Boys’ Basketball

The Fluco boys’ basketball teams had a hard week ahead of them with two district games in one week. The boys were scheduled to head to Monticello on Jan. 27, but due to inclement weather, the game was rescheduled to Jan. 28. Unfortunately, the JV boys fell to Monticello 51-37.

Varsity fought hard against Monticello, hoping to improve their 11-8 record. Despite the fact that Vinny Agee–a key player who had 31 points throughout the game– fouled out in the third quarter, the boys continued to work hard, and this paid off as Jameel Wilson tied the game up with a layup just as the final buzzer sounded. Ultimately, the varsity boys beat Monticello 72-70 in overtime.

Just two days later, on Jan. 30, the Flucos hosted Western Albemarle at home. “We knew this was going to be a tough game,” said senior varsity player Julian Bonner, “because Western has always been a tough team to beat.

But the Flucos persevered in this game, beating Western Albemarle 66-64 in overtime, with Vinny Agee scoring 31 points. “We came together as a team towards the end in order to get the win,” said Bonner of the win, which brought their season record to 13-8. Meanwhile, the JV boys team lost to Western by 21 points.

Both teams have two games this week, away at Charlottesville on Feb. 3 and home against Louisa on Feb. 6.

Indoor Track

The Fluvanna indoor track team had a two-day meet on Jan. 28 and 29. This was a very important meet because it was the Jefferson District Invitational. The girls team placed 3rd overall in the District meet with 11 girls making All-District and advancing to Conference. Matasha Martin made the most All-District honors on the team, including 55m dash, 300m dash, 55m hurdles, and the high jump. Jackie Rodriguez was the District Champion in the 3200m run.

The boys’ team placed 4th overall in the District meet, just a mere nine points from earning All-District honors as a team. Brian Brown was the highest point scorer of the meet for any team, making District Champion in the 55m dash, while Markyll Bland was the district champion in the triple jump. Nine other boys made All-District in their events, including Travis Moe who placed 2nd in both the 1600m and 3200m dashes.

ACE

The Fluvanna ACE (Academic Competition for Excellence) team continued a banner season. Under team captain Harrison Lee, the team fields knowledge questions in a game junior team member Christopher Robey likens to Jeopardy. Eac ACE meet features multiple matches with three rounds. The team with the most points after all the matches wins. As always, knowledge of arcane and obscure knowledge is key.

The Flucos showed their depth of knowledge on Jan. 28 when they competed in the Conference finals and emerged victorious. “We were extremely prepared to win Conference. The final match was a hard fought game against Handley but in the end, we came out on top,” said Robey. They will be advancing to Regionals on Feb 7 in Danville.

The ACE team also competed in The Battle of the Brains which will air on CBS 6 in Richmond. The results cannot be disclosed until the program airs next month.

Girls’ Basketball

Snow days and bad weather are every high school student’s dream– unless you are involved in a winter sport. Thanks to snow, the girls basketball game scheduled for Jan. 27 was rescheduled and took place on on Jan. 29, at which point the ladies took on Monticello at home in what would be a very close game for both JV and varsity. The JV team lost, and after battling it out the entire game, the varsity girls also ended up losing 50-59. “It was a tough game that we already had our doubts about because we knew how good they were. We pushed that out of our heads during the game, though, and fought really hard and came close to victory,” said senior Morgan Symmers.

After just facing the Monticello Mustangs at home, the girls traveled to Western Albemarle on Jan. 30. With determination on their minds, the Lady Flucos pulled out a welcome victory against the Warriors, beating them 58-44. “ Coming off of a loss the night before really gave us that extra will and push to bring home a victory,” said Symmers.

Next, the girls take on Charlottesville at home on Feb. 3, followed by a trip to Louisa to take on the Lions on Feb. 6.

Wrestling

The team headed all the way up to Culpeper on Jan. 28 for a dual meet against the Blue Devils. With the Flucos forfeiting four weight classes, they automatically gave up 26 points to the Blue Devils who had a full roster. The Flucos ended up losing 10-68 with all ten points coming from seniors and team captains Donnie Wilson and Dalton Wensel. Wilson pinned his opponent and Wensel won in a major decision. After the loss, the Flucos headed back home to host Conference Duals on Jan. 31.

It was the first big tournament that the wrestling team had hosted at the new high school and the team– with the support of their parents– stayed late Friday night to start setting up the gym for the big tournament. The Flucos were unable to win any of their five matches that day, and forfeited five weight classes which resulted in giving up 30 points from the start of every match. “It stinks that we don’t fill up all of our of weight classes,” said junior wrestler Gwyneth Herndon. “We are already at a disadvantage and are losing the match before it even starts. It definitely gives us a negative mindset that we have to battle,” she added. The Flucos lost to Louisa 6-73, Harrisonburg 30-40, Amherst 11-67, John Handley 9-65, and almost beat Charlottesville, but fell just short at 32-33.

On a positive note, the two senior captains had a pretty good day overall, going home with a record of 3-2 each. “ This is my first year on the team, but I have learned a lot about wrestling in this year. I know that the boys fought hard and all of them came a long way from the beginning of the season,” said senior manager Jessie Kirby. The Conference duals also marked Senior Night, where six senior wrestlers and two senior managers were recognized. The wrestlers head to Harrisonburg high school on Feb. 7 for the Conference individual tournament.