by Seneca Contomanolis
DigitalSports Richmond
For the first time in the four year history of the Henrico Holiday Hoops Tournament the Warriors will not be hoisting the championship trophy.
Mills Godwin defeated Henrico 57-42 in the semifinals of the tournament sponsored by DigitalSports on Thursday night.
Kefentse Budd scored a game-high 22 points, Fletcher Lumpkin had 14 and Patrick Oley added 13.
“We did a nice job of screening and being unselfish with the ball,” Mills Godwin coach Hunter Thomas said. “We were willing to make that extra pass to get a layup.”
The Eagles will meet Hermitage in the championship on Friday night at 7:15 p.m. The Panthers beat St. Christopher’s 70-59 in the other semifinal. Henrico, the winner of the tournament the past three years, will play the Saints at 5:30 for third place.
The Warriors led 9-7 midway through the first quarter but that would be the last lead they would hold as an Oley basket sparked a 9-0 Mills Godwin run.
Henrico stayed close in the first half by outscoring the Eagles 11-9 in the second quarter. Senior Jarrett Wansley hit two 3-pointers in the period and the Warriors only trailed 23-20 at halftime.
Mills Godwin put the game away in the third quarter, holding Henrico to only six points. Budd scored seven points in the quarter as the Eagles broke the Warriors’ press time and time again to setup easy layups for themselves.
“We got rid of the ball well,” Thomas said. “When the double team came we found the open guy. We didn’t do a lot of dribbling.”
The Eagles pulled further away in the fourth quarter with Budd and Oley combining for 16 of Mills Godwin’s 20 points in the final period.
Henrico struggled throughout the contest on the offensive end as it seemed numerous times no matter what they did the ball would just not go through the basket.
“We couldn’t quite put together two possessions consecutively where we could score,” Henrico coach Vance Harmon said. “You’ve got to give credit to Godwin’s 2-3 zone. They packed it in. We got clean shots but we just couldn’t score.”
Eric Folden led the Warriors with 10 points, Wansley scored eight and Sa’ad McNeil had seven.
Mills Godwin defeated Hermitage 57-56 earlier in the season but that was the Panthers first game of the year. Thomas knows his team will have their work cut out for them.
“We played them once and beat them by one,” Thomas said. “They are a team that is already improving and now they have all their football players ready. We will have to pick it up a level. We’ve got to be ready to play.”
Mills Godwin 14 9 14 20 – 57
Henrico 9 11 6 16 – 42
Mills Godwin (7-4): Caine 6, Mattioli 0, Crouch 0, Parker 2, Van Arsdale 0, Lumpkin 14, McColley 0, Reynolds 0, Oley 13, Parsons 0, Budd 22, Maher 0. Totals: 18 9-13 57. 3-point goals: Lumpkin 2, Oley, Caine.
Henrico (5-4): Summers 3, Davis 6, Folden 10, McNeil 7, Wansley 8, Cooper 2, Jones 6, Zavelsky 0. Totals: 10 4-11 42. 3-point goals: Folden 2, Wansley 2, Jones 2.
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