A1 Minute Week in Review
James River’s Jackson reaches 1,000 points
James River girls basketball senior wing Arshae Jackson reached the 1,000-point threshold for her career Thursday night in the Rapids’ 72-49 win over Cosby.
James River (13-2) had been counting down to the mark for the past few games. Jackson needed 9 points to match 1,000 entering the contest, and got her 10th of the night on a breakaway layup.
The Rapids weren’t going to stop the game, but the Titans (9-6) happened to take a timeout at the opportune moment. That gave homestanding James River a pause in the action to honor its second 1,000-point scorer under coach Henry Schechter.
The first was Grace Townsend, now a standout at the University of Richmond.
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“She’s such a good kid, quiet, soft-spoken, great parents. I’m happy for her,” Schechter said of Jackson, whose parents, brother and grandparents were in attendance.
“It was really special.”
Schechter lauded Jackson’s conditioning over the past year, which he said has enabled her to play virtually every minute of every game and kept her jump shot more consistent late in games.
The coach described Jackson as a role model who leads the rest of his program by example with her competitiveness and work ethic.
“She never asks to come out of the game, regardless of the tempo,” Schechter said.
“She’s a slasher. She has a great hesitation move, can get to the rim and finish, she’s strong, uses her body really well. And those are all things that have helped her be a really consistent player.”
Katie Tracy, the 1995-96 All-Metro player of the year who played at the University of Virginia, holds the James River record for career points with more than 1,500.
Schechter said his Rapids are hitting their stride at the right time amid a difficult schedule in the Dominion District. Their only two losses came in the same week following a 17-day Christmas layoff, when two of the area’s top teams, L.C. Bird and Manchester, defeated them 55-45 and 64-49, respectively.
Since, James River has won four straight, including victories over good Monacan and Cosby programs. The Rapids will need all the seeding points they can get too, as a loaded Region 6A bracket that includes fellow state championship hopefuls Manchester (13-3) and Thomas Dale (13-1) awaits them come playoff time.
“When we came back, that was a really tough week for us,” Schechter said.
“But sometimes it’s good to lose, you can learn some things about yourself.”
All-Metro football banquet set for Feb. 8
The Touchdown Club of Richmond will hold the All-Metro football banquet honoring the 2022 team on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa/Short Pump.
Tickets start at $55 and are available through Eventbrite at www.eventbrite.com/d/united-states—virginia/touchdown-club-of-richmond.
The Touchdown Club will distribute souvenir programs at the banquet. The program will include the full All-Metro team as selected by the Times-Dispatch, along with pictures of the first team and of coaches being honored plus advertisements from sponsors, which are available for purchase via the TD Club.
The 2022 All-Metro football team has not been announced yet.
