Falcons win in OT
Corliss lifts West over Rams; T.C. girls dominate
| West's Zach Corliss tries to shoot over Roberson's Tim Carpenter in the first half. MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS |  |
Times-News Staff Writer
ASHEVILLE -- Christmas comes early at West Henderson High. Early, and somewhat unexpected.Zach Corliss' 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in overtime eased, for a moment at least, the pain of a 1-3 start to the season. It also capped a night that saw the senior guard hit six 3s, including the game-tying shot near the end of regulation, in West's 46-43 victory Friday at rival T.C. Roberson."It's obviously not the start we wanted," Corliss said. "This is biggest rivalry I know. It was a rough week with two losses, one at the buzzer on Wednesday. We knew we had to come in and play tough. This is a stepping stone, we aren't going to stop here."After that rough start, West seemingly had little hope of knocking off a team head coach Rob Bliss considers "the best in the region.""The thing we preached that we felt we were lacking is toughness -- mental and physical," Bliss said. "The thing I'm most proud of is we that we didn't quit. To come in here and win a game against a team of this quality and a program of this quality speaks volumes about our kids."With 6:06 remaining in the fourth quarter, West displayed its newly discovered mental toughness to go along with some white hot outside shooting. Patrick Crouch had just converted a steal into a layup moments after hitting a 3 to give Roberson (3-1) a nine-point lead, the largest of the game.West's Daniel Hyatt answered with a 3, one of three he drilled in the second half, to spark West's comeback."We've known all along that Daniel can shoot it," Bliss said. "The person we've had a hard time convincing of that is Daniel.""He stepped up big tonight," Corliss said. "The first 3 he hit was the best shot I've seen him take all year. Then we were setting up plays for him. He can stroke it when he's confident."Following Crouch's layup, West held Roberson to just two points the rest of the quarter, but the Falcons still trailed by three with under a minute to play. They forced a Roberson turnover with 34 seconds remaining to set up the first of Corliss' big shots.Corliss said the baseline-out-bounds play was set up to go to Hyatt, but the ball came to him on the right wing with time winding down. The shot fell through with 17 seconds left and Dallas Ducote, who had 14 rebounds, six offensive, preserved the tie with a block as time expired."Dal's a warrior," Bliss said. "He's always a warrior."When Crouch found Devian Humes open at the top of the key for 3 with 40 seconds remaining in overtime, it looked as though the Rams would stave off the upset.But Corliss wasn't finished. After he swished his final 3 to give West a 44-43 lead, the Rams missed a jumper and fouled the guard on the rebound. Corliss hit both free throws to finish with a game-high 24 points."They hit some big shots there at the end -- several of them contested," Roberson coach Kevin Keen said. "You always know with these teams, no matter what the record is, that it's going to be a tough game."Humes hit three 3s and finished with 11 points to lead the Rams who were without the services of injured starters Zaq Allison and Daniel Key. Crouch scored 10.Hyatt had nine points for West while Ducote added seven.Behind 10 first quarter points from Areyshea Dunbar and some stifling defense, the Lady Rams (4-0) removed all the drama from their game early. Roberson led 20-2 at the end of the first period in a 59-12 rout."I thought we got Dunbar a lot of touches early and that was good," Roberson coach Tim Epley said. "We were trying to concentrate on getting her the ball more.Dunbar was one of three Lady Rams, along with Tee'Ara Copney and Maria Young, who finished with 12 points. Against Roberson's aggressive defense, West could manage just two points in each of the first, third and fourth quarters.Freshman Ashley Rogers scored five points to lead the Lady Falcons (1-4).West will return to action on Tuesday against Hendersonville. Roberson will play on Thursday at Freedom.SummariesBOYS
WEST HENDERSON (46) -- Roberts, James, Corliss 24, Isgett, Barbour 2, Staggs 2, Hutchinson 2, Ducote 7, Hyatt 9.ROBERSON (43) -- Crouch 10, Wynn 2, Humes 11, Patton 6, Moody 3, Fields 2, Carpenter 7, Winkenwerder 2.Halftime: Roberson, 20-15.GIRLS
WEST HENDERSON (12) -- Kremer 3, Cantrell, Turlington 2, Combs, Eckley, Brown, Fennell, Rogers 5, Dinardo, Springer 2.ROBERSON (59) -- Poplos 4, Chapman 5, Ramsey 4, Manley, Copney 12, Ivey, Duff, Burgess 2, Dunbar 12, Young 12, Wright 8.Halftime: Roberson, 36-8.
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