Ashe Mountain Times

Playing above the level of competition, Ashe County High had no trouble dispatching visiting East Wilkes 67-38 in Mountain Valley Conference boys basketball Tuesday night.

The Huskies of 10th-year head coach Marc Payne roared back to life in the league after absorbing an upset loss to visiting Starmount Friday night, ending a 14-game winning streak. In between was a rout of Salisbury Saturday night in an endowment game.

Ashe (16-2, 10-1 MVC), which dropped from fifth to eighth among 2-A schools in the N.C. Preps poll this week, scored 15 of the first 17 points, led 35-18 at intermission and utilized an assortment of combinations. Extra minutes were frequent for juniors Cole Price, Sam Bowers, Jordan Spell, Tucker Goodman and Hawkens Flanagan.

Senior Zeb Richardson scored 13 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and dished out four assists in limited time. Senior Andrew Lopp added 12 points and junior point guard Nehemiah Stafford added 10 points. Senior Sam Gammons had four assists.

“The second half was better than the first half,” Gammons said. “Coach Payne always tells us to play the game, not the scoreboard.”

Payne has also labeled the 16-game MVC slate as 16 steps. And Ashe's signature calling card, a hounding defense, has only allowed 40 points or more in an MVC game three times.

“It's step 11,” Richardson said. “Every step is as important as the one before it and the one after it.”

Gammons said the team got a realization from the loss to Starmount.

“It opened our eyes, that we can't just run all over everybody,” Gammons said. “It was like we were guarding our winning streak. We've got to play to win.”

 

ASHE 67, EAST WILKES 38

East Wilkes (38) — Avery Wallis 13, Garrett Miller 6, Dillon Cabe 6, Justin Vannoy 5, Ezekiel Shepherd 2, Abram Logan 2, Grant Tharpe 2, Jared Bryan 2, Terrell Ferguson.

Ashe County (67) — Zeb Richardson 13, Andrew Lopp 12, Nehemiah Stafford 10, Sam Gammons 7, Eli Gambill 6, Anthony Federico 5, Anderson Moore 4, Cole Price 3, Jordan Spell 2, Tucker Goodman 2, Hawkens Flanagan 2, Seth Sheets 1, Sam Bowers.

East Wilkes            6            12            7            13—38

Ashe County            21            14            18            14—67