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Cue Burl Ives and sing along: There must have been some magic in those old silk socks they found, for when they placed them on their feet, they began to dance around.

OK, there are a few inaccuracies with that line. It was a hat, not socks, and these footies were not silk, but they were in celebration of Christmas.

However, they seemed to have some magic, and they definitely made the Lord Botetourt Cavaliers (8-4) look like holiday stocking stuffers as they defeated Staunton River 46-40 in the finals of the Lady Terrier Christmas Classic at William Byrd High School.

Amanda Farmer had the Christmas inspiration to don the festive footwear.

"I just bought some Christmas socks and thought we should do it," she said. "Now we're going to keep wearing them. They brought us luck."

Senior captain MacKenzie Tyree wasn't sure about the idea at first. "I thought it was dumb, but everyone said 'Let's do it, so I went along.' This team is all about having fun."

That sentiment was echoed by Grace Blaylock, who had fun to the tune of 18 points and tournament MVP honors. Blaylock hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter and again in the third as the Cavaliers pulled away from the Eagles.

But just when it appeared Botetourt would win a laugher, the Cavaliers' shooting turned as cold as Frosty the Snowman and their passing was worse.

"It was ugly," said Botetourt head coach Chuck Pound, referring to his team's 36 turnovers.

The Cavs ended the first quarter with an 11-0 run and opened a 10-point lead that looked safe through three quarters, but had to hold on to beat Staunton River (6-3).

Botetourt was held scoreless for nearly seven minutes of the fourth quarter. After taking a 44-29 lead with 6:47 remaining in the final frame, the Cavaliers didn't score again until Blaylock hit two free throws with 7.6 seconds left as the Eagles trailed by only 6.

Botetourt was 15-of-31 from the field, which Pound said was a respectable percentage.

However, the fact that the Cavaliers had only 31 shots was telling of their ball-handling problems. Pound credited the Staunton River trap and hustling defense for causing turnovers and making his players panic, a rare problem for the experienced Cavs.

"We didn't tell them not to shoot," Pound says. "We just turned the ball over so many times there in the last minutes. I thought the low 40s would not be enough to win."

Pound might have been right had the iron been a little kinder to the Eagles. Staunton River's shooters felt the same Christmas chill, shooting 30 percent (18-of-60) from the field and 33 percent (3-of-9) from the foul line.

"We didn't come ready to play," said Staunton River coach Kim Jones. "We took some good shots, but we couldn't get them to fall."

Sisters Laquaksha and Shaneshia Robinson each had 10 points for the Eagles.

LORD BOTETOURT (8-4)

Tyree, MacKenzie 3 0-0 8, Blaylock 6 2-4 18, Farmer 2 2-2 7, Tyree, Macey 2 3-4 7, Lyle 1 0-0 2, Lewis 0 2-4 2, Alford 1 0-0 2, Caldwell 0 0-0 0, Ward 0 0-0 0. Total 15 9-14 46.

STAUNTON RIVER (6-3)

Sayler, J. 4 0-0 9, Dearing 4 0-0 8, Robinson, L. 5 0-2 10, Sublett 0 0-0 0, Salyer, A. 0 1-2 1, Craighead 0 2-2 2, Robinson, S. 5 0-3 10, Lawhorn 0 0-0 0, Mayhew 0 0-0 0.

Lord Botetourt 20 10 10 6 -- 46

Staunton River 10 11 6 13 -- 40

3-point goals -- Lord Botetourt 7 (Blaylock 4, MacKenzie Tyree 2, Farmer) Staunton River 1 (Salyer, J). Total fouls -- Lord Botetourt 14, Staunton River 15. Fouled out -- Lyle

Salem 42, Cave Spring 25

The Spartans claimed third place in the tournament with a win over the Knights.

Alexius Patterson scored 15 points to lead the way for Salem, which played with only seven players in uniform.

Cave Spring was paced by Monica Boatwright's 11-point effort.

SALEM (6-2)

Patterson 6 3-4 15, Richardson 3 5-6 11, Poindexter 1 0-0 2, Davis 2 2-2 8, Kawa 2 0-1 4, Garst 0 2-2 2, Clowser 0 0-0 0. Total 15 12-15 42.

CAVE SPRING (2-7)

Moore 1 0-0 2, Boatwright 3 2-2 11, Vest 1 1-2 3, Markey 1 0-0 2, Walton 0 0-0 0, Durham 0 0-0 0, Doyle 3 0-0 7, Hawthorne 0 0-0 0, McGuigan 0 0-0 0. Total 9 3-4 25.

3-point goals -- Salem 2 (Davis) Cave Spring 4, (Boatwright 3, Doyle) Total fouls -- Salem 12, Cave Spring 12. Fouled out -- none.

William Byrd 50, Northside 48

Sammy Webster's 21 points and 13 rebounds propelled the host Terriers in a closely-contested game for fifth place.

Northside had opportunities to get the victory thanks to Byrd's 1-of-4 shooting from the foul line in the game's final minutes and the Vikings missed a potential-game winning shot at the buzzer.

Abby Thomas had 20 points and nine rebounds for Northside.

NORTHSIDE (2-7)

Deacon 2, Price 3, Thomas 20, Allen 2, Jones 6, Smith 13, Bell 2.

WILLIAM BYRD (2-7)

Hannah 2, James 1, Moody 2, Mattox 8, Overstreet 7, Hagins 6, Patterson 4, Webster 21.

Northside 9 12 12 15--48

William Byrd 9 15 16 10--50

3-point-goals -- N (Thomas, Smith), WB (Mattox, Overstreet).

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