. For instance, when Elliott was struggling early on in the state semifinal matchup with Fauquier, Whitten asked him what was wrong. Elliott explained quickly that he was anxious, and Whitten told him to just go set picks and get ground balls instead of worrying about trying to create offensively with his shot. “I don’t like to think of myself as one type of player, I like to be able to do different things,” Elliott said. “It’s adapting to the play, and that really helps alot.” Elliott adapted nicely, and he eventually got into the rhythm
of the game. With his nerves settled, the junior poured in five goals in a explosive effort in the final three quarters. Under Whitten’s tutelage, the Warriors entire offense group has become more well-rounded players, and aren’t hemmed in by a single position or framework. They’re just offensive guys rather than attackmen or midfielders, and that’s helped in a number of ways, mostly in giving Western the flexibility to do a lot of different things on offense and get a lot of people involved. The offense becomes more about dodging and creating an unsettled situation, which in turn leads to a choice to hit an open cutter off a pick or someone who comes open because of the defensive slide or take it to the cage. Ideally, everyone is a threat to score or set up a score during the entire possession. “Everyone can do everything in the offense, everyone understands each part of it so we trust everyone,” Corbett said. “You don’t feel weird when a certain kid is in that he’s going to mess up or not make the play.” That’s created unusual statistical outputs like A.J. Donovan’s hat trick out of the midfield in the state semifinals against Fauquier. Seemingly in every game throughout the postseason, some new offensive player has found their stride. “We have so many players that are capable of stepping up and making plays,” Reilly said. “We’ve had players stepping up in the playoffs that haven’t normally stepped up and it’s great to have six, seven or eight guys on offense that are scoring goals.” That’s made Western extremely tough to scout and mark. Because when teams try and clamp off Reilly and Corbett or Reilly and Elliott or whatever combination they want to try, it opens the door for Donovan or Taylor Godine to go nuts or for Holland Corbett to pour it in off picks and cuts like he’s done much of the year. There’s Clark Sipe too, who’s emerged as a force to be reckoned with as both a distributor and scorer, with the knack for tablesetting coming to the forefront in the semifinal game as he posted four assists. Nic Crissey, Ryan Ingram and John Carr Haden have all
had big impacts at big times too on the scoreboard. If that offense is flowing, it allows Western’s defense to get aggressive and make plays to create fastbreaks. Oliver Herndon has scored a number of goals as a longstick midfielder this year while creating a rash of turnovers, and Garland Carter, Sam Lesemann and goalie Jackson Sours have helped anchor things all season in the back. The cultural change is apparent too, and it’s made an impression on even recent alums who’ve still gotten to see Western in action under Whitten. “It’s truly amazing, since he’s been here, he’s completely flipped the mentality of the program,” said Hampden Sydney lacrosse’s Kent Henry, who graduated a year ago and played for Whitten as a senior. “People want to play and they want to spend more time playing.” The payoff to that time spent working on the game, developing their craft, is what Western is experiencing now. A playoff run, a chance to play in survive and advance mode and win titles, like the Charlottesville Group and Region 4A South championships. “At this point in the season a win is a win,” Elliott said. “I texted coach Whitten and I said ‘I know I didn’t have the greatest game’ and he was like ‘does it really matter if we won’? If you’re not having a good night, just take up space and do what you can to help the others around you ... I think that’s what we all do if we’re not having a good day.” They’re also starting to grasp that sense of urgency that this time of year requires. In the clash with Fauquier, a switch flipped. “We weren’t just satisfied with being up,” Corbett said. “Usually when we’re playing a team that we know we can beat we’ll score and we’ll get ahead but (against Fauquier) it was like once we had a taste it was like ‘no, we want more.’ It was like we’re not stepping off the pedal until the game is over.” They get one more game to step on that pedal and it’s one that has a special prize on the line. But other than that? It’s another game where the principles are the principles. ✖ www.scrimmageplay.com ::
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STORY BY BART ISLEY
PHOTOS BY ASHLEY THORNTON
lot of coaches try and get players to play without worrying about making mistakes because they’re going to happen. Not worrying about them is also often the best way to minimize them. If you’re sweating bullets about messing up, it’s hard to play with any flow, it’s hard to relax. But with Ellie Allen, none of that is a problem, because on the lacrosse field she almost never makes mistakes. Allen is one of those rare players that seems to always be in the right place at the right time, making all the plays she’s supposed to make for the state finalist Western squad that has taken a big leap forward in 2015. “She’s not flashy, she’s your steady player who gets it done on both ends of the field,” said Western coach Tara Hohenshelt. “She makes great decisions. She’s not making a lot of mistakes.” Allen, the Warriors’ senior midfielder, maybe isn’t physically imposing or strikingly fast. But when you know the game and minimize mistakes like Allen does, that can make a player just as dangerous and dynamic as someone with incredible speed or a major size advantage.
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If she’s not getting the draw, she’s getting it to one of her teammates who’s then able to kick off the fastbreak — Hohenshelt 15 :: @scrimmageplay
A George Washington University signee and the Charlottesville Conference player of the year, Allen has been a fixture in the Western Albemarle lineup the past four years, and is one of a handful of players that was a major factor for the Nancy Haws-era Warriors and the new edition of Western girls lacrosse under Hohenshelt. Her career is actually evenly split between the two coaching staffs, but to hear Allen tell it, the transition was pretty easy for her and her teammates. She knew early on that things were going to go well with Hohenshelt at the helm. “The first day of practice last year she was out here she’s just so fun,” Allen said. “She just brings so much energy. It was just a great opportunity.” Allen is a big reason they have done well, and why a young, largely inexperienced team is arriving a little earlier than projected with a run to the state championship game. Allen sets a pretty high standard for the rest of the Warriors. While not everyone can play nearly mistake-free lacrosse like Allen does, they can strive to match her work ethic. “When your whole game plan is based off of hard work, you need an example on your team of someone who is doing that,” Hohenshelt said. “When your senior captain is doing that, you have something that’s steady, consistent and solid to follow.” Over her four years, Allen has worked to expand her game each season, and she’s emerged as a particularly fierce contributor on the draw. Like most aspects of her game, she leans on her savvy on the draw, anticipating where the ball is headed a split second before the opposition does. That half second or so helps her make sure the Warriors gain possession, jumpstarting fastbreaks or giving the Warriors the chance to grind the clock if they’re ahead. “If she’s not getting the draw, she’s getting it to one of her teammates who’s then able to kick off the fastbreak,” Hohenshelt said. She’s also spent a lot of time learning to impact the game in a variety of ways because at first she was predominantly an attacker and goal scorer. As she’s moved more into the midfield and gotten a lot of experience under her belt, she’s picked up new things and refined other aspects of her game. She’s improved her shot, a necessity because as she committed early on in her career to play Division I lacrosse, she’s had a target on her back since she was just a sophomore. “(Opposing teams) key on her and she’s figured out a way to still have a great impact on the game,” Hohenshelt said. “if it’s not in goals, it’s in assists, it’s in draw controls, it’s in ground balls, it’s in caused turnovers or just in providing leadership. She’s not the most vocal, but every single day she shows up and works hard.” That desire for development extends to her team as a whole too. Whether it’s with her Western teammates or her travel squad, the Storm out of Richmond, Allen tries
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A goal has been to slow the ball down and have long possesions because all the girls on our team are so fast ... — Allen 17 :: @scrimmageplay
to bring anything new to the table whenever she can. “It was a lot about me bringing what I learned at my travel team to Western and what I learned at Western to travel team,” Allen said. “I think a lot of the girls on the team who play travel have that same mindset.” One aspect of the game the Warriors have increasingly tried to master is patience, which is a challenge when your team has the skill and speed to play fast. “A goal has been to slow the ball down and have long possessions because all the girls on our team are so fast and our minds think so quickly that we’re like pass-pass-pass-shoot,” Allen said. “This year we’ve really worked on finding the best option rather than the first option.” The Warriors are at their best when they’re controlling the pace and taking advantage of their ability to possess and move the ball through the offense. That’s one of the parts of the game where Western has an advantage over some of the other Group 4A teams, and they were able to exploit it nicely in the playoffs. When Sammie Magargee, Hanna Schuler and Allen are all touching the ball each possession, it forces defenses to account for all three, which is no easy task as all three have scored more than 35 goals this year. Allen has pulled in a team-leading 53 draw controls on the year to go with her team-high 45 goals that helped her earn Charlottesville Conference player of the year honors. Being a midfielder has allowed the Warriors’ jackof-all-trades to impact the game in a lot of different ways on every possession too while also opening things up for the equally versatile Magargee and Schuler. “We’re part of the entire game, we just try to involve ourselves with everything,” Allen said. When Western is clicking offensively in particular, that allows the Warriors to lean on a defense that includes stalwarts like Hamilton Ibbeken in the cage, Hannah Curry (16 forced turnovers) out front and Kate Snyder trying to lock down the team’s top offensive threat. Throw in Lily Elder’s work on ground balls, and it becomes clear why a team that isn’t extremely flashy is playing in the state finals for the first time in five years. In a way, Western’s entire squad is a reflection of Allen, their four-year starter at midfield. Like her, they’re better than the sum of their parts. They’ve been able to achieve a lot more than their initial equation would’ve granted them and in a shorter time period than most anyone would’ve thought. “We just listened and were coachable,” Allen said. “We just do what we’re supposed to do.” That’s what makes evaluating that sum early on so tough, because intangibles like that just don’t show up. That’s what savvy players like Allen bring to a team. To borrow from Hohenshelt, “steady, solid and consistent.” That’s something you can count on every day, and apparently something you can count on all the way to the state final. ✖
TEAM SPOTLIGHT COVENANT BOYS LACROSSE Fresh of its VISAA Division 2 state title victory, the program’s second straight, Covenant wasted little time picking back up the sticks. The Eagles hosted a U11 camp and worked with children on honing their skills. This is a welcome scene, the standout athletes taking on a teaching role to the future. Great job, Eagles, on both your championship and your charity. Keep it up!
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Game Time Albemarle 13, Douglas Freeman 12 By Luke Nadkarni
Albemarle’s Gwen Pattison notched four goals in a win over Douglas Freeman. (Ashley Thornton)
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The Albemarle girls lacrosse team got four goals from Gwen Pattison and three from Heidi Karweik while holding visiting Douglas Freeman scoreless for over 14 minutes in the second half to eke out a 13-12 win over the Rebels in the 5A South Region semifinals Tuesday night. The game was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than four goals at any point. Freeman drew first blood only 35 seconds into the game when Ellie Cox beat AHS goalie Caroline Sheppard, but the Patriots got goals from Pattison, Karweik and Mary Earles over the next six minutes to take a 3-1 lead and they never trailed again after that. “Gwen has gone back and forth playing defense and midfield all year,” first-year AHS head coach Lauren Thraves said. “I knew tonight would be a good game for her to move up and attack. Heidi had a great game -- she was hustling everywhere.” The teams traded the next two goals before Cox, who scored three goals for the Rebels with, completed her hat trick with two straight to tie it at four with 10:57. But the Patriots responded with a 3-0 spurt, getting a goal from Pattison and two from Lizzy Chapman to regain the lead. A late goal from Freeman’s Sarah Fortune closed the gap to 7-5 at the half. The Rebels scored to open the second half almost as quickly as they did in the first, with Karoline Nease firing in one of her three goals 39 seconds in. Pattison brought the lead back to two for the Patriots, but
Freeman got goals from Carley Craddock and Jane Shawcross to knot the score once again with 20:59 remaining in the game, forcing Albemarle to call a timeout. That’s when the AHS defense really took control. “I talked to them about getting refocused and remembering what we’re playing for,” Thraves said. “I think we were too busy watching players and not the ball, and missing our help defense. But we’ve been so consistent all year coming out of timeouts and scoring right away.” The Patriots proceeded to hold Freeman scoreless for the next 14:09, all the while going on a 4-0 run featuring goals from Pattison, Karweik, Earles and Summer Maxwell to make it a 12-8 game with 8:21 remaining. The Rebels didn’t touch the scoreboard again until back-to-back goals by Shawcross and Craddock cut the Albemarle lead in half with 6:13 to go, but Karweik netted her final goal of the night to push the margin back to three barely a minute later. The score remained that way until 1:09 remained, when Fortune brought the Rebels within two. Albemarle controlled the ensuing draw and attempted to run out the clock, but Freeman was able to wrestle the ball away and Nease made it a one-goal game with five seconds remaining. However, that was not enough time for the visitors to find a shot, and the Patriots celebrated a berth in the state semifinals. “I absolutely had confidence that we’d close it out,” Thraves said. “I turned to my assistant and said, ‘If we ever need a draw control, it would be now.’” ✖
See a photograph you like? Defensive stand Warriors goalie has more than one trick | By Ryan Yemen
At Scrimmage Play we pride ourselves on offering the best possible graphics Two years ago the Western Albemarle boys to Shin, who doubles as a Junior National Judo soccer team get was fueled its underclassmen medalist, we can our byhands on, in both our but has developed into one of the with sophomores and freshman bearing the area’s most versatile goalkeepers. magazine as well as at our website at brunt of the work load. The netminder has shown he’s capable of Now two years later, forwards Aaron Myers making big saves, particularly in the team’s www.scrimmageplay.com and Alex Nolet, as well as senior defender two ties. In the first game of the season, Tom Rogers are all in their senior seasons and looking to earn a Region II bid, something that Orange County snatched away from them in the Jefferson District semifinals last season. After the first month of play, the Warriors seem to have the defensive side of the equation figured out and junior goalkeeper Kai Shin is a big part of that. Before Western went on its spring break, none of its four opponents were able to score more than once, a testament to the team’s play in the middle of the field, but also a nod
Shin endured wave after wave of Albemarle attack, but stood tall and showed no rust in the 1-1- tie. But while Shin’s on the field because he can make stops, his strong leg has also been of great use as he’s able to easily clear the zone but also spark fast breaks all by himself. The Warriors averaged a little over two goals per contest before the break, but if that average starts to increase, don’t be surprised if it’s because of Shin’s ability to contribute to the transition game. ✖
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Western Albemarle’s Kai Shin hauls in a shot during his team’s 1-1 tie with Albemarle that kicked off the soccer season for both squads. (Frank Crocker)
Success stories begin here.
Success Story: Antonio Allen At his size, Antonio Allen could and did play just about everywhere on the field. Sometimes athletes like Antonio Allen can get lumped into the dreaded ‘tweeener’ category where coaches at the next level can’t quite decide where they’d like you, and in the end, never do and move on. By the time that he finished up at Fork Union, South Carolina wasn’t entirely certain what do with Allen, but they knew that they’d find a way to make it work. Allen came to FUMA by way of Trinity Catholic High in Florida to play for John Shuman’s celebrated post graduate football team. He left a more polished athlete and a stronger student. That allowed Allen to head to South Carolina in the spring semester of 2008 and participate through spring drills. As a freshman, Allen found him-
self playing “SAM” linebacker. The next year as a sophomore and junior, he slid over to the Gamecocks’ “spur” position. As a senior in 2011, Allen polished his game to NFL talent level. He was a seventh round selection in the NFL Draft by the New York Jets. Now entering his fourth year with the Jets, the former Gamecock and Blue Devil is locked in as a starter after he finished 2013 with 16 games started, 63 tackles, a sack and an interception which he returned for a touchdown. In 2014 he started 15 games, had 36 tackles, defended six passes and forced a fumble. In just eight years Allen’s gone from the recruiting gauntlet to the combine to playing regularly on Sundays. He kicked that into high gear at Fork Union.
Fork Union Military Academy is the leading Christian military boarding school for boys in grades 6 - 12 and PG. www.forkunion.com — 1-800-GO-2-FUMA
Overtime
Definitive impact
The class of 2015 departs and it’s going to be noticed
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here’s always a void to fill, regardless of the year. But with that said, there are just some classes that are more active than others athletically. It feels like the class of 2015 is one of those, especially in the public school ranks, and especially for athletes who’ve seemingly been around forever. I’m fairly certain that next year is going to have a very different look and you don’t have to comb through to many rosters to find examples. In some cases its one athlete that’s going to be missed. In others it’s an exodus that leaves a program hurting. Or maybe its one sport in particular. Or a rivalry. The Bull Run District is going to look a lot different next year. At William Monroe, Keegan Woolford and Jeff Early’s four year tenure on the basketball court and baseball diamond is over. As a freshman, Woolford drove in the winning run for the Dragons in the Group 2A state title game. As sophomores, the two helped the Dragons reach the Group 2A final four in basketball. They’ve been leading both squads ever since. Of course things aren’t so different just up the road. James Graves and Dylan Berry are a pair of three-sport athletes who’ve been prominent leaders in all three of their sports at Madison County. On the girls side, Bailey Colvin has been a rock for the Mountaineers for four years in both volleyball and softball. It doesn’t really look like it will matter what sport that Madison and Monroe get together for next year, that rivarly will be effected more than any other. It’s going to have a very different feel, but I don’t expect that to detract from the usual charm. Rivals like that stay rivals for a reason. When it comes to three sport stars, perhaps nobody leaves a bigger chasm for a program than Kendall Ballard does at Charlottesville. Since her freshman year she’s been AllJefferson District in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse. And in all three of those sports she’s either won the player of the year or been highly considered for the honor the last three years. As the keystone player, all three of those programs at CHS are in full rebuilding mode, pretty much starting from scratch. There are very few athletes that can say they will be missed almost equally across the board in each sport. In some areas it’s not just one player or one school that’s deeply impacted. Take for example the girls basketball scene. Charlottesville has company there. Losing Ballard is just the tip of the iceberg in the JD. With the loss of Molly Shephard and Megan Comer at Monticello, KK Barbour and Kendra Hairston at Albemarle and Kiana Childress at Fluvanna, the sport will be seemingly unrecognizable. Over on the private side of things, the St. Anne’s Belfield field hockey and girls lacrosse teams will have their work cutout for them. Both the football and baseball programs will miss the hustle and grit that Jake Allen brought, but it’ll be the class of 2016 that will leave those programs reeling. At Covenant, the loss of the Gaffney twins, Drew and Jay will be felt in football, soccer and lacrosse. And last but not least, there’s one school that’s used to this on an annual basis. Any coach left scratching their head at their losses won’t get too much sympathy from the
“There are very few athletes that can say they will be missed almost equally across the board in each sport.” staff at Fork Union. The Blue Devils shuffle the deck every single year in each sport with so many students transferring in and transferring out. The truth though is that while we fully expect this class of rising seniors to leave a major impact as well, probably the most exciting element of the 2015-2016 seasons will be how the underclassmen rise to the occasion to start building their own lengthy resumes. That’s the double-edged sword that is when it comes to these athletic graduating classes — while a lot of programs will be hurting next year, it’s an opportunity for the younger talent to get their time to shine. And they inevitably will do just that. When you think about it, how did the Woolforda and Ballards of the world pile up so many letters in so many sports? The class ahead of them moved on and created the need. We’ve definitely got that on the horizon next year. ✖
Ryan Yemen,
CRE ATIVE EDITOR
back talk » 22 :: @scrimmageplay
Is there something better for sports memories than practice? Tell me at: ryan@scrimmageplay.com
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Best of luck to our 2013 student athletes as they embark on their college careers. Maiah Bartlett Miles Davis Blissie DuBose Will Eppard Tyler Gimple Will Grossman Allie Nicholson Lloyd Smith Stewart Staunton Aaron Stinnie Catherine Towers
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