Dec 12, 2007
West boys and girls gain victories over Hendersonville
| Hendersonville's Lucy Massagee (24) goes for the basket against West Henderson's Ashley Rogers during Tuesday's game at West Henderson. PATRICK SULLIVAN/TIMES-NEWS |  |
By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer
As the 31 turnovers it committed on Tuesday evening can attest, West Henderson's boys basketball is still a work-in-progress. But they sure can adapt.The Falcons' new, more deliberate, style -- implemented in part as a response to a 12-point loss at Hendersonville on Dec. 1 -- continued paying dividends in a 63-60 home win over the rival Bearcats."As a coach you have a style you want to play, sometimes as a high school coach you don't have the personnel," West coach Rob Bliss said. "We changed some things to better suit our personnel. We started this last Wednesday so hopefully it's something that continues to get better."The early returns have been encouraging. After a 1-3 start, West has won two straight games against rivals T.C. Roberson and Hendersonville.West still had problems with Hendersonville's variety of full-court trapping defenses, but when the Falcons weren't turning the ball over, they made Hendersonville pay. Center Dallas Ducote (team-high 17 points) was the beneficiary of some easy layups against the press."(Hendersonville) is very good at the scramble and with their athleticism it causes problems," Bliss said. "We turned the ball over 31 times and we've got to get better at that."West overcame the turnovers thanks in part to its free throw shooting. Zach Corliss, coming off a game that saw him tie a school record with six 3-pointers, hit 13-of-16 at the line in a 17-point performance. As a team the Falcons hit 21-of-28 (75 percent) from the line.Hendersonville coach Robert Strong was not happy with the officiating."One official called everything pretty much one way," he said. "He was trying to bait me all night long. When you're playing not only against the home crowd but against the other people that are out on the floor it's hard to win."The Bearcats attempted five fewer free throws than their opponent. Had they shot a similar percentage as the Falcons, they might have won a game in which the largest lead for either team was seven. Hendersonville hit 14-of-23 (61 percent) from the line."Free throws are important," Strong said. "They can cost you wins. If we had hit our free throws we're looking at probably (overtime) or winning the game."Trailing 53-50 in the fourth quarter, Corliss hit six straight free throws to give West a lead it never relinquished.Hendersonville's Stephen Clay scored a game-high 24. Dominique Whiteside added 10 while Robert Beal and Lance Allen (three 3s) finished with nine apiece.Coliss had eight rebounds and six assists while Ducote grabbed six rebounds. West Forward Buddy Hutchinson added 13 points.In the girls game, West freshman Ashley Rogers scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the second half to help the Lady Falcons withstand a furious rally in a 48-43 win.The Lady Bearcats trailed by eight at halftime but finally tied the score on a Sophia Lilly basket with 2:03 to play. Rogers answered with an offensive putback and then a steal and layup for a three-point play to hold off the charge."Ashley really turned it up in the second half," West coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy said. "She came through for us. She's played in tough situations before in AAU ball."Brooks Walz led the comeback with 10 of her 12 points in the second half. Tiffany Westmoreland scored a team-high 16 points and had nine rebounds, six offensive. Lucy Massagee added nine points and eight rebounds for the Lady Bearcats.Summer Kremer scored nine points for West while Brittany Fennell had six points and 13 rebounds. Fennell also collected two of her five blocks down the stretch.Hendersonville will host Mountain Heritage on Friday in a Western Highlands Conference game. West plays at Asheville today.SummariesBOYS
HENDERSONVILLE (60) -- Clay 24, Desmond Whiteside, Sitton, Beal 9, Allen 9, Roper, Young 3, Dominique Whiteside 10, Perry.WEST (63) -- Roberts 1, Thelen 3, James 4, Troutman 2, Corliss 17, Isgett, Barbour, Staggs 2, Thomas 2, Hutchinson 13, Ducote 17, Hyatt 2.Halftime: Hendersonville, 23-22.GIRLS
HENDERSONVILLE (43) -- Stoney, Lilly, Johnson, Ward, Walz 12, Westmoreland 16, Sheiry, Massagee 9, Hubert. Note: scoring summary incomplete.WEST HENDERSON (48) -- Kremer 9, Cantrell 3, Turlington 6, Combs 1, Eckley, Brown, Fennell 6, Rogers 18, Dinardo, Springer 2.Halftime: West, 23-15.
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