Avancini scores 1,000th point

Brittany Avancini reached a career milestone and didn’t even know it. The junior guard on the Floyd County girls’ basketball team scored her 1,000th career point in the Group A, Division 2 state tournament semifinals at Richmond March 14.
“I didn’t know until Coach (Lynette) Vest told me in the locker room after the game,” Avancini recalls. “I was shocked. I had no idea I was even close to 1,000 points.”
At the moment, there were more important things on her mind. The Buffaloes were in the midst of a close game with George Mason for a berth in the state finals.
Floyd won that game 64-60, and went on to defeat Lancaster 64-50 in the championship game. It was the third state championship for the Buffaloes, who won in 1993 and 1994, but the first for Avancini and her teammates.
In her first two seasons, Floyd County went undefeated in the regular season. The Buffs lost in the semifinals to Gate City, the eventual state champion, in 2006, and lost in the championship game to Clarke County last year.
Although they were the state’s top-ranked team last year, the Buffs were under tremendous pressure. They took up the banner of the samefight.org kids, three local youth suffering from cancer. One of them, Joshua Cantrell, grandson of head coach Alan Cantrell and son of assistant Travis Cantrell, died on the eve of the state tournament.
“Last year we had a great team and everyone assumed we would win the state, but it wasn’t meant to be,” Avancini said. “This year, people were skeptical after we lost our first two games and then lost to Glenvar in the district tournament.”
Team chemistry was hampered as senior Lindsey Thompson missed the first part of the season with a knee injury, and then was injured again in the loss to Glenvar. “She wanted to play so bad, you could see it in her eyes,” Avancini said.
“But we didn’t get scared as a team. We just picked it up.
“It just took us a little while for us to learn how to play together,” Avancini said. “This year, after we beat Chilhowie and got to Richmond, everything felt right.”
Avancini scored 31 points in each of the wins in Richmond, and had the second best ever Group A three-game tournament. She plans to spend the spring and summer playing AAU basketball and attending team camps.
She is being recruited by several Division III and Division II colleges. “Virginia Commonwealth has shown a lot of interest.” (VCU hosts the state tournament games.)
“I’d like to go to Virginia Tech. They called two days after the state tournament.”
Avancini not only has a rare blend of talent and intensity, she also plays with exuberance and sportsmanship. “When I was little, my dad took me to the gym.
“He taught me to have fun and be respectful to others. I thank him for that.”