Hopewell News

RICHMOND — Thomas Dale had already been shocked by Meadowbrook in a tournament once in February. The Knights were determined not to let it happen again. Consider that mission accomplished. First team All-Central District selections Andrew White and Malcolm King combined for 50 points in a 76-61 Thomas Dale victory over the Monarchs on Friday night in the Central Region semifinals.
Thomas Dale seized control of the game from the very beginning. Whether it was on offense or defense, the Knights appeared to have the momentum. Behind 12 points from White, Thomas Dale jumped out to a 22-8 first-quarter lead. Defensively, things went equally as well. After allowing a basket from Andrew Simmons at the 6:56 mark, the Knights held the Monarchs to free throws the rest of the quarter and didn’t give up another field goal until a minute into the second quarter.
The Monarchs got a better scoring effort in the second, but the Knights were simply too much on offense. White finished the half with 18 points to help Thomas Dale go in to the locker room with a 43-26 lead. He finished with 30 points for the game.
The victory set the stage for an all-Central District matchup in the Central Region final. Earlier in the night, Petersburg used a menacing full-court press against John Marshall to earn a 77-70 victory.
Known as a solid defensive team, the Crimson Wave brought out a new wrinkle when it went to the press defense in the third quarter. What to that point had been a back-and-forth contest became a clear Petersburg advantage as the tournament’s top seed was able to completely seize the game’s momentum. Du’Vaughn Maxwell finished the game with 28 points to lead all scorers.
John Marshall led the game 31-30 at halftime and was able to slightly extend its lead before Petersburg changed the defensive strategy. Kevin Green finished with 15 points for Petersburg while Travis McKie scored 20 for the Justices.

Box Score

Thomas Dale 20 23 17 16 76
Meadowbrook 8 18 15 20 61
Thomas Dale: Jordan 1, White 30, Turner 10, King 20, Green 9, Smith 1, Campbell 0, Mason 0, Odutola 0, Hevener 0, Clarke 0, Eaton 1, Williams 4
Meadowbrook: West 8, Des. Morman 0, Simmons 19, Daily 17, King-Davis 5, Fofana 7, Denard 0, Daniel 2, Saunders 0, Lane-Burrell 2, Dev. Morman 1, Coble 0