Break is just what Chargers need in win

Sometimes you just need a break.

Even if it comes by the way of a freak accident.

Trailing Culpeper County High School 30-28 early in the third quarter, the Chancellor Chargers’ Emily Green ran after a loose ball and crashed into the scorer’s table. The resulting collision knocked out the scoreboard and the players retreated to the sidelines while the problem was fixed.

It was all the rest the Chargers would need. Chancellor went on a 15-0 run en route to a 56-41 victory Tuesday night.

“I told them we weren’t playing aggressively,” Chancellor head coach William Griffin said. “We weren’t playing our game. I had to put them in the press and keep them in the press to keep them aggressive. Just keep the pressure on them, that’s all we needed to do.”

Offensively, the pressure was applied by Green, who hit three 3-pointers to help the Cavaliers pull ahead.

“We were going to her,” Griffin said. “We were basically going to her to get some confidence in her three. She drained about three of them and the other girls started to get confident.”

Just as Chancellor’s confidence was growing, Culpeper wasn’t able to maintain their momentum from the first half. Going into halftime the Devilettes (3-12 overall, 0-8 Battlefield District) held onto a 26-26 tie and had momentum on their side.

“What I said was ‘when we go into the locker room with a tie game, I don’t want you to do anything different,’” Shaw said. “We told them a few tweaks here and there, but other than that we didn’t tell them to do anything different. It really was just the momentum they came out with in the third quarter and that just decreased our momentum.”

The Devilettes took a 30-28 lead early in the third, before the Chargers regrouped and outscored them 18-2 the rest of the quarter.

It was a distinct difference from the first half, when Culpeper broke through the Chargers’ press and fought hard inside. Jasmine Smith finished with nine points and nine rebounds, dominating inside during the first half.

“They came out really strong,” Shaw said. “Jasmine was on the boards, defensively she was reacting really well and offensively she was getting the put backs.”

Damone led CCHS with 12 points while Chancellor was paced by freshman Jayla Harris’ 18 points. Green finished with 14 points.

“That showed they can play,” Griffin said. “They did not have the right intensity when they came out. I gave them a nice speech at halftime to motivate them.”

Notes: Culpeper County High School’s junior varsity team defeated Chancellor 26-18 Tuesday for the Devilettes first win in some time.

Kelsey Metcalf led CCHS with 10 points while Shana McMeans had nine points and Elizabeth Rathbone finished with four points.

“This is the first game of the second part of the district schedule,” JV head coach Beth Summerson said. “The girls are making improvements. I know this feels good for them.”

CHS  15 11 22 8 - 56

CCHS 16 10 6 9 - 41

Individual statistics:

CHS: Harris 18; Green 15; Sydney Jackson 6; Jalissa Lyon-McCain 3; Shawna Morris 4; Rachon Harrison 6; Alexandra Short 4.

CCHS: Damone 12, Smith 9, Colby Mocarski 6, Casey Mocarski 5, Alesha White 6, Caroline Shrewsbury 2, Ansley Graft 1.

Team stats:

Rebounds: CHS – 27. CCHS -35.

Free throws: CHS – 12-22. CCHS 6-9.

Turnovers: CHS 21. CCHS 34.