Ashe Mountain Times

After dropping four games to begin the season, the Ashe County Lady Huskies have been on a tear, winning the past three games to improve to 3-4 overall, and 3-1 in conference action. 

Huskies shock Rams

After falling in the conference opener to archrival Wilkes Central, the Lady Huskies stormed back against a lethargic Forbush Falcons' club three days later in East Bend with a 35-33 win.  

For a follow-up performance, the Lady Huskies would then catch the Starmount Rams napping with a 48-43 win on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at home. 

Ashe County came out early with a 4-0 lead, thanks to baskets by Emily Flanagan and Morgan Hudler. Haley Brown then added a basket to make the score 6-4. 

Undeterred by an early Huskies' surge, Heaven Walters and Alisha Baity led the Rams' charge with back-to-back baskets to retake the lead heading into the second quarter. 

Then down by five points, a basket by Flanagan cut the lead back to three points before a Braylyn Hampton jump shot and a free-throw by Damion Dobson gave the Rams a six point lead. 

A Paige Spell jump shot and layup by Victoria Reed would later cut the lead back to one point before the Rams went on another offensive tear to pull ahead by as many as nine points. 

In the second half, Starmount's lead would swell to as many as 12 points before the Huskies began to mount a comeback. 

A basket and a free throw by Spell cut the lead back to three points before a layup by Haley Brown trimmed the Rams' advantage to one point. 

Ashe County finally recaptured the lead about midway through the contest when Chelsea Reavis finished off a give-and-go for the go ahead basket. 

The Lady Huskies would then begin to work the clock to put the game out reach. Another basket by Flanagan would then end a lengthy possession and gave the Huskies a 44-39 lead. 

Two free throws by Starmount pulled the Rams back within three points, but Brown and Hudler would close out the game with trips to the charity stripe to seal the win. 

Ashe stuns Cardinals

The Lady Huskies jumped out of the gate against the East Wilkes Cardinals Friday night and were never seriously challenged in a 52-37 conference win at home. 

After falling behind early, the Huskies responded with a 13-0 run in the first quarter that left the Cardinals stunned and out of sync to begin the contest.

Five different Huskies found their place in the scorebook early on, as baskets by Spell, Brown, Flanagan, Reed and Parks led what seemed like a relentless assault against the Cardinals.

The second quarter brought more of the same for the Huskies, as Ashe extended its lead to 33-20 before halftime. 

Ashe led by as much as 13 during the quarter after Lopp swished home two free-throws.

The Cardinals would then trim the lead back to seven after knocking down a three-pointer, but the Huskies would never let up and fought back to restore their double-digit advantage thanks to another three-pointer by Reavis. Another basket by Spell made the score 33-20 at halftime. 

Looking to claw their way back into the game, the Cardinals went on an 8-4 mini run to begin the second half, but Ashe got help by the way of baskets from Flanagan and Spell to hold onto a 39-30 lead going into the fourth. 

Ashe County quickly recaptured its double digit lead in the fourth quarter with Spell leading the way, scoring Ashe County's first six points of the period. 

Reed later added a basket for the 47-34 midway through the fourth. 

The Lady Huskies then went 5-7 at the charity stripe down the stretch to close out the game. 

The Lady Huskies returned to action on Tuesday at Newland against the Avery Vikings in a rematch of an earlier game this season in which the Vikings stole a win in West Jefferson.

Ashe is then on the road Friday for a conference game against the Alleghany Trojans.

Look in next week's edition for a full recap.