Friday night became a nightmare evening for the visiting No. 1 Northern Neck seeded Lady Red Devils of Lancaster. In the midst of missing their leading scorer, Andrea White, their offense fell prey to a suffocating Colonial Beach defense, which limited their ability to score in transition.
In a low scoring game, in a sparsely populated gymnasium, the third-seeded Lady Drifters upset the Red Devils, 29-24. With the victory the Drifters could overtake second place Northumberland before the end of the regular season. Results of the Northumberland game (4-1, 10-4) were not available due to press deadlines.
The Drifters have proven they have the right stuff. With the majority of their losses coming in the final minutes, the Drifters continue to show poise in the face of adversity. Most recently, the Drifters have developed a new weapon in their arsenal of offense, with center Melissa Turner shooting from the perimeter, rather than the low post zone. Turner scored 6 points and dominated the defensive boards.

Dylan Farinet hit a three-pointer as time expired to lift Colonial Beach over King George 66-63. Farinet's heroics capped a 14-1 run to end the game, where the Drifters scored 34 points in the fourth quarter. Down 49-32 going into the fourth quarter, the Beach slowly began to chip away at the Foxes. With the Foxes ahead, 54-44 with 3 minutes to play, the Drifters started their full-court-pressure. Led by Farinet, Travis Cundiff, Randy Ruczynski and Paul Roberson, the home team was able to turn the Foxes over on numerous occasions.
The Drifters got their first lead of the game at 63-62, with just 30 seconds left in the game. D.J. Lewis, who led all scorers with 29 points, was fouled with 8 seconds left. He hit one of two free throws to tie the game.
Farinet then took the inbounds pass, beat a double team down the sideline, went by one more defender, and pulled up for the winning shot. As the shot went through the nets, the crowd went crazy, emptying onto the floor, and swarming the senior guard.
Farinet led the Drifters with 25 points. Cundiff had 18 points. Ruczynski, Roberson, and junior Mike Jackson scored six points apiece.
Colonial Beach improves to 4-6 on the season with the win. The Drifters will host Washington and Lee in a Northern Neck District game Tuesday.

The Foxes (4-5) hosted a four-team wrestling meet last Wednesday featuring Courtland, Northumberland and Essex. While the Foxes lost to Courtland 52-28, they finished the meet on a high note by defeating Essex (54-30) and Northumberland (52-30).
The meet featured a number of Fox highlights. While head coach John Spiak celebrated a milestone of 75 wins as a coach in the Virginia High School Coaching Association (VHSCA), Jason Ames (12-3, 103 lbs.); Vinny Eells (12-3, 125 lbs.), and Connor Webber (12-6, 135 lbs.) were the top Fox wrestlers of the meet. Spiak has a total of 77 wins, and his next VHSCA milestone will be 130 victories.

Double winners for King George were Tyler Grigg in the boys’ 200-meter and 400-meter events, and Rachael Webb in the girls’ 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly. As for the Cougars, Claire Hybl finished first in the girls’ 400-meter freestyle and 200-meter freestyle.
On Friday, the host Foxes boys’ and girls’ swim teams defeated Courtland and Eastern View. While Eastern View failed to record any first place finishes, the Cougars challenged the Foxes with 10 first finishes out of 22 events.
The Foxes will host Chancellor and Spotsylvania on Friday, Jan. 22 at the King George YMCA. Start time is 7 p.m.