BY ANTHONY STEVENS
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
RICHMOND, Va. – A problem that has plagued the Lebanon Pioneers much of the season showed up again on Friday afternoon.
Lebanon struggled to find its shooting touch in the VHSL Group A, Division 2 semifinals at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center.
The result was a 42-39 season-ending loss to Buckingham County.
“What a game,” said Lebanon coach Thad Lambert. “To make it to the final four and have a game like this. One or two bounces our way and I thought my team
would have had a shot to play for the state championship. I’m just very proud of my guys.”
Buckingham’s Kevin Bolden, but Taylor Boyers grabbed the rebound and tipped it in to give the Knights a 38-29 lead with 4:50 left to play.
The Pioneers then gave themselves a chance to win with a valiant comeback attempt.
Andrew Jessee picked up an assist when he found Kaylynn Cobb open for a 3-pointer to start the rally. After a Buckingham turnover, Robert Jones passed to
Jerome Cobb who scored in the paint to make it a four-point game.
Harry Eldridge interrupted the Pioneer run with a basket for the Knights and a 40-34 lead, but it would be their final field goal of the game.
After forcing Buckingham into several turnovers, Jessee hit 3-of-4 from the foul line and then had a critical steal and drove the length of the floor for a layup to make the score 40-39 with 1:21 to play.
“I think Coach Lambert does a great job and Lebanon just picked up their defensive intensity during that stretch,” Buckingham coach Russ Gowin said. “Lebanon had to make some plays at that point in the game or we were going to pull away. I thought they did a good job of forcing those turnovers. We
didn’t just throw it away, they forced those turnovers.”
Buckingham then spread the floor and began to work time off the clock. Lebanon committed its seventh foul with 27 second left, putting Boyers on the line with 27 seconds left. He made both free throws to put the Knights up by three points.
Lebanon brought the ball into frontcourt and called a timeout with 20 seconds remaining, needing a 3-pointer to tie.
Buckingham stayed in a 1-2-2 zone but pressured outside and Lebanon couldn’t attempt a 3-pointer.
Jessee drove to the basket but the shot wouldn’t fall and Buckingham’s Kevin Bolden came away with the ball in the ensuing scramble to clinch the win.
“We wanted to get a hand in the face of anyone attempting a 3,” said Gowin. "We were edging a little toward Kaylynn Cobb because he seemed to have the hot hand.
“We thought seriously about going to a man [defense], we talked about it in the huddle. But we didn’t want to get a foul after a made basket. We wanted to make them earn it the hard way outside.”
The strategy paid off. Buckingham (21-3) will face James River in today’s state championship game.
Lebanon made only 14-of-41 attempts from the floor. The Pioneers were also outrebounded 34-19 by the Knights.
“I thought we were able to do some good things in the second half,” Lambert said. “We pressured the basketball and stopped their penetration. We just had a hard time getting the shots to fall. We got some really good looks right at the rim. It would just go in and roll out.”
Bolden (12 points), Boyers (12) and Eldridge (11) were all in double figures for the Knights.
Lebanon (20-6) was led by Kaylynn Cobb’s 13 points.
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