BY ANTHONY STEVENS
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
BRISTOL, Va. - The streak of perfection continues for J.I. Burton.
The Raiders won their 26th consecutive game and claimed the Region D, Division 1 championship in the process Saturday at Virginia High. But they had to hold off a strong challenge from Ervinton to snare the prize.
“Ervinton is a tough team, they won a lot of games,” J.I. Burton coach Mike Goforth said. “This is a big stage, everyone was excited. But we were able to pull it out in the end.”
The Raiders got off to a quick start, holding an early 28-17 advantage with 26 seconds to play in the first half. Kelly Rasnick, who had a tremendous game for the Rebels, scored with 11 seconds remaining, then added a a long 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded to close the gap to six at the half.
Ervinton built on the momentum early in the second half with Chelsea Hill and Rasnick leading the comeback.
Rasnick made a couple of foul shots to tie the game at 34 with 4:49 to play in the third quarter. The Raiders tried to work it inside to Ra’Shelle Miller but it was knocked out of bounds by the Rebels.
On the inbounds play, Burton found Brianna Stallard open in the corner for tide-turning 3 to stop the Ervinton surge. The Raiders went back up by as many as seven points before the Rebels made another run.
“Every time we would make a run, they would hit a big shot,” said Ervinton coach Jason Edwards. “They would hit a couple shots, get a steal or get a break on us and go on a four or five-point run. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”
The Rebels cut the Burton lead to 45-43 on a free throw by Hill with 3:43 to play. But Ervinton seemed to run out of steam.
The Rebels missed their final 12 shots from the field.
“I’m so proud of these girls,” Edwards said. “I hate this for the girls, they’ve worked so hard. We wanted to win this game but we get to fight another day. That’s the main thing.”
Rasnick posted a double-double with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds. Hill added 10 points for Ervinton (23-4). Miller also had a double-double for the Raiders with 15 points
and 11 rebounds. Stallard was also stellar with 15 points.
“We played good man defense and put a lot of pressure on the ball,” commented Goforth. “It’s a cliché but defense wins championships. With our pressure the entire game, we were able to wear them down.”
Both teams advance to the Group A, Division 1 tournament.
J.I. Burton (26-0) will likely host the Region C runner-up on Friday or Saturday at Virginia High. Ervinton will have to travel to face the Region C champion.
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