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By James J. Lidington

ISLE OF WIGHT

Isle of Wight Academy avenged an earlier loss to StoneBridge, defeating the Cavaliers 76-51 last Friday in Jester Gym.

William Fricke had 18 points for the Chargers and Russ Wells added 17 for IWA. Grant Worthy had 15 points and Colby Williams had a season-high three three-pointers en route to a 13-point night.

The Chargers (12-9, 6-4 in the Metro Athletic Conference) fell to StoneBridge 44-43 when the two teams met at the Joliff Road school Jan. 7.

Isle of Wight had the smallest of leads, 11-10, after a quarter and trailed by as many as 7 early in the third period on a Cavaliers basket with 5:10 left in the stanza.

But a 14-2 run in that same period, culminating in a Russ Wells dunk with 1:44 left in the third, put IWA ahead 40-25. Another run, this time 11-6, wrapped up the period with IWA staked to a 52-41 advantage.

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Williamsburg Christian came calling last Wednesday, Jan. 29, defeating IWA 87-81. Former foes in the Metro, the Eagles left in favor of the Virginia Metro Conference, where they joined clubs including Grace, Grove and Guarding Christian schools.

Fricke had a career-high 30 points against the Eagles.

IWA sprinted out to a 22-14 lead against Williamsburg when Worthy scored with 6:11 left in the first half. The Eagles bit into the IWA lead, streaking ahead 43-36 on three consecutive 3-pointers in the last 1:14 of the chapter.

Isle of Wight got as close 2 points twice the final period. They trailed the visitors 47-45 on a Jabari Thomas basket with 4:17 to go and again, 53-51, when Fricke scored with 45 seconds left.

In the final period, IWA would twice cut the Williamsburg lead to 4 points on buckets by Worthy and Thomas. But The Eagles were 7-for-11 from the foul line in the last 1:21 to preserve their lead.

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The Chargers dominated the Metro’s newest team, Gateway Christian, 59-50, on Jan. 28.

IWA led by 8 after a quarter and 5 at the half. They built their lead 17 in the third period, 47-30, on the strength of a 7-0 run in the last 1:27.

The Chargers remained in fifth place in the eight-team Metro, according to the most recent standings, but figure to leap-frog StoneBridge by virtue of defeating the fourth-place Cavaliers.

Russ Wells is the conference’s seventh-best scorer, averaging 14.3 points per game. Fricke is eighth with 13.4 points per game; Thomas is 10th with 12.3 and Worthy, 12th with 11.8.

The Chargers travel to Hampton Christian Tuesday and Denbigh Baptist Friday; those contests begin at 7 p.m.

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Girls Basketball

The Lady Chargers (8-7, 5-2 Metro Conference) are in second place in the Metro, behind Atlantic Shores.

IWA defeated Gateway Christian 35-27 Tuesday, but lost a rematch with StoneBridge 32-19 last Friday.

The Lady Chargers host Richmond Christian this Thursday and travel to Denbigh Baptist on Friday. Games begin at 5:30 p.m.

JAMES J. LIDINGTON is a teacher at Isle of Wight Academy. He can be reached at 357-3866.