Patrick Henry HS, Roanoke, VA –
Many times good basketball games are about getting “the stop.” That critical part, late in a tight game, where you just need to dig in and prevent your opponent from scoring. Patrick Henry was able to get that done last night at home against rival William Fleming. PH got the stop they needed, but before that Senior G 1 Jamonte “Bird” Smith made the offensive play that sealed the deal with the game tied 55-55 and 1:30 left. The lightning quick Smith crossed his dribble over, on the right side of the extended foul line, and knifed through the Colonels on his way to banking in the go ahead score, while drawing the foul. 
PH G 1 Jamonte Smith tangles with Fleming G 15 C.J. Goode
Fleming Point Guard Miles Wilson brings the ball up the court
That put the Patriots up 57-55 with :39 seconds left. From there the Patriots got the stop they needed, and got the win.
PH Coach Jack Esworthy has been in these city rivalry games for 25 years now, “Both games, the one Tuesday (4 days earlier) and Friday, …it’s Fleming-PH. It’s coming down to the wire. Whoever makes the plays at the end of the game is usually going to win. Fortunately we had Jamonte (G 1 Smith) going to the rim, scoring an ‘And One’ (bucket plus a foul shot) and putting us up. And that turned out to be the game winner.”
Guard 2 Marquis Adams finishes on a layup
Patriot’s Smith and Freshman C/F 3 Abubaki Yarmah sandwich a Colonel
First Half –
Fleming started fast, running out to an 11-6 lead. Colonel Guards 15 C.J. Goode and 12 Lexie Haynes buried two tres, while big man,
C/F 23 Jewan Webb finished inside with a couple strong buckets. The Patriots countered with five different players denting the scoreboard.
PH also got some momentum at the end of the quarter, as G1 Smith buried a step back, three pointer to notch the game at 14-14.
Fleming Coach Mickey Hardy remarked on the shooting, “They shot the lights out if you ask me. We both had runs. They had a run, then we had a run.”
WF Center/Forward 23 Jewan Webb goes strong inside
PH put a little distance between the two in the second quarter. Sophomore F/G 14 Brooks Derey buried his second three pointer of the game,
G/F 14 Brooks Derey scores over G 22 Malachi Jackson
as did G 1 Smith and G 15 Jack Faulkner. Faulkner was coming off an ankle injury so Eswothy was interested to see how he would hold up,
PH Guard 15 Jack Faulkner sails in for two points against G/F 20 Elijah Mitchell
“Tonight he (Faulkner) looked like a whole different player. Defensively he had his lateral movement (back), lift on his shot. I thought he had a real good game.” Fleming added a couple buckets from behind the arc as well. Sophomore G/F 20 Elijah Mitchell and G 15 Goode tickled the twines, but the Colonels still trailed at the half.
‘They don’t call him “Bird” for nothing. Patriot G 1 Jamonte Smith goes airborne
Second Half –
Patrick Henry extended their lead to thirteen points in the third quarter behind five ‘threes.’ Both G/F 14 Derey and G 15 Faulkner accounted for two each. Meanwhile Patrick Henry G 1 Smith was getting to the rim for some acrobatic ‘twos.’ Fleming also went to work inside going 5/5 on field goals, but PH was still able to extend their lead to eight, and a 50-42 advantage.
Colonel C/F 24 Zaquan Robertson defends
In the final quarter, Fleming began to chip away at the Patriot lead. Working the ball inside and crashing the boards, the Colonels kept the pressure turned up. Coach Esworthy complimented the Colonels effort, “Fleming will, forever and a day, attack the glass. They are just tough. We opened up a double digit lead. I thought we were doing a really nice job on the boards. Then there was probably a two and a half minute span where they rebounded their misses four straight times and scored. (That) put them right back in the game, with momentum.” As fast paced, and as much offense as there was in the third quarter, both offenses altered their pace in the last. PH slowed the game down, and both squads turned up their defensive pressure.
Patriot’s C/F 3 Abubaki Yarmah makes the clean block
With PH holding a five point lead, 55-50, and 2:40 left, Fleming G/F 11 Louis English stroked a ‘three’ from the top of the circle. G 15 Goode got a steal and the Colonels had a chance to tie it up. G/F 20 Elijah Mitchell did just that with a jumper inside the arc with 1:30 to play.
That’s when Coach Esworthy put the ball in Smith’s hands, and the Senior delivered.
Fleming had a chance to tie or win it, but Goode’s shot careened off the rim. He pulled it in on the follow up rebound, but his second attempt missed the mark as well. G/F 14 Derey pulled down the rebound and was fouled. He added a foul shot to get us to the final score, 58-55.
Fleming G 15 Goode vs Patriot G 1 Smith was a battle all night
In the end the Patriots were able to make the final plays that led to the victory. Smith led a balanced PH attack seventeen points. Brooks Derey had fifteen and Jack Faulkner finished with fourteen. Fleming was led by C.J. Goode with seventeen. Elijah Mitchell chipped in with eleven, and Zaquan Robertson had nine.
Fleming Coach Mickey Hardy was gracious in his post game thoughts, “We have got a young basketball team. We had three Sophomores on the floor at the end of the ball game.
We had an opportunity to win the ball game. We played well at times, but I take my hat off to them. They played very well.”
Coach Esworthy lauded his team’s defense. “I thought our best two defensive possessions came at the end of the game. We just really kept people in front, got over screens, and locked down” When the Patriots needed it tonight they got the stop.
William Fleming and Patrick Henry are both 1-1 on the season having split games last week. Right now each is scheduled to play away games on January 27th. Fleming is traveling to Rocky Mount to take on Franklin County, while PH ventures down I-81 to battle the Cougars of Pulaski County.
Patrick Henry– Smith 17pts (4-FGs, 2-3ptr, 3/6 FTs) Derey 15 pts (1-FG, 4-3ptr, 1/2 FTs) Faulkner 14pts (2-FG, 3-3ptr, 1/1 FTs) Yarman 8pts (1-FG, 2-3ptr, 0/2 FT) Adams 4pts (2-FGs)
William Fleming – Goode 17pts (2FGs, 4-3ptr, 1/2 FTs) Mitchell 11pts (2FGs, 1-3ptr, 4/4 FTs) Robertson 9pts (4FGs, 1/2 FTs) Webb 6pts (3FGs) English 5pts (1FG, 1-3ptr) Haynes 3pts (1-3ptr) Jackson 2pts (1FG) Johnson 2pts (1FG)
