Altavista High School's boys basketball team suffered not one, but two heartbreakers in the Jeff Cocke Memorial Tournament last week.
The Colonels dropped a 51-49 nail-biter to Buckingham Dec. 27, and followed that up with 50-48 overtime setback to Lancaster Dec. 28.
Altavista (1-7) was tied with Buckingham at 28 going into the break. The Colonels outscored the Knights 19-17 in the third quarter, but saw the visitors roar back in the fourth quarter to take the victory.
"We got hurt on the glass, but took care of the ball. We only had three turnovers, and some experienced teams play with more than that. We had the lead going into the fourth and it simply got away from us," said Coach Mike Cartolaro.
The Colonels were led by Delvin Woodruff with 18 points and six rebounds. Juan Thornhill had 10 points for Altavista, while Jarrod Hunt also scored 10. Dylan Allen tallied four and Ricky Adams had seven points and two rebounds.
On the second night, the Colonels went bucket-for-bucket with 10-1 Lancaster.
Altavista outslugged Lancaster to 25-16 halftime advantage. The Red Devils edged out Altavista 11-10 in the third quarter, before putting together a 15-7 fourth-quarter surge to send the game into overtime.
Lancaster won the overtime period 8-6, giving the Red Devils a 50-48 overtime win.
"We did much better on the glass against Lancaster," Cartolaro said. "We had the pressure much better in the first half and played well enough to win. Obviously, their banked 3 shot deflated us."
Woodruff was once again the Colonels' leading scorer. He had 17 points, along with five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Adams contributed 13 points and four rebounds, while Darius Johnson had eight points and Eric Poindexter finished with four points and three rebounds. Hunt had three points, six rebounds and one assist.
Thornhill had two points and four rebounds on the night, while Walker had two rebounds and four points.
"I hope our tough non-district schedule, which included these two teams and Rustburg, will translate into district wins," Cartolaro said.
Altavista returned to its Dogwood District schedule on Tuesday night at Chatham. The Colonels travel to Nelson Jan. 6 and will host Appomattox Jan. 10. Both games begin at 5:30 p.m.
The Lady Colonels, who are 5-4 overall and 2-0 in the Dogwood District, hosted Chatham Tuesday night.
Altavista will continue Dogwood District play on Friday, Jan. 6, against Nelson County at home and travel to Appomattox on Jan. 10. Both games begin at 5:30 p.m.