Flucos muster strength to beat Louisa

PALMYRA — Fluvanna lost in overtime the night before against Charlottesville.

Louisa was 24 hours removed from falling to Western Albemarle by four points.

Both teams showed fatigue but Fluvanna beat Louisa 57-39 Wednesday night.

“I was really pleased with the way we came out after that tough loss last night,” said FCHS head coach Munro Rateau. “It was good that we were playing at home considering they lost to Western by four last night. I tried to impress on them we had to be ready to go from the get-go.”

Louisa started the game with four straight points. Then two baskets from Jalen Harrison started a 13-0 Fluco run. FCHS would never trail again.

“We had a pregame meeting. We talked about we want to be great and what it takes to be great — commitment. We had to have determination to get there. So we wanted to start off strong,” said Dashon Tibbs.

It wasn’t pretty for either team. FCHS shot 39 percent from the free throw line compared to 76 percent the night before. The Flucos shot 38 percent from the floor, down from 42 percent against Charlottesville.

“It was hard (playing back to back nights) because I was sore at the beginning of the game. You just got pure adrenaline,” said Harrison.

Rateau said, “[The Flucos] like to compete. They wanted to get that bad taste out of their mouths from last night. I thought we played pretty well to recover.”

It wasn’t easy for Louisa either. The Lions plagued by 19 turnovers, compared eight Fluco miscues.

“Fluvanna played a good game. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be more consistent, can’t afford to make mistakes against anybody,” said LCHS head coach Brian Wilson.

The Flucos were lead by Harrison with 19 points and eight rebounds. Tibbs recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Brad Bullock lead the team with four steals while Dale Ludwig has four assists.

Next up for Fluvanna (13-3, 4-2 Jefferson District) is Monticello on Friday night. The game, if weather allows, will cap a night of games. The girls’ basketball team will play before the boys’ game.