West Rallies Past Brevard

BREVARD — Following Friday’s dramatic buzzer-beating win over Pisgah, West Henderson’s boys basketball team put on another heart-stopping performance Monday at Western Athletic Conference-rival Brevard.

After trailing by 14 points in the closing minutes of the first half, the Falcons, who got 12 points from Kagan Williams in the second half, rallied for a thrilling 89-82 win.

“Anytime you put these two teams together, you are going to get everyone’s best efforts,” West coach Rob Bliss said. “That’s what we got from both teams tonight. We were fortunate to hit some key shots down the stretch and pull out the win.”

Twenty 3-pointers were knocked down, each team with 10. Leading West was Kevin Thomas, who had 17 points and five 3s, and pacing the Devils was Zach Smith with 24 points and five 3s.

In the final 10 minutes, there were six lead changes with no team leading by more than three points. The Devils took the lead at 72-71 on a three by Smith at the 3:20 mark, but the Falcons answered with a 3 by Thomas with 3:13 left. West never trailed again.

“That was a fun game,” Brevard coach Tim Trantham said. “The last few minutes there was like a tennis match, and they pulled it out and had the lead when time expired. Take away Smoky Mountain, and I believe that’s how games are going to be in this conference night in and night out.”

The Falcons (7-7, 2-0 WAC) had six players in double figures — Thomas with 17, Adam Troutman with 18, Kagan Williams with 14, Matt Roberts with 11 and Colby Thelan and Keenan Young with 10 each.

The Devils (4-9, 0-2) had five reach double digits — Smith with 24, Trell Baker and Brock Frisbee with 17 apiece, A.J. Zandecki with 10 and Jake Osteen with 11.

In the girls opener, it was a homecoming for Ashley Rogers, whose dad, Darrell, now an assistant on the boys team, used to be the girls coach at Brevard. Ashley made the homecoming memorable with 13 points in leading the Lady Falcons to a 48-41 win.

“It was good for Ashley, and she was our leader tonight. It was good to get this win, because after Alex (Stewart) went down with an ankle sprain in the first half, we were down to just seven players,” Lady Falcon coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy said.

Shonese Jones was the only double-digit scorer for Brevard, finishing the night with 23 points.

West girls improve to 3-11 and 1-1 and will return to action Friday with a home game against East Henderson. Brevard also has a home game Friday against Pisgah.

Summaries

BOYS

WEST HENDERSON (89) — Thelan 10, Roberts 11, Thomas 17, Hyatt 7, Troutman 18, Young 10, Williams 14, Reeves 2, Embler, Shaw, VanWingerden.

BREVARD (82) — McNeill 5, Baker 17, Frisbee 17, Zandecki 10, Smith 24, Erwin 6, Babin 4, Osteen 11, Roberts, Lobdell, Griffin.

Halftime: Brevard, 44-40.

Jayvee game: West won.

GIRLS

WEST HENDERSON (48) — Kremer 9, Cantrell 6, Burton 7, Bishop 5, Stewart 2, Ciaromitaro, Rogers 13, Dinardo 6.

BREVARD (41) — Jones 23, Akridge 2, Redmond 2, Dierolf 8, Landreth 4, Owen 2, Hollingsworth, Lance, Estep, Pressley.

Halftime: West, 24-23.

Jayvee game: West won.