By Scott Richards
CP Correspondent
The Caroline Cavaliers boys varsity basketball team lost a game Tuesday of last week against the Dinwiddie Generals 75-70, extending their losing streak to three. It was not as close as the score indicated. It should have gone the other way with the Cavaliers notching up another mark in the win column, but it just did not happen.
As opposed to the previous two losses, where play in one quarter would leave Caroline too far behind to catch up, this week it was the entire game in which they came out flat, making mental mistakes and not executing as well as they are capable of playing. Dinwiddie was not that good.
It was a tale of two press offenses. The Caroline press was porous, allowing the Dinwiddie guards to dribble through without much opposition. Apparently, Caroline thought they could do the same thing, but ended up with different results. Dinwiddie’s press would not allow it. In addition, bad passing cost a lot of turnovers.
Under the basket, Cavalier big men AJ Derricott, Mark Loving, and Deandre Christopher held their own in defending, but the offense needed to kick in and score stronger. Too many layups that should have gone in were missed. The Cavaliers allowed their frustration to show by erratic attempts to score that took them away from their game, which, when played, is excellent.
Free throws proved to be a problem for the Cavaliers, as they missed 17 out of 35 attempts. Darius Young did provide a highlight, coming out of a mid-winter slump (12 points in the last two previous games) to score 18, which included a pair of three-point baskets. John Rollins did not play in Tuesday night’s game.
With the season past the halfway mark, the Cavaliers need to get back their winning attitude in preparation for the playoffs. It takes one game at a time, and for a team that is as talented and well put together as the Caroline team, it would be a shame not to see them pull the rest of the season out stronger than what has been seen.
This week, the boys varsity was scheduled on Tuesday to host Spotsylvania, who will have returning high scorer Carter transferring back to Spotsy after spending one semester at Fredericksburg Christian High School to play football. Wednesday night finds the Cavaliers traveling to Brook Point and again on the road on Friday to battle the King George Foxes. Next week the Cavaliers continue on the road with a trip to Courtland on Tuesday and James Monroe on Friday.
Prior to the varsity game, a strong, disciplined JV Cavalier boys basketball team left Dinwiddie standing flatfooted with the final score 54-38. The JV Cavs utilized both speed and excellent ball handling to execute the efficient demise of the Dinwiddie Generals.