The Shadow
CROZET – It was a tale of two halves.
The No. 7 seed Alleghany gave it a run, but the No. 2 seed Western Albemarle, one of the top-ranked teams in the state erupted in the second half as the Warriors downed the Cougars 71-38 on Monday in the Class 3, Region C girls basketball quarterfinals.
It was all about the second half performance from Western Albemarle who outscored Alleghany 49-15.
Sophomore guard Margaret Camblos hit seven of the Warriors eight 3-pointers as she led the second half charge with a game-high 28 points, while junior guard and reigning Jefferson District player of the year Emma Schmitz had 18.
Western started out strong and opened the game scoring the first seven points before Alleghany could get back to their own pace.
Eventually the Cougars would get the game at their tempo and after falling behind 22-15 late into the second quarter, AHS would take over the control of the game and ended the first half by scoring eight straight points as they took a 23-22 lead on the Jefferson District champions.
Senior guard Bryce Leitch scored a team-high 27 points for Alleghany with 18 coming in the first half, including the go-ahead shot at halftime where she hit a leaning jumper at the buzzer to give the Cougars the lead.
On the road, Alleghany had things going in their direction. Then came the third quarter.
Camblos drained three 3-pointers in what was a 25-point third quarter for Western as they could not miss from the field and shot 11-for-14. Without blinking the Warriors were up double digits and the lead kept growing from there.
In a moment to remember for Leitch, she made her 1,000th career point during the second half and finished with a career total of 1,004.
Senior forward Kelsey Nicely was second in scoring for the Cougars with eight points, all coming from the free throw line.
Alleghany, who was the outright regular season Three Rivers District champions, ended their season at 17-7.
Alleghany – Leitch 9 6-7 27, Nicely 0 8-10 8, Smith 1 0-1 2, Heighter 0 1-2 1, Brag 0 0-0 0, Holloway 0 0-0 0, Jack 0 0-0 0, Lewis 0 0-0 0, Wolfe 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 15-20 38.
Western Albemarle – Camblos 28, Schmitz 18, Florin 9, Voelmle 6, Klaff-Layton 4, Driscoll 2, Hux 2, Smith 2 – 71
3-pointers – Alleghany 3 (Leitch 3). Western Albemarle 8 (Camblos 7, Schmitz).
NOTE: Western Albemarle went on to defeat No. 3 East Rockingham in the semifinals but lost to No. 1 Spotswood in the regional finals.
