Ashe Boys Split Road Games, Defeat Starmount at Home

By Joel Frady

OT buzzer-beater defeats Huskies
The final 10 seconds of overtime between the Ashe County Huskies and the Wilkes Central Eagles on

Wednesday, Jan. 21, probably seemed never-ending to the packed house in Wilkesboro.

Ashe County, down 63-62, drove down the court in an attempt to take the lead. But senior guard Daniel Waln was fouled with six seconds left, sending him to the line for two.

Waln hit the first to tie the game, but missed the second. Senior center Tommy Spagnola grabbed the recound for the Huskies before he was fouled - with four seconds remaining.

He hit the first to give Ashe County a 64-63 lead, but also missed the second. Trea Alexander of Wilkes Central grabbed the loose ball, sprinted up the sideline and tossed up a prayer.

The buzzer sounded as the ball was still in the air - just before it bounced off the backboard and fell in, giving Wilkes Central the 65-64 overtime victory.

It was a game full of lost opportunities for Ashe County, who lead by nine at halftime and by as many as 10 in the second half. The Huskies also led deep into the fourth quarter, and Alexander wasn't the Eagles only last-minute hero; down 55-52, Matt Abernathy of Wilkes Central buried a three-pointer with 12 seconds remaining to send the match into overtime.

"It was an outstanding high school basketball game," said head coach Marc Payne. "I feel like we had our chances and didn't convert. I felt like the turning point in the game was probably in the third quarter, but we still had plenty of chances."

Ashe County was partially doomed by bad free-throw shooting. The team shot 20-of-36 from the line for the game, but went five-of-12 in overtime and missed five in a row at one point.

"When it's a tight game and you go to the line, you've got to make them count," said Payne. "We were pretty inconsistent there tonight."

The loss was the third overall for Ashe County but their first in the Mountain Valley conference. At 5-1 in the conference, Ashe County was tied with Wilkes Central for the lead after Wednesday's game.

Huskies sweep Surry Central
The Huskies continued to struggle for the first quarter of their Friday, Jan. 23, match against the Surry Central Golden Eagles, but a massive second-quarter run and a solid second half allowed Ashe County to regain control of the Mountain Valley conference.

Ashe County came out of the gate strong, going up 4-2 in the first two minutes. But the Golden Eagles responded with strong defense and a hot offense, going on a 19-6 run over the next eight minutes to take a 21-10 lead early in the second quarter.

But it only took one big play to get the Huskies going. With 4:32 to play in the first half, Waln hit Spagnola for an alley-oop on a fast break. The Huskies then scored 12 points in a minute-and-a-half to take a 24-21.

Surry Central tied the game at 24, but they would never regain the lead. Ashe County ended the half on a 9-2 run, with seven of those points scored by Tatum Lemly. Lemly scored 13 of his team-leading 20 points in the second quarter.

The Huskies continued their run into the second half, going on a 7-2 run to take a 40-28 advantage. Ashe County finished the quarter up 50-33, but they did experience one major setback when senior Tavin Holman was ejected for fighting at the 3:48 mark.

The Ashe County defense was especially strong in the final quarter, allowing only six points. Surry Central didn't score any points in the final three minutes as the Huskies walked away with a 71-39 victory.

The Huskies, who moved to 6-1 in conference play, also regained the lead in the Mountain Valley conference with the win because Wilkes Central, hot off their victory over Ashe County, suffered a 57-42 home loss to North Surry and fell to 5-2 in the conference.

Huskies maintain conference lead with win against Starmount
The Huskies faced a Starmount team they had beaten by nearly 30 points in December on Tuesday, Jan. 27, with similar results. Ashe County came out with the hot hand offensively and never let up as they rolled to a 74-50 victory.

The first three minutes appeared close, as the teams exchanged baskets and were tied at four. Senior Daniel Waln then hit a three-pointer at the 4:37 mark and hit two more in the quarter to lead an 18-7 run and give the Huskies a 22-11 lead.

Seven Ashe County players scored in the second quarter as the Huskies continued to control the pace and slowly build on their lead. By halftime, they were up 41-25.

"We did get out to a good start," said Payne. He later added that "when we started the way we started, we were in control of the game for pretty much the whole time. It's just a matter of trying to do some thing that we want to do and do them the right way."

Payne rotated his players frequently for the second half, and the Rams never got any closer. Ashe County continued to score throughout the third quarter and had a 24-point cushion going into the fourth.

Neither team scored for the first three minutes of the final quarter, and they scored an even nine points apiece during the last five minutes for the 74-50 final.

Ashe County moved to 7-1 in the conference and 14-3 overall with the win. Their will play their next conference game on Friday in Mount Airy against the North Surry Greyhounds, a team the Huskies only beat by five on Jan. 2 in West Jefferson.

"North Surry is a very good basketball team, and they're young," said Payne. "And teams with young players play better at home than they do on the road, so we'll have to be firing on all cylinders down there."

The Huskies will play at West Wilkes in Miller's Creek on Wednesday, Jan. 28, before traveling to North Surry in Mount Airy on Friday, Jan. 30. They will return to West Jefferson on Monday, Feb. 2, against West Wilkes.
Admission to all home games is $5, and the varsity girls tip off at approximately 6:30 p.m. Anyone unable to attend any of the games can tune into the action on WKSK 580 AM. To find out more, contact Ashe County High School at (336) 846-2400.