Altavista hopes Final Four experience helps against Appalachia

Altavista boys basketball coach Mike Cartolaro is a good friend and former coaching rival of Appalachia’s Patton Jervis.

When the Colonels (17-5) and Bulldogs (23-5) square off at 5 this afternoon in the Group A, Division 1, state semifinal at VCU’s Siegel Center, the players will be countering jumpshots and defensive stops on the floor while their coaches match wits from the sideline.

“You can expect the unexpected with coach Jervis,” said Cartolaro, who served as an assistant coach at Ervinton from 1983-84 before later coaching against him head-to-head while at Virginia from 1991-94. “Pat Jervis has been around (at Appalachia) a long time and really knows what he’s doing. He definitely is capable of changing game plans in the midst of a ball game. He can run many different defenses against you and we could see several different offensive sets.”

The winner will play for the state championship at 3:45 p.m. Friday against the winner of today’s 1 p.m. semifinal between Castlewood and Madison County, the team that beat Altavista 59-31 in the Region B championship game at Spotswood.

“The survivor has less than a 24-hour turnaround and that’s brutal, especially with whoever wins probably looking at Madison County,” Cartolaro said.

Cartolaro had scouted and prepared to meet Eastern Montgomery, last season’s state runner-up to Colonial Beach, which knocked out Altavista in the Final Four, in today’s semifinal. But Appalachia upset the Region C champion Mustangs 38-33 in Saturday’s quarterfinal.

“It was a surprise,” he said. “Eastern Montgomery was in the finals last year and everybody expected them to be back. They knocked (Appalachia) out so (the Bulldogs) kind of got revenge on them.”

Appalachia controlled the tempo in the rematch with Eastern Montgomery, a team that averaged more than 70 points per game. Altavista has been known to use that strategy in the past, against quicker, more athletic teams.

Both the Colonels and Bulldogs are capable of pushing the ball on offense and applying a full-court press on defense.

“We’ll start out and get a feel for it, see what their transition defense is like and if we want (to run with them),” Cartolaro said. “Full-court pressure with these guys could be a possibility. We’ll see what the game dictates.”

Appalachia, which is 47-9 over the past two seasons, is making its third trip to the Final Four in school history, winning its only state title in 1972. Altavista, meanwhile, is making its third state semifinal showing in the past four seasons, after capturing its first title in 2004.

“Our experience of being on that (Siegel Center) floor will help us,” Cartolaro said. “We have five guys (including Mike Poindexter, Jerrell Jordan, Nick Ferguson and Tavonne Payne) who were on that floor last year. (But) when you get this far, everybody’s usually got really good chemistry and understands what it takes to win.”

The Mustangs have their share of thoroughbreds and workhorses.

“They’ve guard a guard that was all-state last year (Forrest Stuart),” Cartolaro said of the 6-foot junior, who averages 17.5 points per game. “He’s really athletic and can get to the rim and is an excellent shooter. He’s a terrific player.

“And they’ve got a German exchange student (Miaden Bogicevic) who’s about 6-foot-8,” he added. “He’s really physical and just very imposing at 250 pounds.”

Like most Europeans, his skills are very good, Cartolaro said of Bogicevic, who averages 14 points.

“He’s a good shooter, very strong in the post, he’s an excellent foul shooter if you foul him and he can step out and shoot a 3 if you let him,” he said.

The Colonels will use Hunter Shelhorse and Johnny Wimbish to match up with Stuart and point guard Tyler Hall on the perimeter and multiple players to contain Bogicevic in the post.

“We’ll mix and match,” Cartolaro said. “Jerrell will play against him quite a bit, but with a player that big you’ve got to offer a lot of help.”