Huskies Defeat Two Conference Foes to Remain Undefeated

By Joel Frady

Huskies Fly Past Rams in Conference Opener
When the Ashe County Huskies walked off the court at Starmount High School on Friday, Dec. 19, they knew

they had finally gotten past one of the program's biggest issues: the Starmount Rams. The Rams had defeated Ashe County every time the teams played since Starmount joined the Mountain Valley conference in 2005, including winning all three games during the 2007-2008 season.

But history had no place in Boonville on Saturday night, as Ashe County scored early and often en route to an easy 77-49 victory.

"It's a conference game, so you have to go after it," said Ashe County Head Coach Marc Payne. He attributed the win to "playing with a relentlessness and a work ethic.

"We're a veteran team, and Starmount is very young," Payne continued. "Most of their team is pretty young, and [Starmount Head] Coach Hague is going to have a good ball club. It's just one of those games where you have an experienced ball club playing a very young team that's still finding themselves."

The game didn't get off to a quick start for either team. They traded baskets and foul shots for the first few minutes of the game and were tied at five.

Senior point guard Daniel Waln then took the game into his hands, hitting three consecutive three-point shots to spark Ashe County on an 11-point run. Starmount finally answered with a basket to cut the lead to 16-7, but the Huskies just went on another 11-point run. They led 23-7 after the first quarter and pushed their lead to 27-7 before Starmount was able to score again.

Payne rotated players for the rest of the first half as the Huskies took a comfortable 39-17 lead into the locket room.

The second half wasn't much different from the first. Ashe County continued to use a stiff defense and a steady rotation of players to keep Starmount out of reach. The Rams never came close to cutting into the Ashe County lead, which reached as large as 31 points, and the Huskies' picked up their first conference win with the dominating 77-49 road victory.

Despite the relatively easy win, Payne saw areas for improvement, such as containing the basketball and not committing as many fouls. He noted, however, that the coaching staff substitutes regularly no matter who they are playing.

"We substitute a lot anyway," he said. "Sometimes we don't go quite as deep as that, but it just keeps you fresh." Payne noted that, despite the small errors, it is "always good to get your first conference win."

Ashe County played a home game against conference foe Surry Central on Monday, Dec. 22.

Huskies use 23-3 Fourth Quarter to Defeat Surry Central
Ashe County continued their dominance in conference play on Monday night with a 78-48 victory over the Surry Central Golden Eagles for their second consecutive victory of more than 25 points. The final score is misleading for the game, however, since the Huskies outscored the Golden Eagles 23-3 in the final quarter.

For the first two quarters, the teams played a fairly even game. The Huskies led by two after the first quarter and took a 36-30 lead into the half.

The Huskies came out strong in the third, piling the points on quick. They opened the quarter with a 15-2 run to push the lead out to 19, but the Golden Eagles weren't done fighting.

Surry Central scored the next 13 points of the game to cut the Ashe County lead to 51-45. but the Huskies went on a run of their own, scoring the next 13 points and finishing the game on a 27-3 run.

Payne said that the keys to the victory were "defense and rebounding, which are pretty much always the keys. Play good defense, and you're going to get opportunities."

The win moves Ashe County to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play. They will put their undefeated season to the test when they compete in the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic at Lawrence Joel Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem. Their next home game is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 2, against the North Surry Greyhounds.