Ashe Mountain Times

Not even a near triple double from senior Zeb Richardson could rescue Ashe County High's boys from a 54-51 loss to Wilkes Central Friday night in the Mountain Valley Conference Tournament championship.

The Huskies got a sour tasting reminder of the “got to play all 32 minutes” rule, leading for all but two minutes and 49 seconds in front of an emotion-charged crowd of 1,500 that stood in every corner of the Wilkes Central gym, even fully encircling the baselines. The second-seeded Eagles led for 27 seconds in the third quarter and 50 seconds of the fourth prior to Will Cornette's 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:32 to go that broke a 49-49 tie.

When the teams met Jan. 13, from the same spot, Cornette missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer. The Eagles ran the same play, penetrating the lane on the dribble before passing to the perimeter.

“That's the play that broke us apart,” Ashe head coach Marc Payne said. “They drove it inside and pitched to Cornette. It was the same play as when we were here before. This time he made it.”

Richardson's productive night included 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting, 12 rebounds and eight blocks. He even carved out three minutes of playing time in the second quarter after having already taken a seat with two fouls late in the first quarter.

Ashe, top-seeded and winner of 10 straight, twice beat Wilkes Central in the regular season without allowing the Eagles to crack 40 points. Hanging around for three quarters, head coach Mark Hagaman's Eagles stymied the already cold-shooting Huskies with a fourth-quarter switch to a zone defense.

“What they did to us is what we normally do to others,” Payne said. “They rendered us offensively ineffective.”

“Coach had said they did it (zone) to Starmount (Thursday), so we figured it would come once or twice,” senior Andrew Lopp said. “We didn't get movement, didn't hit the seams, and we couldn't hit the open shot.”

Ashe's defense failed to generate transitional plays in the fourth quarter and the half-court attack had no bite. The Huskies' shooting woes included:

• six points in the fourth quarter, going 2-for-13 from the floor;

• perimeter players shooting 1-for-17 in the second half;

• the team shooting 7-for-28 in the second half after a 52-percent first half;

• players not named Zeb Richardson shooting a collective 11-for-40;

• and a 3-for-19 night behind the 3-point line.

After Cornette's bucket, Ashe airballed a 3-pointer but regained possession by forcing a turnover. Nehemiah Stafford fed Richardson along the baseline to pull Ashe within 52-51 with 22.7 seconds left.

Eagles senior Armin Omanovic made two foul shots with 19.2 seconds left, Wilkes Central used a foul to slow Ashe, and the Huskies got a pair of 3-point attempts from senior Sam Gammons in the final seconds, the last of which bounced off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

“They put a lot of pressure on our guards,” Richardson said. “We didn't get all the shots we needed from our offense. They had good defense and pressure on the ball.

“We're so used to playing man-to-man, when they switched to zone, we stood around and didn't attack.”

Stafford added eight points, six rebounds and five assists for the Huskies. Gammons finished with nine points, junior Eli Gambill snared seven boards and Lopp dished out five assists and added a pair of blocks.

Omanovic finished with 24 points, Christian Triplett 11 and Calvin Shoemaker 10.

The Huskies' fourth quarter of six points was one of its three worst this season, joining the two points first quarter at Wilkes Central Jan. 13 and a six points first quarter at Alleghany Jan. 27.

State playoff pairings are scheduled to be announced on Saturday, and http://www.ashemountaintimes.com will have the latest when it becomes available.

 

MVC TOURNAMENT

Finals

(At Wilkes Central High School)

 

WILKES CENTRAL 54, ASHE 51

Wilkes Central (54) — Armin Omanovic 24, Christian Triplett 11, Calvin Shomaker 10, Austin Staley 5, Will Cornette 4, Jashon Lindon, Nick McNeil, Cameron Williams, Jacob Stinson.

Ashe County (51) — Zeb Richardson 23, Sam Gammons 9, Nehemiah Stafford 8, Andrew Lopp 4, Anderson Moore 4, Eli Gambill 3, Anthony Federico.

Wilkes Central            13            19            10            12—54

Ashe County               17            16            12               6—51