It was a five-point game, a Battlefield win, when the teams met last month. It was a five-point game only until midway through the second period Friday.
“I think it’s always going to be like big brother-little brother,” said Battlefield junior guard Tarik Diggs, who scored a team-high 20 points, 16 in the first half, and also grabbed 10 rebounds. “They’re going to always want to beat us. We accept the challenge, basically.”
A three-pointer by Diggs, who made his first five field-goal attempts, in the final seconds of the first quarter gave the Bobcats (11-9, 6-4 in the Virginia AAA Cedar Run District) a lead they never gave up in the regular season finale for both teams.
A few minutes later, Battlefield ran off 15 unanswered points to take a 36-16 lead. During that flurry, six players scored for the Bobcats, who sank 13 of 24 shots in the first half while Patriot misfired on 16 of 22.
In the first 65 seconds of the third quarter, the Pioneers (8-14, 1-9) committed four turnovers that yielded eight more unanswered points for Battlefield, which also finished with a 44-22 rebounding edge.
“They do a really good job of putting you in position where you’re going to make mistakes,” said Patriot Coach Daniel Nemerow, whose team led 5-0 and 12-8. “We didn’t make simple plays, and they exploited it. We have to have that punch-back ability. We kind of took a punch tonight, but we never threw one back.”
Entering the game, Patriot junior guards A.J. Cowthran and Eugene Baltimore had combined to get to the foul line 281 times. They attempted only nine free throws between them Friday. Cowthran led the Pioneers with 12 points.
Battlefield has won five of its past six, including a victory over second-place Cedar Run team Stonewall Jackson. The one loss during that stretch was by nine to league leader Osbourn. The district tournament begins Tuesday.
“Right now we’re playing our best basketball when we need to be,” said first-year Bobcats Coach Kurt Pauly, an assistant in the program last year.
Battlefield junior Terrell Walker, the team’s third-leading scorer, missed the game because of a team rules violation. He had scored 15 points in the Bobcats’ first win over Patriot.
There is one event per sport this school year that Patriot will have to concede to Battlefield — senior night. Patriot has no 12th-graders. The disappointment Friday is something the Pioneers will be able to reference next season when they prepare for Battlefield.
“We’re willing to make some sacrifices and take some lumps like this,” Nemerow said, “if tomorrow, next week, next year, we’re better for it.”
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