Friday sports roundup: Chapman's 30 leads Staunton boys; Gap girls roll over Riverheads
FORT DEFIANCE — It's now 10 in a row for Staunton boys basketball, which hasn't lost in a month. The Storm blew into Fort Defiance Friday night, overwhelming Fort 100-73 to remain unbeaten in Shenandoah District play.
Manny Chapman led Staunton with 30 points as the Storm improved to 15-6 overall and a league best 11-0 in the Shenandoah District with one game remaining Monday.
Staunton finished a brutal week that saw it face the second-, third- and fourth-place teams in the district, winning all three games. Fort, because of its uptempo style, was a tough team to face last after playing Wilson Memorial and Stuarts Draft earlier in the week.
"It's hard to keep that energy coming in here," Jack Jones said about Fort. "They run you the whole time and they do a good job of it. At the end of the day it's all mental and we're so deep. We have eight guards that can compete with the best of the best."
Staunton coach Terrell Mickens said you can't really prepare for Fort.
"It's so hard to simulate what they do and what (Mike Gale) does so well as a coach with that system," Mickens said. "You've basically got to take care of the basketball, push it ahead and shoot layups. If you get in a 3-point contest with them you're going to lose."
Staunton jumped out to a 34-16 lead after the first quarter, but Fort rallied in the second to get back within eight at the halftime break. After Chapman's 3-pointer gave Staunton a 12-point lead with 1:11 left, Carter Fink and Evan Braun hit two free throws each to cut Staunton's lead to 47-39.
Staunton, and specifically Chapman, answered the call in the third quarter. Chapman hit a 3-pointer, a pair of layups and an assist — from a sitting position on the floor — to help the Storm stretch its lead to 13 midway through the third. Chapman scored 14 points — nearly half of his total for the game — in the third and Staunton led 76-54 heading to the final quarter.
"We came in the first quarter with a lot of good energy but the second quarter it kind of dropped," Chapman said. "I told them coming out in the third quarter we needed to bring the same energy we had at the beginning of the game. That's what we did. I think I did a good job leading them through it."
Fort could never rally in the fourth. All that was left to answer was if Staunton could break triple digits. It did with 39 seconds left on a pair of free throws from Anthony Renne.
Jones had 18 and Durrell Hamilton added 16 in the win.
After playing Riverheads Monday, Staunton is off until next Friday when the Region 3C playoffs begin. Mickens said his team would be on the road, but the seedings aren't finalized yet. Three overtime losses didn't help Staunton this season, but the coach said his team is ready for the playoffs no matter where they play next week.
"I think we're playing pretty good," Mickens said. "Obviously you can get better. We just try to take it a game at a time. If we share the basketball we're going to be in every single game because we're going to play defense. Hopefully we continue that and guys stay healthy and try to get on a run here."
Jasigh Ransome led Fort Defiance with 14 points as Fort dropped to 10-10 overall, 7-3 in the district with games against Wilson Memorial and Stuarts Draft remaining.
Other Shenandoah District games
Wilson Memorial picked up a huge win over Stuarts Draft on the road Friday, beating the Cougars 65-53 in boys basketball. Max Vess led three Hornets in double figures with 19 points.
After a bit of a slump in mid January that saw Wilson drop three games in a row, the Hornets have rebounded to win six of seven with a pair of games remaining in the regular season. Wilson improved to 13-8 overall and 7-4 in the district.
Eli Irving and Chase Snyder both added 16 points in the win.
Stuarts Draft, which was unbeaten in the district coming into February, has now dropped three in a row, two of those to Staunton. The Cougars are 15-6 overall and 8-3 in the district.
In the only other boys game Friday, Buffalo Gap edged Riverheads 59-55. The Bison are now 9-12 and 3-8.
Buffalo Gap girls basketball remained unbeaten in the Shenandoah District with a 69-35 win over Riverheads. Gap is now 11-0 in the district and 19-3 overall with one game left in the regular season.
Kayleigh Hemp led the Bison scoring with 16 points, one of three players in double figures. Hemp had nine of her points in the first quarter, including going 7-of-9 from the foul line, to give the Bison a 24-3 lead heading to the second.
Bailey Talley finished with 12 points and six assists, and Hannah Coffman had 11 points. Chloe Emurian had 10 rebounds for Gap.
Anna Shirley had 13 points to lead Riverheads.
Fort Defiance beat Staunton 61-54 and Wilson Memorial topped Stuarts Draft 49-39 in girls basketball.
Region 3C swimming
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Waynesboro High School and Wilson Memorial High School were among 15 schools participating in the Region 3C swim meet held at Brooks Family YMCA in Charlottesville Tuesday, Feb 6.
Wilson Memorial's Liam McMahon (100 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle) and McKenzie McWhorter (50 Freestyle), along with the Hornets 400 Freestyle relay team (Rowan Mack, McKenzie McWhorter, Meghan Miller, and Elsie Pittman) qualified to participate in the Class 3 State Championship Meet Saturday, Feb, 17 in Richmond.
For Waynesboro, Jack Straight (100 Butterfly) and Cabell Caister (100 Freestyle) qualified for the state meet.
To qualify for states, a swimmer must finish in the top five in an individual race or achieve a set qualifying time.
"Our region is one of the fastest in the state," said Waynesboro Coach Tom Woodworth. "Straight went out strong and held off some hard chargers to finish fifth in the 100 fly while Caister ran down a competitor to finish fifth in the 100 free. I was proud of our whole group for their fight and their drive in all their races."
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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton gets 30 from Chapman in win over Fort boys; Hemp leads Gap girls
