Ashe Mountain Times

Ashe County's 59-50 loss to East Wilkes in Thursday's semifinals of the Mountain Valley Conference high school girls basketball tournament didn't have a soft ending for the Lady Huskies.

Ashe's roaring finish to a season of struggles, including a party-crashing advance to the tourney semifinals as the seventh seed, concluded with solid work defensively but woes offensively. The Lady Huskies (11-15) rallied from six down in the first half to lead by 10 in the third quarter before getting outscored 30-11 in the final 10 minutes by the third-seeded Lady Cardinals (16-10).

East Wilkes meets state-ranked No. 2 Wilkes Central in Friday night's title game at 6:30.

Seniors MacKinsey Johnson, Kayla Spears, Hannah Shipp and Sierra Wilson bid farewell, amid tears and fond remembrances, and offered solid encouragement for a returning nucleus of five.

Johnson's indelible late-season surge, when she set the school single-game rebounding record with 21, was capped with a finale of 16 points, 19 rebounds and six steals.

“We had it the whole first half and into the third quarter,” Johnson said. “I felt like was it was slow, and slipping through our fingers.”

Freshman Paige Spell's steal and bucket out of Ashe's press defense pushed the Lady Huskies ahead 39-29 near the end of the third quarter. But the period ended with just a four-point lead, and the Lady Cardinals finally pulled even at 48 with 3:50 to play on a bucket by sophomore Adrian Pardue.

Johnson's foul shots with 3:33 to go returned Ashe to the lead but were its final points. East Wilkes' pestering defense forced turnovers and the Lady Cardinals scored only twice from a set offense among 22 fourth-quarter points.

“At the end, we let go and did not play as smart,” Spears said.

Junior Erin Royal's 3-pointer from the left corner with 2:02 showing sent East Wilkes ahead 52-50. The Lady Cardinals made seven free throws in the final 98 seconds.

Shipp added 11 points and six rebounds. Spell had seven rebounds and Wilson six.

Senior Samantha Adams led East Wilkes with 20 points, Royal scored 18 and sophomore Shanisha White added 10.

“Ever since the Alleghany game we've improved by leaps and bounds,” Wilson said. “We kind of lit a fire and decided we'd come alive. We finally started to see results. The last part of the season was incredible.”

Ashe won five of six, beating three second-place teams, to arrive in the semifinals.

“It was nice to have confidence in your team,” Shipp said of the difference in the Lady Huskies. “You don't have to think as much about being a leader, and coaching every play.”

Ashe 12th-year head coach Laura Foster flashed the credentials that have earned her more than 200 victories and a spot this summer as head coach for the West in the N.C. Coaches Association all-star game. Her decision for a box-and-one defense disrupted Royal's direction of the Lady Cardinals with Spell, junior Haley Maloney and Spears taking turns throughout the second half.

Hudler's insertion in the first half helped Ashe overcome an East Wilkes press that confounded the turnover-prone Lady Huskies, and added a spark defensively as well. Ashe rallied from a 16-10 deficit by deflecting passes and ruling the backboards with Johnson, Wilson and sophomore Emily Flanagan.

A 15-3 Ashe run was capped by a Shipp 3-pointer, and the Lady Huskies scored the final four points of the first half to lead 29-21.

“Our inexperience showed itself,” said Foster, now 207-104 as a varsity head coach. “We played hard. I was very impressed with our ability to compete on every possession. That was something throughout the season we had grown to do.”

Ashe will be absent from the state playoffs, ending a streak of eight consecutive years. The sub .500 record is the program's first in 11 years and Friday's title matchup is the first without Ashe in at least four years.

But the Lady Huskies did produce a league first, becoming the first seventh seed to upset a two seed when they beat North Wilkes in the quarterfinals.

“Our team improved tremendously, especially the last three weeks,” Foster said. “I've enjoyed watching them improve.”

“We're going to get better — I have faith in next year's team,” Wilson said of returning junior Chelsea Reavis, Maloney, Flanagan, Hudler and Spell, plus the junior varsity MVC champions. “If they want to, they can see improvement and change. They can get what they want out of the program. I got a great work ethic out of it. And it'll take you so far in life.”

 

MVC TOURNAMENT

Semifinals

(At Wilkes Central High School)

 

EAST WILKES 59, ASHE 50

Ashe County (50) — MacKinsey Johnson 16, Hannah Shipp 11, Morgan Hudler 5, Paige Spell 5, Haley Maloney 5, Sierra Wilson 4, Kayla Spears 4, Chelsea Reavis, Emily Flanagan.

East Wilkes (59) — Samantha Adams 20, Erin Royal 18, Shanisha White 10, Adrian Pardue 6, Ashley Hayes 3, Diamond Hayes 2, Hannah Brown, Meredith Nance, McKenzie Stokes, Christy Carter, Laken Pardue.

Ashe County            10            19            12              9—50

East Wilkes              14              7            16            22—59