ATLANTA–The Charlottesville Cardinals wheelchair basketball struggled in all three of its games today at the Shepherd Shoot-out in Atlanta.
In the mid-morning tilt the Cardinals lined up against the always strong Orlando Magic Wheels. Orlando’s star guard, Paul Schulte, was injured in the Magic’s early morning game and had to withdraw from the competition. That left the Orlando squad unable to field a legal team (12-point classification system) against Charlottesville and the team forfeited to the Cardinals by an official 2-0 score. The two teams then played a full game allowing Orlando to use its players without regard to classification.
The game remained close through the first ten minutes of the contest, but the Orlando height took its toll on the smaller Cardinals as Charlottesville fell behind 38-15 at the half. Charlottesville managed to outscore the Magic in the second half, 28-26, but eventually fell 64-43. Tom Vandever led Cardinals’ scorers with 10 points, followed by Brandon Rush with 9, Andrea Woodson-Smith and Chris Robinson with 8 each, and Derry Hill and Jeremy Smith with 4 apiece. Orlando’s Jason Van Beek led all scorers with 21 points.
The late afternoon game pitted the Cardinals against the 2013 Intercollegiate champion University of Alabama Men’s team. The Cardinals started strong and trailed Alabama 17-14 with eight minutes left in the first half but the pressing Alabama squad exploded on a 21-0 run to claim a 36-14 halftime advantage. The Cardinals’ woes continued throughout the second half as Alabama notched a walloping 67-22 victory over Charlottesville. Tom Vandever “led” the paltry Charlottesville scoring with 8 points, followed by Brandon Rush with 6, Andrea Woodson-Smith with 4, and Eddie Wimbish and Gino Wilson with 2 each. Alabama’s Bo Hedges led all scorers with 24 points.
After a fifteen minute rest the Cardinals took the floor–this time against the University of Alabama Women’s team. The winded Cardinals stayed close throughout the first half as the Alabama squad maintained their full court press but started running out of gas as the half ended and trailed Alabama 28-23 at the break. The Cardinals rallied early in the second half and closed to within three points but the relentless Alabama pressure continued to wear down Charlottesville, and the Cardinals fell 58-42 to the collegians. Tom Vandever led Cardinals’ scorers with 11 points, followed by Chris Robinson with 10, Jeremy Smith and Derry Hill with 6 each, Brandon Rush with 5, and India Sims and Eddie Wimbish with 2 apiece.
The Cardinals will face the tournament host Shepherd Stealers Sunday morning before heading back to Charlottesville.