Ashe Mountain Times

Ashe County's 70-37 rout of visiting Maiden Monday showed a clear understanding of the finality that comes with the boys state high school basketball playoffs.

“If you don't perform, you go to the house,” head coach Marc Payne said.

The Huskies' house, filled greatly by parents and modestly by the student Dog Pound section, roared its approval continuously in the opening half. Ashe sprinted to its 25th win in 28 outings by blitzing the Blue Devils 30-4 in the opening 9 1/2 minutes, holding and opponent under 40 points for the 14th time, and flashing a confident swagger that ignited earlier winning streaks of 14 and 10 games.

Ashe hosts Shelby (17-5), a 76-62 winner over Pisgah, Wednesday night at 7.

Seniors Zeb Richardson, Sam Gammons and Andrew Lopp were instigators in the blowout defensively. Junior Nehemiah Stafford directed with precision from the point, the Huskies quite often getting very open looks on jump shots, and junior forward Eli Gambill provided inside physicality.

“For me and Zeb and Andrew, we told them we're not guaranteed tomorrow,” Gammons said. “We had a mindset of what we wanted to do, and what to expect.”

What the Huskies didn't expect from their scouting report was missing Blue Devils. Payne said Maiden (9-15) had not expected to get a playoff berth and didn't practice after last Monday's loss in the Catawba Valley Conference tournament. Payne said three of the Blue Devils' top six — including Jason Gantt and Will Jenkins — didn't make the trip.

Whether it would have mattered is debatable. Richardson, who made a visit to VMI Saturday, scored 22 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked five shots.

Gammons added 17 points and three assists, Lopp had an early touch from the outside and scored eight points and junior Seth Sheets came off the bench to grab five rebounds.

Senior Matt Johnson, a football signee at quarterback with UNC Charlotte's new program, led fourth-year head coach Doug Miller's Blue Devils with 14 points. Ricky Taylor added eight.

“We got after it,” Lopp said. “Regardless of who our opponent is, we have to play our game, and we accomplished that tonight.”

Ashe held Maiden to 0-for-12 shooting while rolling to the early 30-4 lead. The Huskies, regular season champs of the Mountain Valley Conference and state-ranked in the top 10 all season, shot better than 50 percent and had only one turnover in the game's first 13 minutes.

Maiden was within 17 early in the third quarter before Ashe reeled off a 23-8 spurt.

 

NCHSAA 2-A PLAYOFFS

First Round

 

ASHE 70, MAIDEN 37

Maiden (37) — Matt Johnson 14, Ricky Taylor 8, Jalen Gibbs 6, Kolby Danner 5, Dustin Hipps 2, Austin Wright 1, John Heffelinger 1, Isaac Dalton, Grant Yowe.

Ashe County (70) — Zeb Richardson 22, Sam Gammons 17, Andrew Lopp 8, Nehemiah Stafford 7, Eli Gambill 7, Anderson Moore 2, Seth Sheets 2, Anthony Federico 2, Sam Bowers 2, Jordan Spell 1, Cole Price, Tucker Goodman, Hawkens Flanagan.

Maiden                        4            14            11              8—37

Ashe County            26            11            15            18—70