Fishburne preps for VISAA tournament

After losing by two points to Hargrave in the VIC quarterfinals, Fishburne could only wait to see if it would earn a spot in the VISAA tournament. On Sunday, the Caissons’ were done waiting.

Fishburne’s late turnaround was rewarded with a No. 11 seed in the VISAA tournament and a date with No. 6 Roanoke Catholic.

“I just remember feeling so bad when we lost to Hargrave and thinking it was our last basketball game,” said Fishburne’s David Candelario.

“Our journey was put on hold, then we found out Sunday that we were going to states,” added Glen Franklin.

After a roller coaster of a season, the Caissons earned their second trip to the independent state tournament in three years, solidifying itself as one of Virginia’s more consistent private school programs.

Today the Caissons will travel to Roanoke Catholic for the first round of the tournament. The winner of tonight’s game will go on to face No. 3 Covenant.

Franklin said that the Caissons’ defense has to improve for the team to stay alive to play another game.

“We know defense has been a struggle for us,” he said. “ Our mindset is that we are not driving an hour and a half just to lose. We know they have some key players but we have the defense to stop them.”

After starting the season 5-7, Fishburne won its next four games and finished third in the VIC. The late season run helped the Caissons earn their spot in the VISAA tournament and also gave the players a burst of needed momentum.

“I think any coach will tell you in our conference that Fishburne was playing its basketball down the stretch,” Crabill said.

“In a way we had a good season,” Franklin said. “The games that we lost we shouldn’t have lost. I went through a spell where I was injured but my teammates stayed up and didn’t let my injury get to them.”

Tonight’s game will tipoff at 7 p.m.