Cave Spring Defense Keys K-Guard Opener; Fleming, Botetourt Get Wins

Lord Botetourt senior Grayson Bond (in white) puts up an off-balance shot Wednesday night as the Cavaliers topped Broadway 54-47.
Lord Botetourt senior Grayson Bond (in white) puts up an off-balance shot Wednesday night as the Cavaliers topped Broadway 54-47.

The Cave Spring defense was on the verge of throwing a shutout in the first quarter of Wednesday night’s K-Guard Holiday Classic. Playing in the final game of the eight-team first-round contest, the Knights held Jefferson Forest scoreless until the 1:39 mark of the opening frame before eventually surrendering a 3-pointer on its way to a 16-3 lead after eight minutes.

Jefferson Forest, despite closing to single digits later in the game, could never fully recover as the Knights pulled out the 55-37 win.

JF closed the gap to 28-20 at the halftime break, but Cave Spring regained the momentum to open the second half, leading 42-26 after three quarters and pushing the advantage to 20 early in the final frame.

Defense was the name of the game for the Knights.

“Our defense was really sound tonight,” Cave Spring head coach Jacob Gruse noted afterward. “We only gave up three points in the first quarter. When Jefferson Forest got closer in the second, we challenged our guys at halftime. They came back at it in the third.”

The defensive nemesis for JF was Cave Spring floor leader Devin Beckner, who stayed in the back pocket of the Cavs ball handlers all night.

“Devin is our floor general,” Gruse added of Beckner’s play.

The Knights never used a timeout in the entire game.

“I’ve never had it (calling no timeouts) happen before,” Gruse laughed. “Sometimes you just let the players figure it out.”

On the offensive side, Knight 6’8″ center Baker Haviland made the paint his home all evening, scoring a game-high 18 points.

Following in the Knight’s balanced scoring were Jared Steele (9),  Brad Kinder and Jake Furrow (7 each), Beckner (6), Dawson Hicks (5) and Willie Harden with 3.

Earlier in the day in the tournament opener, William Fleming rolled out to a 39-13 halftime lead and never looked back as the Colonels topped winless Magna Vista 59-25.

Senior Vonkuren Saunders led Fleming with 17 points. Damien Martin added 8.

In the penultimate contest of opening night, Lord Botetourt took control in the second half as the Cavaliers defeated Broadway 54-47. Noah Taylor paced the Botetourt scoring with 21 points, including four bombs from behind-the-arc.

Also, Wednesday, Hidden Valley fell victim to 19 turnovers as the Titans fell to Alleghany 65-57.

Junior Jonah Fitzgerald led Hidden Valley with 16 points, while a trio of Titan seniors also hit double figures, with Deven Musselman getting 14 and Joseph Keenan and Will Page each canning 10.

Bill Turner

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