by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
Lancaster’s battle to get back to the Class 1 state boys basketball championship began this week with the start of the Region1A tournament.
The top seeded Red Devils, sporting a 20-2 record, advanced to a semifinal game against Westmoreland at LHS Thursday, February 22, after beating Colonial Beach by forfeit in a quarterfinal. Westmoreland advanced with a 70-65 quarterfinal win over Northumberland, while Northampton beat Charles City, 82-48, and Middlesex defeated Chincoteague, 66-45.
It’s win or go home in tomorrow’s semifinals with the two victors both getting a berth in the state tournament. The regional championship will be Saturday, February 24, at the site of the high seed. The winner will host a first round Class 1 game; the loser will head out west to play the winner of Region B.
The Devils earned some bragging rights and collected a couple of trophies on February 14 when they beat visiting Northumberland by 20 points, 75-55, to claim the Northern Neck District tournament championship. The outcome was expected—Lancaster had beaten Northumberland twice this season by margins of 47 and 20. But for the first 16 minutes, it looked like this time the Indians had the Devils’ number.
Northumberland led by as much as six midway through the first….
