Friday, December 11, 2009

Knights hit their 3s to put away the Falcons




By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Friday, December 11, 2009 at 11:20 p.m.
Photo by MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS
West Henderson's Matt Roberts guards North Henderson's Michael Roberts.

Just after Friday's game a member of the North Henderson coaching staff was writing the Appalachian Athletic Conference standings on the board in head coach Skip Taylor's office.

Thanks to some white-hot 3-point shooting, the Knights find themselves in a tie for first place as the 58-53 home win against rival West Henderson put them at 1-0 in the league. Colby Drake hit five of North's eight 3s to score a team-high 15 points.

West's girls outscored North 21-2 in the third quarter on their 46-33 victory to open AAC play.

"That's the best we've shot this year," Taylor said. "I think our stat sheet says we were 6 of 8 in the second half. It doesn't get much better than that. I'm extremely proud of them. We had some open shots and we hit them."

After trailing 25-18 at halftime, West closed the gap to two or fewer points six times. On five of those occasions, North responded with a 3.

None was larger than the one sophomore Michael Roberts hit with 1:42 to play. Roberts' shot gave the Knights a 51-46 lead.

Senior Cory Morgan scored the last seven points for North by going 7-for-8 from the foul line.

Senior Keenan Young had a second straight strong game for West with a game-high 18 points while junior Kevin Thomas added 15. But it wasn't enough to overcome the difference in 3-point shooting. The Falcons hit just one shot from deep.

"West is an awfully tough team," Taylor said. "This is a tough conference. They're really big inside and they have some athletes."

Roberts had 14 points while Morgan and Hunter Donaldson added 10 apiece for the Knights, who will host rival East Henderson on Tuesday.

"East is a very good basketball team, too," said Taylor. "I told the team that just because Hendersonville beat them by 40 and we lost to Hendersonville by 2, it matters not."

The Lady Falcons, who held a five-point halftime lead, came out and blitzed the Lady Knights in the third quarter.

West coach Robbie Lowrance said he too was happy to open conference play with a victory.

North hit zero field goals in the third as West built an insurmountable lead. Three Lady Falcons — Summer Kremer (13), Sieara Bishop (12) and Ashley Rogers (11) — scored in double figures.

"West just came out a little dead-legged in the third quarter," said North coach Kevin Rhodes. "That's something we can't do against a good team like West. I really don't have an excuse, West is just a good basketball team."

The Lady Knights were led by eight points and 10 rebounds from Jessica Hartley. Jodi Edwards added eight points while Ashley Brown had seven points and 10 rebounds.

West will host Smoky Mountain on Tuesday.

Copyright © 2009 BlueRidgeNow.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

West's Lowrance picks up win at his former school

By Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 11:04 p.m.

It was a homecoming for first-year West Henderson girls basketball coach Robbie Lowrance on Wednesday night at Hendersonville High, his old stomping grounds during the late 1990s.

He made it his stomping grounds again, as his Lady Falcons cruised to a 65-21 win.

“This is my home school, so it felt good to come in here and get a win for the first time as a coach,” the 1997 Hendersonville High graduate said. “The girls wanted this one bad, and they got the job done.”

Summer Kremer, West's lone double-digit scorer, led the Lady Falcons (2-3) with 20 points.

In the much-anticipated nightcap, visiting West handed the Bearcats their first loss of the season, thanks to a game-high 25 points from senior Keenan Young. The Falcons went on two big runs in the second half and went on to win 73-52.

“That was Keenan's best game he's played since he's been with us the past two years,” West boys coach Rob Bliss said. “He was playing aggressively defensively, and that was big. He had to contain the Wilkins kid (Sam), who is a great shooter, and for the most part, he did that. That allowed him to make some baskets in transition.”

In the girls opener, the Lady Falcons were up by as many as 40 at one point, limiting the Lady Bearcats to just two third-quarter points. But one of Hendersonville's floor leaders, Brooks Walz, left the game early with a hand injury.

“She tried to get back out there, but it just hurt her too bad. We didn't want to risk hurting her hand even more,” HHS girls coach Mike Norman said. “Having Brooks out forced other girls to step up, and they didn't quit.”

The Lady Bearcats (2-3) had one double-digit scorer — sophomore Dominique Thompson with 10.

Late in the second half of the boys game, the Hendersonville players were showing their frustration after allowing easy layups on transition by Young.

“Defensively, we weren't supposed to let Keenan touch the ball that much. It might have been because of our close game the night before (against North Henderson). It is tough to play back-to-back nights like that,” HHS coach Rob Strong said after his team dropped to 4-1.

The game was close until the start of the third quarter when West went on a 9-2 run to take a 37-28 lead after a steal and layup by Young. The Falcons kept building on the lead and went up by 17 after Young's 3-pointer with 5:50 left.

The other player Hendersonville had a tough time inside with was Kevin Thomas, who finished with 15 points.

“I said early in the year that we are not as physical as some teams. West outplayed us,” Strong said. “We are going to take our lumps, and we took one tonight.”

Desmond Whiteside led Hendersonville with 19 points, and Wilkins, who hit four 3-pointers, finished with 14 points. Keyvon Young was the only other double-digit scorer for the Bearcats with 12.

West returns to action Friday night at North, while Hendersonville plays again Tuesday at Madison.

Copyright © 2009 BlueRidgeNow.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

West vs Enka

Matthew had to watch tonight's game from the sideline after being bit sometime last week by a spider. We drained it last Saturday evening and thought it was getting better but last night it got worse and I had to take him to the doctor. The doctor gave him some antibiotics but by 3:30 today it was swollen back up and throbbing in pain. I picked him up at school and took him back to the doctor where we both we practically in tears by the time they gave him a shot and got him a prescription for pain. I still want to cry for him. Just hate to see my babies in pain. Anyway, he didn't get to play basketball tonight and I'm sure that just added to his pain. Tonight he is using the heating pad and keeping the arm elevated. I am asking for prayers for relief and for healing.

PS It's funny that even though he didn't play tonight he was mentioned by Jeremy in the article. "A spider bite sidelined Falcon starter Matt Roberts. His absence, combined with foul trouble, hurt West's rotation."


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