Altavista turns tables on Nelson, sweeping defending state champions

Mike Poindexter scored a game-high 15 points with nine rebounds and Jerrell Jordan and Kyle Andrews each added 14 points for Altavista’s boys basketball team, which beat Nelson County for the second time in four days.

The Colonels (12-9) held their guests to 36 points for the second time in a row in the first round of the Dogwood District tournament, winning 52-36 after beating the Governors (8-13) 65-36 in the regular-season finale on Friday.

Jordan also grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked five shots and swiped four steals for Altavista while Andrews had four 3-pointers, one more than Poindexter.

Nelson County (9-13), the defending Group A, Division 1, state champions, still could make the eight-team Region B, Division 1, field with a win by Page County over Luray on Tuesday.

The Colonels, who travel to Dan River for Wednesday night’s district semifinal, could go into the Region B tournament as the third, fourth or fifth seed.

Appomattox 72, Gretna 46

Michael St. John netted a game-high 19 points as the second-seeded Raiders routed the seventh-seeded, winless Hawks.

Kenny Scott added 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Appomattox (20-3), which hosts Chatham, the last team to beat the Raiders, in Wednesday’s semifinal round.

Chatham 64, William Campbell 52

Terrence Younger paced the Generals (3-17) with 14 points and eight rebounds in the first round of the Dogwood District tournament, but the host Cavaliers (15-8) kept them at bay with balanced scoring.

Seminole District

Amherst 63, Heritage 52

The Lancers got 16 points from Jordan McCray, 11 points, three steals and three assists from Mario Vaughn and 10 points and 10 rebounds from Anthony Rose in a victory over the visiting Pioneers.

Amherst (11-10) also got nine points from Phil Bowling and Jared Boone and eight points from Tyrease Brown.

“That was the best balance we’ve had in a long time,” said Lancers coach Eddie Carter, whose team already has clinched the top seed in the Region III, Division 4 playoffs. “Everybody played at a high level and contributed and when we have that much balance, we’re pretty hard to handle.”

Heritage (7-15), which didn’t play second-leading scorer Sylvon Jones, was paced by Omar Pannell’s 15 points. Tevan Crews added 12 points and Lakuan McPhaul 10 for the Pioneers, who must beat Staunton River on Wednesday and Jefferson Forest on Thursday at neutral sites to be announced in order to earn the second Division 4 berth.

Rustburg 53, Jefferson Forest 41

Antoine Davis scored 21 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and distributed six assists to lead the Red Devils, who started slowly, scoring just two points in the first quarter, before taking control after halftime.

“They’re a good half-court defensive team and had us frustrated in the first quarter,” Rustburg assistant coach Brian Blackstock said, noting Justin Moss (14 points) hit a pair of 3-pointers to spark the Red Devils in the second quarter. “We started pushing more in transition and Davis got some easy baskets. He was controlling the boards.”

Colby Rhodes led the Cavaliers (10-10) with 13 points and Brandon Harrison added 12, with the two combining for five of JF’s seven 3-pointers.

Rustburg plays Seminole District regular-season champion Liberty in Wednesday’s 6 p.m. semifinal at Brookville.

“We’ve got to beat either Liberty or Brookville to get in (the Region III, Division 3 tournament), so we’ve got a tough road,” Blackstock said.

Brookville 75, Staunton River 51

Playing without senior forward Corby Weiss, who was sidelined by illness, the Bees relied more than usual on their 3-point shooting in their first-round matchup with the Golden Eagles, sinking 11 for the night in The Hive.

Clinging to a 31-26 halftime advantage, Brookville outscored Staunton River 44-25 in the second half, mostly out of its transition game.

The Bees host Amherst, a winner over Heritage, in Wednesday’s second semifinal at 7:30 p.m.

Western Valley District

Patrick Henry 59, E.C. Glass 44

Dexter Bowling scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to highlight the Hilltoppers’ night in the first round of the Western Valley District tournament.

“We didn’t play bad, we just didn’t do enough to get over the hump,” Glass coach Roy Roberson said. “We got it to 10 a couple of times and could never get one more play to really make a run. We were unable to make the one play that we needed.”