Nelson struggles, survives Luray in OT

Laura Clark / Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: February 26, 2008

Gov coach Brandon Garrett had worn a similar pensive expression much of the game as he watched his team struggle to establish an offensive rhythm or hustle back on defense.

"We played very lazy at both ends, selfish at both ends," Garrett said. "I think we thought we were going to come in here and walk through it because they were the number eight seed, and we were the number one seed."

Nelson surged in the final minutes of the first half, jumping to a 10-point lead when Trevor Martin knocked down a three and Mike Jones scored back-to-back buckets underneath.

"I was just trying to find a way to pick up the team, make them play more aggressive," Jones said. "We just can't play to the level of our opponents. We've got to play above them."

But the Govs lead dwindled quickly in the second half as the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run. Luray established an inside presence with Willy Logan pulling down defensive rebounds. On offense, the Bulldogs took advantage of Nelson's flat-footed defense to score off back-door cuts to the baseline.

Luray took a 37-35 lead with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter when Chad Duncan made a bucket underneath. Nelson's Thomas Brown tied the game when he caught an inbounds pass and spun to the basket for a bank shot. Brown stole the ball from Brad Painter at Luray's end of the floor to send the game into overtime.

Nelson's free throw shooting saved them in overtime. The Govs converted eight of 11 foul shots while the Bulldogs kept answering by beating Nelson down the floor and finding open shots at the low post, like Duncan's to bring Luray within one with 15 second left.

"We knew we could play with them, it was just a matter of making the plays," Luray coach Jim Saunders said. "In the first half we let them get away from us a little and had to expand a lot of energy coming back. Sometimes we got a little loose, made some bad decisions."

When Luray's full-court press was triple-teaming Brown midcourt, he found Jones alone down the sideline, who passed to T.J. Martin for an uncontested layup, which put the Govs up by three. Brown then sent Lucas Dickson to the free throw line. Dickson hit his first shot, then intentionally missed the second but did not hit the rim, so it was Nelson's ball.

Brown sealed the game by hitting two free throws with 1.8 left on the clock. He scored a game-high 19 points. The win sets up a rematch with Dogwood District runner-up Altavista on Thursday at Amherst County High School. But worried that his team had overlooked the Luray game, Garrett said he didn't mention the next one in the locker room.

"Maybe we thought we were better than we were," he said. "I think we were more athletic and caught a couple breaks. Everything that we worked on we kind of threw out the window."

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