Laura Clark / Nelson County Times
Published: February 22, 2008

The Wildcats (10-14) used their size advantage in the first half, at times putting three 6-foot-4 players on the floor to dominate the boards. Dan River jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter, led by junior Darren White, who had 18 points and six rebounds in the game.

"We were just lazy," Gov Chris Jones said. "I don't think we were ready to play, (it felt like) coming in here to play a pick-up game."

In the second quarter, Nelson went on a 7-0 run, sparked by Jones and Thomas Brown. Jones drove baseline for a trip to the foul line, knocking down both shots. Then Jones came up with a steal and dished to Brown who drove in and hit a layup and subsequent foul shot.

Center Steve Washington tied the game briefly when he put back an outside miss by Brown. White hit two perimeter shots for Dan River and the Wildcats went into halftime with a 5-point lead after Terrance Womack drove into the lane for two.

Nelson adjusted its help defense in the second half, pulling off non-shooters and getting in better position for rebounds. T.J. Martin hit a three to give Nelson its first lead since the first minute of the game. The Wildcats answered with a blind pass by White to Charles Warren on the baseline. Warren went to line and made one of two free throws to tie the game.

Then Brown hit a three and stole the ball. Warren blocked Brown's layup, but Trevor Martin was there for the put-back. Dan River put Terrance Harris on Brown, and Harris was in Brown's face, visibly taunting him while he slowed down the tempo for the last 40 seconds of the third quarter. Brown beat Harris off the dribble, drove into the lane and banked a hook shot in at the buzzer.

"We just talked at halftime about wanting it and having the opportunity to win a district tournament on top of a district regular season championship and what that means to us as a community, as a school," Gov coach Brandon Garrett said. "So we talked about having a little bit of pride and not letting somebody walk all over top of you."

Nelson led by 16 with five minutes to play. Dan River stayed aggressive and routinely found Dantony Dickerson for quick outside jump shots. But the Wildcats couldn't narrow the gap to less than 10 in their final game of the season.

"Our defense was sub-par, and I think that's what really let them back in the game," Wildcat coach Jacob Gruse said. "Shot selection wasn't the best, but they're a heck of a ball team."

Brown led the Govs, scoring a game-high 32 points, including five three-pointers. Trevor Martin had eight, Chris Jones had six and T.J. Martin had five. Mike Jones and Washington each scored four points, while Cameron Coles had three.

Warren had nine points for Dan River before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Dickerson and Marcus Foster each scored eight.

The Govs (23-1) will host Altavista in the Dogwood District championship game on Saturday at Amherst County High School at 7 p.m. All the Govs home games will be held at Amherst due to a water leak rendering their home floor unplayable.

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