Area briefs: Clarke County boys knock off Strasburg 56-46

BERRYVILLE — The Clarke County boys’ basketball team avenged a three-point loss earlier in the season with a big second half to beat visiting Strasburg 56-46 Friday.

The Eagles (10-11, 8-5 Bull Run) trailed by three at the half before outscoring the Rams 35-22 over the third and fourth quarters.

Sophomore Sean McDonald finished with a game-high 26 points and teammates Morgan Warfield and Cody Taylor added nine points apiece in the win.

Judges 69, Cougars 55

NOKESVILLE — Cameron Jackson scored 19 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in the Judges’ non-district victory over Kettle Run Friday night.

Handley opened the game with a 28-point first quarter and never trailed the rest of the way.

Buster Wigley added 15 points, and Solomon Finley also scored in double figures with 13 for the Judges (14-4).

Girls’ Basketball

Warriors 79, Hawks 40

STEPHENS CITY — Sherando erupted for 62 points in the second half, erasing a four-point halftime deficit and cruising to a Northwestern District win over Skyline.

The Warriors (10-10, 6-1 Northwestern) trailed 21-17 heading into halftime but turned things around with a 37-13 third-quarter run that put the game out of reach.

Freshman Lauren Reed knocked down six 3-pointers on her way to a 32-point, 11-rebound performance.

Teammate Heidi Brown added 15 points and Jessica Hakel scored 12 and had nine steals in the victory.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

SU picked third in ODAC

FOREST — The Shenandoah University baseball team is the preseason No. 3 selection of the ODAC baseball coaches in preseason poll results released Friday by the league office.

Shenandoah, which is preparing to play its first ODAC campaign this spring, has 90 points and three first-place votes in the poll to come in just behind Bridgewater and Lynchburg for the top two spots.

BC and LC both have four first-place votes with Bridgewater earning the preseason favorite spot with 92 points to the LC Hornets 91.

Shenandoah split two-game series with both Bridgewater and Lynchburg last season. Coach Kevin Anderson’s club rebounded from a 9-6 loss at Bridgewater on March 1 to defeat the Eagles 8-3 on March 15.

On March 21, SU and LC split a doubleheader, with Shenandoah winning 3-0 in the opener before Lynchburg took the nightcap 6-1.

SU also had wins over ODAC foes Eastern Mennonite, Washington & Lee, Randolph-Macon and Hampden-Sydney in 2012.

Shenandoah is the lone ODAC school currently ranked in the ABCA and D3baseball.com, coming in at No. 23 and No. 27, respectively. Lynchburg and Bridgewater are both receiving voting consideration in the D3baseball.com poll.

Coach Kevin Anderson’s club opens up its 2013 season on Feb. 16 with a non-league doubleheader against Misericordia. The ODAC opener is March 3 at Roanoke.