Ashe Mountain Times

One championship hasn't quenched the thirst.

Ashe County High's boys basketball team began the quest for a second title in the Mountain Valley Conference Tuesday night by routing visiting West Wilkes 69-36 in the league tournament quarterfinals.

The top-seeded Huskies, state-ranked No. 6 this week by the N.C. Preps website, won their ninth straight and climbed to 23-2. Ashe tips its semifinal matchup with fourth-seeded Alleghany, a winner over Elkin, Wednesday night about 8 at Wilkes Central.

The tournament championship is Friday, with the girls tilt at 6:30 and the boys to follow.

“We're starting over,” senior Sam Gammons said. “Every conference game for us was a step. Today it was the first step of a three-step tournament.”

Junior Anthony Federico came off the bench to make all four shots, each from 3-point range, and finished with a career high 13 points to lead the Huskies. Senior Zeb Richardson added 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, and Gammons finished with 11 points.

Junior point guard Nehemiah Stafford dished out four assists.

“We hit shots we needed to hit,” Federico said. “We worked together as a team as usual.”

The Huskies defended, their man-to-man quicker than the Blackhawks' passing decisions and execution. Ashe was opportunistic and unforgiving, with a foundation in rebounding (27-21 advantage) and value in protecting the basketball.

Ashe had just one turnover the first 13�1/2 minutes, built leads of 14-2 and 32-16, and easily played all 13 on its roster with only two failing to find the scoring column.

“He's one of our biggest bench players,” Gammons said of Federico, a multi-sport athlete. “Hopefully he can keep it going. He's a big ‘X' factor. He takes the pressure off me and Andrew (Lopp).”

Federico, who has made his last six from the floor over two games, is a part of the Huskies' regular eight-man rotation. Juniors Anderson Moore and Seth Sheets are the other two off the bench.

“The tournament is just as important as the regular season championship,” Federico said. “It's one step closer to a state title.”

West Wilkes, which lost to Ashe 79-36 four nights earlier, became the 13th opponent held under 40 points by the Huskies. The Blackhawks were led in scoring by Garrett Hamby and Bryson Mosteller with eight points each.

“We've got some guys battling congestion and things like that, but our energy level was good,” Ashe head coach Marc Payne said. “We played good defense, and we pushed the ball up well. They all played well.”

 

MVC TOURNAMENT

Quarterfinals

ASHE 69, WEST WILKES 36

West Wilkes (36) — Bryson Mosteller 8, Garrett Hamby 8, Seth Absher 7, Josh Greer 5, Mason Poole 3, Sam Allen 2, Jacob Dancy 2, Ricky Call 1, Jose Moran, Jeremy Parks, Josh Phipps, Nathan Chambers.

Ashe County (69) — Anthony Federico 13, Zeb Richardson 12, Sam Gammons 11, Seth Sheets 7, Nehemiah Stafford 5, Andrew Lopp 5, Eli Gambill 5, Hawkens Flanagan 4, Sam Bowers 3, Jordan Spell 2, Anderson Moore 2, Cole Price, Tucker Goodman.

West Wilkes               7              9            12              8—36

Ashe County            16            16            23            14—69