Falcons embracing youth movement

Feb 15, 2008

West Henderson's boys were essentially eliminated from the Western Athletic Conference race with a loss to Pisgah on Feb. 1. Ever since the Falconshave been looking toward winning the 2009 WAC title."We want to try to win championships," West coach Rob Bliss said following a win over East Henderson on Feb. 8. "When we got taken out of the picture by Pisgah we said, 'OK, now these young kids are trying to a championships in 2009.'"We made a commitment to get them three, four minutes in each half."West's underclassman reserves -- juniors Tyler Isgett and Adam Troutman and sophomore Matt Roberts -- played significant minutes against the Eagles and not only maintained a lead when in the game, but added to it.If the Falcons do indeed win the WAC next winter, they can thank the latter stages of the 2008 year.

State poll watch

Hendersonville remained the lone area boys team to be ranked in the latest state polls from ncpreps.com. The 20-3 Bearcats are ranked eighth in the 1-A poll.Smoky Mountain's boys (20-2) moved up to second in the 2-A rankings, followed by WAC rival Pisgah (19-3) at eighth.On Thursday Pisgah defeated Smoky Mountain leaving the teams tied atop the WAC standings with 9-1 conference records.

Mountain Athletic Conference champion T.C. Roberson (22-1) was the lone area girls team ranked. The 3-A Lady Rams were fifth.WAC girls champion Smoky Mountain was ranked eighth in 2-A.

State stat watch

North Henderson may end the season with not one, but two scoring champions. According to ncpreps.com, senior Chris VanLandingham (34 points per game) leads the state in scoring through Wednesday by a comfortable margin over Northern Durham's Hunter McClintock.

During Tuesday's Senior Night festivities at North's Tom Pryor gymnasium it was announced that VanLandingham's average is second in the nation. Senior Morgan McMinn is locked in a three-person battle with Williamston's Katie Paschal and Eastern Wayne's Brittany Billups for the girls' scoring title. Back-to-back 35-point outings in her last two games have raised McMinn's average to 26.8 per game from 25.9 a week ago.

Conference tournaments

For most area teams, the regular season is already over or concludes today. The Smoky Mountain Conference tournament began Thursday in Andrews. The Western Highlands Conference and Western Athletic Conference tournaments will begin Monday. Mitchell will host the WHC tournament while East Henderson will host WAC teams.