Randolph-Henry High School’s junior varsity boys basketball team showed true grit last week, going 3-1 on its way to improving its overall 2018-19 season record to 7-5.

Statesmen Head Coach Mark Heintzleman said he feels good about his team’s performance 12 games into the season, and last week featured an admirable display from his young players.

“Last week was a long week for our kids because not only having four games, but we had back-to-back nights on the road — Wednesday and Thursday — in which both games were overtime games,” he said. “So, yeah, we beat Cumberland at Cumberland in overtime and then lost to Amelia in double overtime.”

Randolph-Henry opened the week with a 49-35 home win over Buckingham County High School on Jan. 7. Then the Statesmen edged Cumberland County High School 43-41 on Jan. 9

The loss to host Amelia County High School came with a 41-37 final score. The Raiders banked in a three-point at the end of regulation to force the first of two overtimes.

Heintzleman was regretting some of his coaching decisions, like putting his team’s best defender, who is short, on a tall Amelia player.

“I definitely could have done some things better as far as situational guarding,” he said. “… It was a good game, a tough one to lose, for sure, but we went 3-1 last week, which was nice. I’m very happy with where the team is right now. We’ve got a lot of size, and we’re definitely using our size. We’re starting to hit our big men more down near the basket. Our big men are getting more comfortable with working with the ball right around the basket.”

Key for the Statesmen has been eighth-grade forward/center Russell Thompson, who stands 6 feet, 2 inches tall.

The Statesmen capped off their busy week with a 42-23 defeat of visiting Bluestone High School on Friday.

Randolph-Henry visits Prince Edward County High School on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and hosts Amelia on Friday at 5:30 p.m. for a rematch.