The Baller's Blog

Brevard downs West

2010-02-03T10:01:00.001-08:00

From staff reports

Published: Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 11:04 p.m.

BREVARD — The Brevard Blue Devils put away West Henderson on Tuesday night with an 18-10 run in the third period to take a key 63-53 Appalachian Athletic Conference victory.

With the win, Brevard takes sole possession of first place in the league following Pisgah's loss to Tuscola.

Smoky Mountain (15-3, 9-2) cruised by East Henderson on Tuesday, setting up a showdown with Brevard (14-3, 9-1) on Thursday in Sylva.

Brock Frisbee led the Brevard offense with 13 points, three blocks and nine rebounds. Tyree Griffin added 12 points, and Trell Baker had 11.

Other scorers for the Blue Devils were McNeal 2, Roberts 9, Smith 9 and Osteen 6.

Kevin Thomas cut the lead down to nine points in the fourth period with a couple of 3-pointers, but Brevard eventually went up by as many as 16 down the stretch. Thomas led the Falcons with 20 points, and Keenan Young was the only other West player to hit double digits with 13 points.

Other scorers for West were Bernadas 2, Thelan 5, Roberts 4, Grant 4, and Landreth 5.

The Falcons fall to 8-11 and 5-6 and will travel to Tuscola on Thursday.

Falcons win; Cheerleaders Sing Happy Birthday to Matt!

2010-01-23T07:58:00.000-08:00

Back to article

Falcons put away Knights; North girls win in OT

By Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Friday, January 22, 2010 at 10:58 p.m.

For the first half of Friday night's game at West Henderson, the North Henderson boys basketball team made the game look like it was going to be a stalemate.

But then, Falcon coach Rob Bliss made a change. He went with a faster group for the full-court press, and the strategy worked. The Knights hit just 1-of-7 shots in third period and then missed their first five shots of the fourth as West went on a 16-1 run and went on to win 55-40.

"Coach Bliss is a great coach," North coach Skip Taylor said. "He knew how to attack our weaknesses, and one of our weaknesses is handling the ball under pressure. When you make only one field goal in the third period, it's hard to win a ballgame."

Keenan Young had 14 points, and Matt Roberts added 13 to lead West. Colby Drake (10 points) was the only Knight in double figures.

"When we went with the more mobile young group on defense, that seemed to really change the game," West coach Rob Bliss said. "The pressure defense turned into turnovers and scores for us."

The Knights ended the game with 22 turnovers.

North falls to 4-9 and 2-5 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference and travels to East Henderson on Tuesday.

The Falcons improve to 8-8 and 5-3 and has a road game Tuesday at Smoky Mountain.

The girls' opener was a lot closer. North's Meredith Israel hit one of her free throws with just under a minute left to tie the score at 37-37. Then in the closing seconds, Kaitlyn Burton had a steal and broke away for a layup.

"She got ahead of everybody. She just put it up a little too strong. Still, it was a great effort on her part," West coach Robbie Lowrance said.

The game went to overtime, and North went on a tear, outscoring the Lady Falcons 11-2 to take a hard-fought 48-39 Appalachian Athletic Conference victory.

"Whew. That was a close one," Lady Knight coach Kevin Rhodes said. "We hit our free throws, and that was big. We also controlled the boards in overtime."

The last time the girls teams of West and North played, the Lady Falcons won handily. This time, North had an extra weapon.

"We didn't have Catie Byrd at the last game. Catie was big for us tonight," Rhodes said.

Byrd had 12 points and went 8-of-10 from the free throw line down the stretch.

Jodi Edwards also had 12 points for North (10-5, 4-4), and Ashley Brown added 11 points. Jessica Hartley also had eight blocks, six steals and six rebounds.

Ashley Rogers (12 points) was the only double-digit scorer for West (6-10, 3-5).

Summaries

BOYS

NORTH HENDERSON (40) — Hunt 3, Heim 1, Drake 10, Roberts 4, Nix 5, Morgan 3, Tuttle 2, Donaldson 9, Holden 3.

WEST HENDERSON (55) — Bernadas 6, Thelen 5, Young 14, Roberts 13, Grant 2, Cole 2, Thomas 5, Landreth 8.

JV game: West won.

GIRLS

NORTH HENDERSON (48) — Edwards 12, Brown 11, Geneve, Hartley 4, Byrd 12, Israel 9.

WEST HENDERSON (39) — Kremer 9, Burton 9, Hendrix 9, Rogers 12.

JV game: West won.

Copyright © 2010 BlueRidgeNow.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only.

Knights hit their 3s to put away the Falcons

2009-12-11T20:53:00.001-08:00

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.

West's Lowrance picks up win at his former school

2009-12-09T20:38:00.000-08:00

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.

West vs Enka

2009-12-06T20:23:00.001-08:00

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."

Lady Falcons win, West boys fall to Enka

2009-12-02T21:17:00.000-08:00

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 11:42 p.m.

Perhaps West Henderson's Lady Falcons would like to play in the school's old gymnasium every game.
With rain forcing Wednesday's varsity games against Enka from the usual venue, West's girls made a big second-half comeback to earn their first win of the season, 49-39. Foul trouble hurt a fourth-quarter comeback by the West boys in a 64-62 loss.
Enka scored the last 10 points in the first half to take a 24-13 lead into intermission as the Lady Falcons struggled against a 1-3-1 zone.
"They couldn't guard us man-to-man and they went to a 1-3-1 zone against us," said Robbie Lowrance, after his first win as varsity head coach. "The girls just froze up. It took us until the third quarter to remember that we can shoot the basketball."
Senior Kaitlyn Burton, one of two Lady Falcon starters to pick up two fouls in the first quarter, started the comeback with back-to-back 3-pointers. Burton's outside shooting sparked a 16-0 West run in the third quarter.
West (1-2) would trail just once more, at 37-36, early in the fourth quarter.
"I put my seniors on the spot (at halftime) and they showed up," said Lowrance.
Junior Ashley Rogers also showed up, scoring 14 of her game-high 17 points in the second half. Burton scored all 12 of her points in the second half.
Hali Bosma had 10 points to lead Enka.
Enka forward Corey Hensley scored a game-high 34 points as the Jets held off a late Falcon charge in the boys game.
Hensley hit three 3s in the first quarter, scoring all 16 Enka points in the period. The 6-foot-8 junior also hit seven of his eight foul shots in the fourth quarter.
A spider bite sidelined Falcon starter Matt Roberts. His absence, combined with foul trouble, hurt West's rotation.
West starters Colby Thelen and Kevin Thomas both picked up their fourth fouls early in the third quarter.
Enka took advantage to build a 59-47 lead, the largest of the game, with around three minutes to play.
West responded with a 10-1 run, capped by a 3 from Jordan Bell, to cut the deficit to 60-57 with 1:22 remaining.
Thelen then hit a 3 with 9.5 seconds left to make the score 63-62. After Hensley hit one from the line, Thelen's desperation shot at the buzzer was wide.
Keenan Young led West with 18 points while Thomas finished with 12.
West (1-2) will travel to T.C. Roberson on Friday for another non-conference game.

Cavs sweep the Falcons, Lady Falcons at West

2009-11-30T23:09:00.001-08:00

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Monday, November 30, 2009 at 11:10 p.m.

After hitting three 3-pointers in the first quarter of Monday's non-conference home game against East Rutherford, West Henderson's boys basketball team became gun shy.

The Falcons managed just three field goals in the fourth quarter — none in the final 3:35 — of a 47-38 loss. The visiting Cavaliers used back-to-back 3s in the fourth to break a 36-36 tie and got a game-high 20 points from sophomore guard Rob Gray.

Falcon coach Rob Bliss said if he had an answer for why his team stopped looking for shots he'd "be sitting in the Bahamas sending e-mails to coaches all over the world."

"We're just uncomfortable," he said. "You can just see it in our faces — we're uncomfortable shooting the basketball. You could see, down the line we didn't want the basketball. We didn't want shots. We just kind of avoided it, to be honest."

Junior Kevin Thomas hit two 3s in the first quarter on his way to a team-high 16 points as West took a 12-5 lead at the end of the period. But the Falcons went almost four minutes without a field goal to start the second as East Rutherford battled back to tie the score at halftime.

"I think we missed some shots and then all of a sudden it became a struggle," Bliss said. "We lost confidence in our ability."

Junior forward Devinci Boykins hit a tough 3 from the corner to snap a 36-all tie in the fourth, and West could respond with only one more field goal, a driving layup from Thomas, the rest of the way.

Boykins, along with Gray, gives East Rutherford two Division I prospects. Bliss was happy that West (1-1) was able to hold the opposition under 50 points for the second straight game.

"We held a really, really good basketball team under 50 points," he said. "They physically were much quicker than us, but we were able to use our strength and were able to help each other (on defense). We were able to rebound with a team that was more athletic than we were."

Keenan Young scored eight points for West, which hosts Enka on Wednesday, while Weston Landreth grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Another precocious underclassman was able to lead East Rutherford in the girls game. Freshman Shaquisha Dawkins scored a game-high 29 points to lead to the Lady Cavaliers to a 56-43 victory.

East took control of a tight game by outscoring West 20-10 in the second quarter and was able to hold off every Lady Falcon charge in the second half at the foul line. The Lady Falcons picked up their seventh team foul with just less than a minute remaining in the third quarter and their 10th early in the fourth.

"We didn't move our feet," said first-year Lady Falcon coach Robbie Lowrance. "We used our hands instead of using our bodies."

West (0-2) cut the deficit to nine on a field goal from Ashley Rogers early in the fourth but would get no closer.

Senior Summer Kremer had a team-high 13 points while Rogers finished with nine. The Lady Falcons, who have not been at full strength yet this season thanks to illness, were willing to run with a team that also likes to play an up-tempo game.

"We're going to have to (run)," Lowrance said. "We're small so we can't wait around and set up in the halfcourt."

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

West falls to Hibriten

2009-05-20T11:30:00.001-07:00

By Justin Parker
Lenoir News Topic

Published: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

LENOIR — Hibriten’s bats were popping and Bryan Tuttle made sure West Henderson’s weren’t Tuesday as the Panthers posted a 6-0 second-round win over the perennially strong program from Hendersonville.

The victory was mostly about advancing — Hibriten will now play East Rutherford on Friday — but it was also about erasing a blemish many of the team’s players received two years ago. When the current seniors were playing as underclassmen on varsity, the 2007 Panthers took a 12-1 whipping at West, and those that remain in Panther red and black, hadn’t forgotten.

“I’m glad those little sophomores grew up,” Hibriten coach Terry Henthorne said.

Tuttle, the loser in the game two seasons ago, tossed a dominant, complete-game, three-hitter and struck out six this time around.

“When he’s on the mound, we know we have a chance to win,” Hibriten first baseman Jack Howard said. “He absolutely shut down a good offensive team.”

Tuttle allowed just two base knocks after Tyler Isgett’s double led off the game.

“I think the best thing for Bryan was the opening shot,” Henthorne said.

Hibriten (19-6) gave Tuttle almost instant run support, scoring a run in the bottom of the first when Trent Reynolds hit into a fielder’s choice. Reynolds barely beat the throw to first to avoid a double play and the inning’s third out as Matt Edwards, who had singled, scored from third.

“When we got the first run, I knew we were going to put more up, so I wasn’t too worried about it,” Tuttle said.

The Panthers did most of their damage in a four-run third inning. After Howard’s RBI-double to center and Reynolds’ RBI-single over first, West coach Jim Hyatt replaced starter Dillon Baker with Kyle Davis. With no outs and a runner on, Davis got Dylan Crump to foul out to catcher Forrest Koontz, but his first pitch to the next batter, Gavin Christian, ended up in the trees behind the left-field wall. Christian’s first homer of the season was a moonshot, and it gave Hibriten a 5-0 lead.

“This time of year, the second round of the playoffs, you’re not going to get thrown batting practice,” Henthorne said. “You’re going to have to work to come through with the clutch hits and we did.”

Hibriten totaled nine hits on the night and looked more like the team that won the Catawba Valley Athletic Conference outright than it had in a few games.

“We looked more relaxed at the plate, I have to say,” said Howard, who was 3-for-4 with two doubles. “We weren’t lunging at curveballs in the dirt (like we did against North Surry Saturday).”

It was Howard who provided Hibriten’s final run in the fourth. Facing the third Falcon pitcher, Taylor Reeves, Howard doubled to left to score Matt Edwards, who had singled.

The defense helped Tuttle, who struck out the side in the third, all night.

In the first, Joel Woods and Howard combined for a 5-3 double play to get the Panthers out of the inning. In the fifth, Matt Roberts appeared to have a hit past Howard when the grounder bounced off the first baseman. But Edwards fielded the ball at second and threw to Tuttle covering first to get the out. And after Reeves singled in the seventh, the Panthers closed the game with a 4-6-3 double play (Edwards to Austin Beard to Howard).

“We are here to stay,” Howard said. “People have been doubting the CVAC, saying we’re weak. But we’re strong and we’re here to show it.”

The Panthers will host Friday’s third-round game. East Rutherford defeated Bunker Hill 6-1 Tuesday. Last year, East Rutherford defeated Hibriten 9-4 in the regional semifinals en route to a state finals appearance.

West’s season concluded with an 18-6 record.

West crushes Pisgah!

2009-04-26T12:43:00.001-07:00

West: 1 0 3 0 7 3 x — 14 15 3

Pisgah: 0 3 1 0 0 0 x — 4 6 3

Winning pitcher: Tyler Austin (3-2) (2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 K, 0 BBs)

Losing pitcher: Will Leatherwood (2 1/3 IP, 8 R, 6 ER, 9 H, 0 Ks, 1 BB)

Leading hitters: West — Austin 2-for-3, home run, double; Jesse Ivens 1-for-2, home run; Daniel Hyatt 2-for-2; Dillon Baker 1-for-2; Matt Roberts 2-for-2. Pisgah — Wesley Pope 2-for-4; Josh Piurowski 2-for-3, home run.

Highlights: This was a Western Athletic Conference game.

Records: West, 13-4, 5-1 WAC; Pisgah, 7-7, 2-4.

Next game: West, Monday vs. North Buncombe.

Falcons pull off win over rival Knights

2009-04-23T07:25:00.001-07:00

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 11:50 p.m.

Neither of West Henderson’s first two pitchers made it out of the first inning and the Falcons still found a way to pull out a 14-8 home victory over rival North Henderson on Tuesday.

By the time Tyler Austin became the third Falcon right-hander to take the mound in the top of the first inning, North had a 5-0 lead with the bases still loaded. With two outs, North’s Cameron Brogden then lined a laser to center field on Austin’s first pitch but a spectacular diving grab by Zack Beard robbed Brogden of extra bases and at least two RBIs.

West starter Daniel Hyatt and reliever Dillon Baker combined to issue five walks in the first.

“I thought Tyler did a nice job in a tough spot. He didn’t have any warm-up pitches,” said West coach Jim Hyatt. “The strike zone was about the size of a dime in the first inning. North showed up to play at game time and we waited until about 30 minutes later.”

The Falcons finally started chipping away at North starter Kevin Searcy in the third inning. Austin’s two-run home run capped a four-run frame to pull West within one run.

After North scored twice to stretch the lead back to 7-4 in the top of the fourth, West took the lead for good with five in the bottom half with the help of one of four Knight errors.

A bad defensive night for North was highlighted by a lost fly ball, which resulted in a three-run double by Jesse Ivens, in the bottom of the sixth. Ivens’ two-out hit capped a five-run sixth as the Falcons put the game away.

“We’re lucky that we swung the bats well enough to overcome a five-spot (in the first),” Hyatt said. “We’ve not shown that we can do that, so I was pleased with that.”

West wraps up the first swing through the Western Athletic Conference with a 4-1 league record while North drops to 1-4.

“We’re not taking advantage of opportunities, other teams are taking advantage and that’s sort of been the story of it,” said visibly frustrated North coach Bill Rice.

Austin picked up the win, allowing just two hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings of relief.

All nine Falcon starters scored at least one run. Hyatt and lead-off hitter Tyler Isgett scored three apiece.

Searcy, who became the first Henderson County senior to commit to Blue Ridge Community College this season, took a tough-luck loss. He was charged with nine runs, five earned, on seven hits in six-plus innings. The right-hander struck out nine.

“Kevin pitched a hell of a game,” Rice said.

Brogden walked three times and scored three times while Jordan Brunelle, Hunter Donaldson and Jacob Maxwell had run-scoring doubles.

North will host rival East Henderson on Friday while West has a non-conference game at home today against Tuscola.

Linescore

;;;;;r;h;e

North:;5 0 0;2 0 1;0;—;8;4;4

West:;0 0 4;5 0 5;x;—;14;11;2

Winning pitcher: Austin (6 1/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 5 Ks, 5 BBs)

Losing pitcher: Searcy (6 IP, 9 R, 5 ER, 7 H, 9 Ks, 3 BBs)

West wins over Smoky Mountain

2009-04-10T06:13:00.001-07:00

West Henderson 21

Smoky Mountain 10

r h e

West: 0 7 5 0 2 8 x — 21 20 3

Smoky: 0 0 5 0 5 0 x — 10 10 3

Winning pitcher: Taylor Reeves (3 IP, 5 R, 1 ER, 7 H, 3 Ks, 2 BBs)

Losing pitcher: Lee (2 IP, 9 R, 9 ER, 7 H, 1 Ks, 4 BBs)

Leading hitters: West — Forrest Koontz 2-for-4, HR, five RBIs, Daniel Hyatt 2-for-4, HR, three RBIs, Matt Roberts 4-for-5, two RBIs. Smoky Mountain — Hodgin 2-for-3, Mincey 2-for-3.

Records: West, 9-2, 3-1 WAC Smoky 2-2 WAC.

Next game: West, Monday vs. McDowell in West’s spring break tournament.

West blanks East

2009-04-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

By Stephen Roper
Times-News Correspondent

Published: Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 11:18 p.m.

For at least the first inning of Wednesday’s game against East Henderson it looked like the West Henderson’s recent hitting woes would continue on Wednesday when the Falcons went three-up, three-down. But with Daniel Hyatt’s lead-off single in the top of the second, West Henderson (9-2, 2-1 WAC) got their groove back and blasted three different Eagles pitchers for a convincing 11-0 Western Athletic Conference win.

“We’ve had a couple of our guys struggling with their bats lately,” West coach Jim Hyatt said. “And I think Brevard kind of woke us up and made us focus a little more on our hitting.”

That renewed focus was evident. Hyatt’s lead-off single in the second began the Falcons’ offensive turnaround. Right behind him was Tyler Austin (2-for-3, double), whose single to right field maintained the momentum. Taylor Reeves put the first run on the board with a grounder down the third-base line, driving in Hyatt. Reeves finished the night going 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

A long shot to center by Zack Beard drove Jesse Ivens in, giving West an early 3-0 lead.

The Falcons, however, weren’t done yet. Hyatt, who finished the night going 3-for-3, led off the bottom of the third with a double to center. Reeves’ sac-fly brought Hyatt in and Zack Beard drove two more Falcons in with a single to right. An infield error by East provided Beard with an opportunity to reach home, giving West an 8-0 lead.

“Hitting is weird,” Hyatt said. “It’s like shooting a basketball: you’re shooting good so you think you’re playing good, and if you’re hitting good you think you’re playing good.”

Not only were the Falcons on point offensively, their performance on defense was just as impressive as they held East (4-8, 1-2) to just five hits. A large part of that was Hyatt’s pitching, which saw him throw a complete game shutout with six strikeouts and one walk. Wednesday’s performance improves his record to 6-0.

Coach Hyatt hopes the torrid hitting streak carries into today’s game against Smoky Mountain, but he knows his team has other strengths to fall back on should the need arise.

“You can always play good defense, and hopefully we can always pitch it well, but hitting we’re just going to have to take it when we can get it,” he said. “Tonight we had it.”

For East Henderson, Matt Dorn finished the night 2-for-3 with a double. The Eagles will host Pisgah today in another conference game.

Falcons top the Bulldogs

2009-04-03T22:11:00.001-07:00

By Jeremy Trantham

Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Friday, April 3, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 11:38 p.m.

Unable to find the bats on Thursday, West Henderson still found a way to win.

The Falcons scored four runs on just two hits to claim a 4-3 non-conference home victory over Murphy. Taylor Reeves pitched five solid innings to get the win while Tyler Austin picked up the save to cap a stellar overall effort.

Austin provided both Falcon hits, made two outstanding plays from deep in the hole at shortstop and came on to relieve Reeves in the sixth with the game in the balance.

“I think probably when you win a game 4-3 with only two hits, and those by the same player, you’re fortunate to get a win,” said Falcon coach Jim Hyatt. “Their guy threw it well but he got in trouble with some walks, they made some mistakes behind him and we were able to score some runs.”

Murphy starter Josh Coker struck out eight in seven innings, but the left-hander was undone by stretches of wildness.

Dillon Baker drew a one-out walk in the second and moved to third on a wild pitch and a passed ball, allowing him to score on Austin’s single up the middle. An error helped West load the bases and Matt Roberts picked up an RBI walk to plate Austin.

A pair of two-out walks to Roberts and Zack Beard in the fourth, along with two passed balls, a wild pitch and a balk, gave the Falcons two addition runs. Reeves and Austin made the offensive output, such as it was, hold up.

“We didn’t swing the bats well. We didn’t adjust well at the plate, but we made some plays defensively and I thought Taylor Reeves battled hard for five innings,” Hyatt said. “Then Tyler Austin came in and did an outstanding job.”

Reeves took a 4-1 lead into the sixth inning when he ran into trouble, allowing a single and a walk before giving way to Austin. With the tying run at the plate, the senior got two quick strikeouts before Luke Charles cranked his third double of the night to score Coker. With the tying run in scoring position, the Bulldogs got one more run on an error before Austin induced a weak grounder to the mound to end the threat.

He allowed just two hits in two innings while striking out four.

“Tyler had a great game,” said Hyatt. “He came in and he throws a little harder than Taylor and I thought they had a hard time catching up to his fastball.”

Charles led Murphy’s offense, which out-hit West 7-2, with a three doubles and two RBIs in three at-bats. Coker was 2-for-4 with a run while Brooklyn McKeon walked and scored twice.

While Coker struck out eight he also issued six walks.

“They’re a solid team,” Hyatt said. “They deserve their billing.”

The Bulldogs, unbeaten in Big Smoky Mountain Conference play, drop to 5-3 on the season. West moves to 8-1 as Hyatt picked up career win No. 401 at the school.

The Falcons will travel to Brevard for a key Western Athletic Conference game today, weather permitting. Dillon Baker, limited to designated-hitting duties on Thursday because of an illness, is the projected starter.

Linescore

;;;;;r;h;e

Murphy:;0 0 0;1 0 2;0;—;3;7;1

West:;0 2 0;2 0 0;x;—;4;2;2

Winning pitcher: Reeves (5 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 5 Ks, 1 BBs)

Losing pitcher: Coker (6 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 8 Ks, 6 BBs)

Save: Austin (2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 4 Ks, 0 BBs)

West blanks Pisgah

2009-04-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

By Jeremy Trantham

Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 11:39 p.m.

Seeking a good start to Western Athletic Conference play, West Henderson sent its most experienced pitcher to the mound.

Senior Daniel Hyatt delivered with a six-inning shutout of visiting Pisgah on Tuesday in the Falcons’ 10-0 victory. Junior Taylor Reeves provided the big blast with a game-ending two-run home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth.

“It’s always big to win the first conference game, especially when you’re at home,” said Falcon coach Jim Hyatt. “You’ve got to win those.”

West moves to 7-1 on the year and 1-0 in the league. Pisgah drops to 5-4, 0-1.

Hyatt allowed just five hits and one walk while striking out nine.

“The key thing for Daniel tonight was that his curve ball was working,” coach Hyatt said. “He got ahead of hitters early and unless he hung his curve ball they weren’t going to hit it. When they got runners on base he was able to bow his neck, get a couple of strikeouts and then we were able to make some plays behind him.”

The win sets up a highly-anticipated game at Brevard, which handed West a rare WAC loss last season, on Friday.

“We might throw (Daniel) the last two (innings) against Brevard depending on the situation,” said Hyatt. “We’ve got three other arms. The reason we lined up our pitching this way is we want to win our first conference game. We can’t win our second conference game until we’ve won the first conference game.”

West claimed the early lead on RBI doubles from Forrest Koontz and Dillon Baker in the first. The Falcons scored at least one run in every inning on a night when Coach Hyatt said the team didn’t hit as well as he thought they could.

Every Falcon reached base safely at least once and eight of the nine starters scored at least one run. Sophomore Baker, the likely starting pitcher against Brevard, went 3-for-4 with a run, two doubles and two RBIs. Reeves was 2-for-3 with two runs and a team-high three RBIs.

Most of the damage came against Black Bear starter Lucas McCracken, who allowed six runs, five earned, on six hits and four walks in four innings. He struck out three.

Pisgah’s Wesley Pope was 2-for-3 with two doubles. Brian Curry also had two hits in three at-bats.

West added a game for Thursday against unbeaten Smoky Mountain Conference contender Murphy.

“Murphy comes in with some pretty high billing,” Hyatt said. “The weather is killing everybody and I felt like if we didn’t stick a game in there somewhere we might be minus a game. I don’t know if people are going to able to make up games if the bad weather continues. Towards the end of the year we may have to drop a game. I don’t want to do that to somebody, but I think the weather’s going to take care of that for us.”

Linescore

;;;;;r;h;e

Pisgah:;0 0 0;0 0 0;x;—;0;5;1

West:;2 1 2;1 2 2;x;—;10;8;1

Winning pitcher: D. Hyatt (6 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 9 Ks, 1 BBs)

Losing pitcher: McCracken (4 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 Ks, 4 BBs)

No. 9 hitter Matt Roberts got the first Falcon hit,

2009-03-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

y Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, March 23, 2009 at 11:26 p.m.

West Henderson’s brand-new scoreboard got a workout Monday night after just one inning and 10 Falcon runs against visiting Swain County, West coach Jim Hyatt’s alma mater.

More Photos:

West vs. Swain Baseball

But after the Falcons sent 15 batters to the plate in the first inning, their bats went cold to the tune of just a single run over the next five innings as they went on to win 11-6.

“We played them in our opening game of the season, and we won 21-0. Obviously, they have improved. I have to tip my hat to them, because they didn’t quit,” Hyatt said. “After that first inning, we did. We got that big lead, and we just kind of mailed it in.”

Swain starter Tim Smith had a rough outing, allowing the first seven batters he faced to reach base. Of those seven, six touched home plate. He went 1/3 of an inning, giving up six runs (none earned) off no hits, three walks and no strikeouts.

No. 9 hitter Matt Roberts got the first Falcon hit, knocking in Tyler Austin with an RBI single to right. Leadoff hitter Zac Beard, who reached earlier in the inning on an error, followed with an RBI single to right to plate Taylor Reeves. Tyler Isgett, Forrest Koontz and Daniel Hyatt followed with back-to-back-to-back RBI singles, pushing the West lead to 10-0.

But the Maroon Devils kept West (6-1) scoreless the next two innings and then made sure it would go more than five innings with three runs off one hit in the top of the fourth against Falcon starter Hyatt. Hyatt (4-0) stayed perfect on the year, though, going four innings and allowing three runs (none earned) off three hits. He had five strikeouts and no walks.

The fans who made the long drive from Swain roared in the next inning when Nick Lyons blasted a two-run home run over the new left-field wall, cutting the Falcon lead to 11-5.

George Welch got the final Swain run in the top half of the sixth with an RBI double to right off Falcon reliever Austin.

Beard (2-for-4), Koontz (2-for-3) and Reeves (2-for-3) were the only Falcons with multiple hits.

Up next for West is a showdown with powerful Enka on Friday night at 7 p.m.

“That’s going to be a good game. We’ve got to be ready. We can’t be like we were tonight and just turn it off. Baseball’s the kind of game where if you do turn it off, it’s very hard to turn it back on,” coach Hyatt said.

Hyatt Ks 11 in win over ACA

2009-03-18T04:11:00.001-07:00

By Dean Hensley

Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

Patrick Sullivan/Times-News

West Henderson’s baseball team is an offensive monster, but with senior pitcher Daniel Hyatt on the mound, the Falcons hardly need their loaded bats.

The Winthrop-bound senior fired 11 strikeouts and held a talented Asheville Christian Academy squad to just four hits Tuesday night as West cruised to an 11-3 non-conference win at home. Hyatt also helped his own cause at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored.

Daniel’s dad, Jim Hyatt, coach of the Falcons, was proud of his son’s performance but believed it could’ve been even better.

“I think he pitched OK overall. He could’ve done a little bit more. He walked the leadoff batter in the first inning, and that led to a run, and then in the top of the fifth, we walked another batter with two outs and that led to the other two runs,” coach Hyatt said. “But anytime you can shut down a team like that, you have to be happy in the dugout. I believe they were state champions in their private school league.”

Daniel Hyatt improved to 2-0 on the year. His other win was a week ago — a nine-strikeout, no-hitter against Carolina High in South Carolina.

After surrendering the unearned run in the top of the first, West answered with five runs off five hits, including a two-run double off the wall by Taylor Reeves, in the bottom half of the inning.

Hyatt settled in on the mound, striking out the side in the top of the second. He held the Lions’ bats silent until the top of the fifth when he gave up two runs off two hits and a walk. But by then, the Falcons (4-0) held a commanding 8-2 lead.

Hyatt went the distance, giving up the three runs, one earned, off four hits with two walks.

Dillon Baker went 3-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt, and Jesse Ivens also had a good night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

West leadoff man Zac Beard went 2-for-3, and Tyler Isgett, Tyler Austin and Forrest Koontz each went 2-for-4 as the Falcons ended the night with 18 hits.

Matt Justice was the only ACA batter to have multiple hits. He went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

“They are a quality team, and they didn’t quit. It was a good win for us early in the year,” coach Hyatt said.

Up next for West is a road game at Tuscola today.

“They’re a good team, too, so we’re going to go with Tyler Austin. He’s our other No. 1, so we’re going to go over there and see what we can do,” coach Hyatt said.

Linescore

r h e

ACA: 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 — 3 4 2

West: 5 0 2 1 0 3 x — 11 18 1

Winning pitcher: Daniel Hyatt (2-0) (7 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 11 Ks, 2 BBs)

Losing pitcher: Matt Justice (2 1/3 IP, 7 R, 5 ER, 8 H, 0 Ks, 1 BB)

West wins against ACA

2009-03-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Click here to see a video from tonight's game against Asheville Christian Academy

Falcons rout Bearcats

2009-03-14T06:45:00.000-07:00

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11:27 p.m.

West Henderson wasn’t about to let the weather cancel another game against rival Hendersonville.

The Falcons pressed on, despite a chilly intermittent drizzle, and came away with an 11-1, five-inning nonconference home win on Friday. Junior Taylor Reeves allowed one solo home run in 4 2/3 innings to pick up the win in his first varsity start.

“We had to play them because their schedule is so compacted there’s no place to play them if we (didn’t) play them today,” said West coach Jim Hyatt.

West moves to 4-0 on the season while Hendersonville drops to 0-2, with both losses to Henderson County rivals. The two teams were scheduled to play on March 6 at Green Meadows, but snow forced a cancellation.

Ben Walgenbach kept the Bearcats in the game early, allowing just four unearned runs through the first four innings, before tiring in the fifth. The Falcons, who held a 4-1 lead at the time, knocked Hendersonville’s junior ace from the mound with four straight hits and a walk to start the bottom of the fifth.

“I should have (taken him out) earlier,” said Hendersonville coach Mark Cook. “Ben’s a strong kid, he’s been lifting and throwing a lot. I thought he had good control and his curve ball was working good.”

After Wesley Cook had relieved Walgenbach, a throwing error, Hendersonville’s second of the final frame, allowed Zach Beard to score the game-ending run.

“Not a great night for baseball — cold, wet,” Hyatt said. “I thought both teams were a little sluggish because of the weather. He pitched well and kept us off balance for awhile. He got a little tired and we were able to put some things together.”

Beard was 2-for-4 with two runs, a double and a game-high four RBIs for West. Tyler Isgett went 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs.

West took a 4-0 lead in the second as the Falcons took advantage of Hendersonville’s first error. Beard and Isgett provided big two-out hits with back-to-back two-run singles.

The score remained the same until Hendersonville senior Wesley Cook, the coach’s son, launched a solo home run over West’s newly installed taller center-field fence.

“The ball wasn’t carrying great,” Hyatt said. “Of course, the Cook boy carried one pretty good. When he hits it the ball doesn’t have to be carrying great.”

Reeves scattered five hits while striking out six and walking one as the Bearcats stranded seven baserunners.

“Our bats worked at times, but we left too many kids on,” Cook said.

“For his first varsity start I thought (Reeves) pitched well,” Hyatt said. “He made a couple of mistakes and was behind (in the count) a little bit, but I think the more he’s out there on the mound the better he’ll get.”

Jesse Ivens also had a big night at the plate for West, going 2-for-2 with two runs and walk.

While the two late errors helped the Falcons reach the 10-run mercy rule to end the game, Hendersonville’s defense made noticeable improvement since a 12-4 loss at North Henderson earlier in the week.

“Better performance,” Cook said. “Ben pitched well. Wesley came in and threw well. Coach Hyatt and these kids at West have a good team. Same thing early in the year for us, we made some errors and they hurt us.”

Linescore

;;;;;r;h;e

Hendersonville:;0 0 0;0 1 x;x;—;1;5;3

West:;0 4 0;0 7 x;x;—;11;10;1

Winning pitcher: Taylor Reeves (1-0) (4 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 6 Ks, 3 BBs)

Losing pitcher: Ben Walgenbach (0-1) (4 IP, 9 R, 4 ER, 9 H, 5 Ks, 4 BBs)

Mike Dirks' Photos from West @ Polk County

2009-03-11T21:53:00.000-07:00

MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS 10-March-2009

West routs Polk County, 17-6

2009-03-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

West Henderson celebrates as Dillon Baker crosses the plate after hitting a home run against Polk County on Tuesday. (Photo by Mike Dirks)

By Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

COLUMBUS — West Henderson’s baseball team once again has plenty of firepower, and that’s exactly what Polk County coach Ty Stott wanted his team to see early in the season.

The Falcons exploded for five home runs Tuesday night en route to a 17-6, six-inning mercy-rule win at Polk. In three games so far this season, seven different West batters have hit homers.

Leading the way Tuesday was cleanup hitter Forrest Koontz, who went 4-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBIs.

“We knew West was going to be good. They just have too many hitters,” Stott said. “This is going to really help us down the road, facing tough non-conference teams like this. I know it’s going to help us. It’s got to help us.”

Tyler Isgett started the home run derby with a two-run shot off Polk starter Danny Fraga in the top of the third that made it 7-0. In the next inning, Tyler Austin ripped a two-run shot over the center-field fence and two batters later, Dillon Baker repeated Austin’s blast with another two-run shot. That ended the evening for Fraga, who went 2 1/3 innings and gave up nine runs, four earned, off seven hits with two walks and a strikeout.

“Offensively, you’ve got to be happy when you put 17 runs on the board. So, I was happy with that. But defensively, we made too many mistakes, and I think we still have a long way to go from where we want to be,” Falcon coach Jim Hyatt said after his team improved to 3-0.

Stott went with Brandon Jolley to start off the top of the fourth, and the homers continued. Koontz hit a solo shot to center, and then things got a little testy when Jolley plunked Austin. But order was restored, and Jolley didn’t hit another batter. Taylor Reeves then ripped a two-run homer, and Matt Roberts followed with an RBI double to make it 13-0 after 3 1/2 innings.

But the Wolverines (2-1) didn’t quit, scoring two runs off two West errors in the bottom of the fourth. Polk then held West scoreless in the top of the fifth and kept the game going with three runs in the bottom half of the inning that included a two-run double from J.P. Ruth.

The Falcons answered with four runs in the top of the sixth to push the lead back up to more than 10 runs and end it.

“We should’ve ended it after five, but those back-to-back errors killed us. I was happy to see us respond with four more runs to finish it off,” Hyatt said.

Both teams return to action Friday. West is at home against Hendersonville, and Polk is on the road at Brevard.

Linescore

r h e

W. Henderson: 3 2 4 4 0 4 x — 17 16 3

Polk County: 0 0 0 2 3 0 x — 6 5 3

Winning pitcher: Tyler Austin (1-0) (6 IP, 6 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 Ks, 1 BB)

Losing pitcher: Danny Fraga (0-1) (2 1/3 IP, 9 R, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 K, 2 BBs)

West boys shut out Swain in First Baseball Game of Season

2009-03-07T18:06:00.000-08:00

Published: Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 11:04 p.m.

BASEBALL

West Henderson 21

Swain County 0

r h e

West: 1 5 7 8 0 x x — 21 17 0

Swain: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 1 7

Winning pitcher: Daniel Hyatt (1-0) (4 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 7 Ks, 1 BBs)

Losing pitcher: McClure (0-1) (2 2/3 IP, 12 R, 3 ER, 10 H, 1 Ks, 1 BBs)

Leading hitters: West — Daniel Hyatt 3-for-4, home run, four RBIs Dillon Baker 1-for-4, home run, three RBIs Taylor Reeves 3-for-4, home run, double, three RBIs Jesse Ivens 1-for-4, grand-slam home run, five RBIs, Matt Roberts 3 for 3 with a double on a one-hopper to the fence. Swain — McMahan, 1-for-2. NOTE: No more than three hitters per team.

Highlights: West Henderson hit four home runs to win this nonconference season opener for both teams.

Records: West, 1-0 Swain, 0-1.

Next game: West, today at Hendersonville.

2009-03-01T12:31:00.001-08:00

Cake from Mills River Restaurant

Posted via Pixelpipe.

2009-03-01T11:57:00.001-08:00

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Prep basketball playoff pairings released

2009-02-23T07:10:00.001-08:00

By Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

The North High Carolina High School Athletic Association released the pairings for this week's prep basketball state playoffs, and six area boys teams, along with five area girls teams got in.

The boys' first-round games will be Monday, and the girls' first-round games will follow on Tuesday, including one game whose host should definitely be flip-flopped.

Rosman (20-6), one of the best girls teams in the mountains, earned the Big Smoky Mountain Conference's third seed. Thanks to a split Southern Piedmont Conference, Highland Tech, with a lowly 5-20 record, earned the conference's No. 2 1-A seed. Therefore, Tech gets to host the Lady Tigers.

"We're used to it. Last year we had to travel to a two-win team," Rosman coach Joe Carrington said. "That's just the way the seeding goes. The only thing I question is that if you are in afour-team or smaller conference, things should be readjusted a little bit to have teams in larger conferences get home playoff games."

The Lady Tigers have been playing on the road for the past month.

"We've played eight of our last nine games on the road, so you could say we are true ‘Road Warriors,'" Carrington said.

Rosman knows its first-round opponent and its possible second-round opponent very well.

"We played Highland Tech at the Cherryville Christmas Tournament, and we also faced Avery (County) there, who we might face in the second round. If we get through those first two road games, we will have to go through Robbinsville, so it's a tough draw," Carrington said.

Rosman also played on the road most of last year's playoffs and ended up making it to the 1-A state quarterfinals.

In Monday's 1-A boys matchups, Hendersonville (14-9), the top seed from the Western Highlands Conference, will host wild card East Wilkes (6-18), and the WHC's No. 2 seed, Polk County (7-18) entertains the Big Smoky Mountain's fourth seed, Hayesville (14-12). The Rosman boys (9-15) got in as a wild card and travel to the Little Smoky Mountain's No. 2 seed, Hiwassee Dam (13-16).

All of the area 2-A boys teams will be on the road. West (11-12), the third seed from the Western Athletic Conference, travels to East Rutherford (17-7), the Southwestern Conference's No. 2 seed. Brevard (10-13), the fourth seed from the WAC, travels to Hibriten (18-8), the Catawba Valley's second seed, and East (9-15), which got in as a wild card, travels to the WAC top seed, Smoky Mountain (22-2).

The other two 1-A girls teams competing Tuesday are Polk County and Hendersonville. The Lady Wolverines (13-10), the second seed from the WHC, will host BSM No. 4 seed Swain County (11-14), and the Lady Bearcats (6-17) got in as a wild card and will travel to Highlands (13-13), the No. 2 seed from the Little Smoky Mountain Conference.

Two county teams will be the only ones from the area competing in the 2-A girls' bracket. North's Lady Knights (13-12) earned the WAC's No. 3 seed and will travel to Souhwestern Conference No. 2 seed East Rutherford (21-4), and West (6-17), the WAC's fourth seed, will be on the road at Bandys (19-6), the Catawba Valley's second seed.

Times for the first-round games haven't been announced yet.

Switching Gears to Baseball Now!

2009-02-22T21:31:00.001-08:00

We won all of our games this weekend!

Taylor Pitching

Matter Batter

Isgett's Homerun!

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West vs Pisgah at WAC Tourney

2009-02-22T21:01:00.001-08:00

Pics from the Falcon WAC Tourney Semi-final game held at North Henderson High School on Wednesday, February 18. We lost to Pisgah, 80-68. Next game is state playoff game against East Rutherford on Monday night, February 23.

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Tournament Schedule

2009-02-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

Western Athletic Conference

All games at North Henderson

BOYS

Monday, February 16

No. 4 Brevard vs. No. 5 East Henderson, 5:30 p.m.

No. 3 West Henderson vs. No. 6 North Henderson, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 18

Semifinals

No. 1 Smoky Mountain vs. Brevard/East Henderson, 5:30 p.m.

No. 2 Pisgah vs. West Henderson/North Henderson, 8:30 p.m.

Friday

Championship

Semifinal winners, 8 p.m.

GIRLS

West wins at North to Close Out Season

2009-02-13T04:35:00.000-08:00

By Stephen Roper

Times-News Correspondent

Published: Friday, February 13, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

Michael Justus/Times-News

West Henderson’s Adam Troutman takes a shot as North Henderson’s Marc Lytle defends during Thursday’s game at North.

With 44 seconds left and the game tied 41-41 against county rival West Henderson, it’s fitting the ball ended up in senior Knight point guard Sydney Lyda’s hands. Driving to the basket and drawing a foul, Lyda swished the deciding free-throws to give her team a hard-fought 43-41 Western Athletic Conference win. She finished with a game-high 16 points, two assists, and two steals and gave the packed house a memorable Senior Night performance.

“I was freaking out,” said Lyda of her thoughts before her game-winning free-throws. “But this feels amazing.”

Taking a lesson from the women’s match-up, West Henderson jumped to an early lead and snuffed the hopes of Knight fans wanting a clean sweep on their final home game of the regular season. The Falcons proved they’re hitting their stride just in time for the postseason, winning handily 68-41 behind a dominant performance on the boards. As a team they pulled down 20 more rebounds than North, led behind the senior duo of Adam Troutman and Daniel Hyatt who each finished with double-doubles. Troutman had 12 points and 11 boards, while Hyatt finished the night with a game-high 18 and 12.

“Rebounding is one of the barometers of effort and I was pleased with our performance down low,” said West coach Rob Bliss.

West’s Kenan Young led the charge in the first quarter and poured in eight of his 17 to push West (11-11, 6-4) out to an early 16-6 lead. The early spurt carried on into the second thanks to Falcon forwards Hyatt and Kevin Thomas, who scored all 15 of West’s points in the quarter. Hyatt stretched the D with two 3-pointers, going 4-of-5 from behind the arc for the night, while Thomas put in seven of his nine points with offensive rebounds and putbacks.

Following their upset of top-ranked Smokey Mountain with a win over North (5-18, 1-9) on senior night, Coach Bliss is encouraged by the direction his team is headed. “We’re really playing hard at this point in the season, which is great to see,” he said. “This is when we tell the kids ‘every game you’re playing for your life,’ and we hope we can just keep our focus.”

For the Lady Knights, Thursday’s game against West was about more than Senior Night: a win secured the third-place spot in the leage and granted them a more favorable berth in upcoming the WAC tournament. And that, combined with Senior Night, pushed them out to an early 16-8 lead by the end of the first quarter. But West would respond.

The comeback began with Lady Falcon Erica Cantrell’s consecutive jumpers, which Sieara Bishop followed with a floater in the lane. Kaitlyn Burton’s 3 on the next possession pulled West to within one, but North responded with a baseline jumper by Ashley Brown and lay-up by Jessica Hartley. By halftime the Lady Falcons had battled back to a 25-25 tie, and they carried that momentum into the third with a 6-0 run behind a Summer Kremer jumper and offensive putback by Burton.

“The momentum seemed to be on their side,” said North coach Kevin Rhodes. “And me and Coach Whitmire kept telling them to keep their heads up and do what we’ve worked on. We said be smart, and in the last huddle I said we’re not going to let you lose this ball-game, we’re going to win it.”

After a jumper by West’s Alex Stewart tied things up 30-30, Lady Knight Jodi Edwards knocked down an open 3. Ashley Rogers put West up four with a layup, but North’s Ashley Brown his consecutive jumpers to tie things up. She finished the night with 10 points and seven rebounds. Jessica Hartley added 12 points and four rebounds.

North hosts the Western Athletic conference tournament, which begins Monday at 4 p.m.

SUMMARIES

BOYS

WEST HENDERSON (68) — Embler, Thelen, Keenan Young 17, Roberts, Williams 2, Shaw 6, Reeves 2, Adam Troutman 12, Thomas 9, Daniel Hyatt 18, Van Wingerden.

NORTH HENDERSON (41) — Brunelle 6, Lamb, Norton 2, Lancaster, Drake 4, Roberts 6, Pruitt 2, Searcy, Lytle, May 5, Duckett, Morgan 5, Brackett, Brown 9.

Halftime: 31-17 West.

GIRLS

WEST HENDERSON (41) — Summer Kremer 13, Erica Cantrell 10, Burton 7, Turlington, Bishop 5, Stewart 4, Ciaramitaro, Rogers 2.

NORTH HENDERSON (43) — Van Landingham, Sydney Lyda 16, Swann, Ramsey, Dalton, Edwards 3, Ashley Brown 10, Jessica Hartley 12, Patton, Israel 2, Wright.

Halftime: 25-25.

We Beat Smoky AGAIN

2009-02-11T20:35:00.000-08:00

And look who's on the front page!

West stuns top-ranked Smoky Mountain

2009-02-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

West Henderson’s 72-55 victory over Smoky Mountain wasn’t just an outcome nobody outside the locker room saw coming. Not many inside the Falcon locker room saw Tuesday’s home victory over the state’s top-ranked 2-A team coming either.

“Smoky Mountain was on top of the (Western Athletic) conference,” said senior Daniel Hyatt after West’s Senior Night. “We felt over-matched.”

“We,” said senior Adam Troutman, “were doubtful. We didn’t know.”

They know now. Both of the senior starters at forward admitted that after the first quarter, which ended with a 13-4 West lead, everybody started believing.

The win moves West to 10-11 and 5-4 in the league and was all the more stunning because it came on the heels of a three-game losing streak.

“Maybe we just got tired of not playing well,” said West coach Rob Bliss.

From start to finish on Tuesday, West played very well.

Buoyed by the emotions of Senior Night, the Falcons held previously unbeaten Smoky Mountain (20-1, 8-1) to just two first-quarter field goals and took an 11-point lead into the second on Matt Roberts’ double-clutch 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The momentum carried over as West threatened to stretch the lead to 20 before the Mustangs closed the half with a 5-0 run to pull within 26-13 at the break.

Behind leading scorer Colton Hunt, who scored all of his game-high 20 points in the second half, the Mustangs pulled to within 30-22 with 4:30 left in the third quarter. West answered with a 13-2 run.

The Falcons were content to trade baskets in a high-scoring fourth quarter, racing past the Mustangs’ full-court press time and again for easy scores.

“We were able to take advantage and turn (the press) into some points,” Bliss said. “I think that was the difference.”

Junior guard Keenan Young led West with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He was one of four Falcon underclassmen in double figures.

Roberts had 11 points and five assists, Kagan Williams had 12 while sophomore Kevin Thomas added 11 points.

“We had some kids that hadn’t been playing well who really stepped up,” Bliss said. “I guess the stars just aligned for us.”

Troutman (11 points, nine rebounds and three steals) and Hyatt (8 points, 12 rebounds and three steals) battled a bigger Smoky Mountain front line to a standstill.

Jackson Simmons, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, had 14 points for the Mustangs. Six-foot-five senior Cort Smith added nine.

“To come together on Senior Night with help from the underclassmen was big for us,” Troutman said. “I’d like to thank the juniors for helping us go out with a win in probably the last home game for Dan, Aaron (Embler) and myself.”

West’s girls were also threatening to pull an upset on Senior Night after one quarter. But the Lady Mustangs pulled away for a 55-35 conference win.

The Lady Falcons, who trailed 15-14 at the end of the first quarter, were held without a field goal in the second.

In the second and fourth periods combined, Smoky Mountain allowed just one field goal and 10 total points.

“Overall I’m proud of my girls,” said West coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy. “You have to give Smoky credit, they’re a really good team but for one half of the game, we played with them.”

Smoky Mountain’s Ashley Robinson answered every West charge and finished with a game-high 23 points.

Ashley Rogers led the Lady Falcons (6-15, 4-5 WAC) with 15 points.

Senior Erica Cantrell added nine points for West while classmates Chelsea Turlington and Danielle Dinardo added two points apiece.

West will close the regular season on Thursday at rival North Henderson.

Summaries

BOYS

SMOKY MOUNTAIN (55) — Dunford 5, Colton Hunt 20, Hodgin, George 3, Carter 5, DeGraffenreid, Cauley 1, Davis, Smith 9, Jackson Simmons 14.

WEST HENDERSON (72) — Embler, Thelen 5, Keenan Young 14, Matt Roberts 11, Kagan Williams 12, Shaw, Reeves, Adam Troutman 11, Kevin Thomas 11, Hyatt 8, Van Wingerden.

Halftime: West, 26-13.

GIRLS

SMOKY MOUNTAIN (55) — Junaluska 8, Jackson 1, Tyalor, Ashley Robinson 23, Parton, Cagle 4, Spiro 4, Johnson 7, Nardello 6, Moore, Henson 2.

WEST HENDERSON (35) — Kremer 2, Cantrell 9, Burton 1, Turlington 2, Bishop 2, Stewart, Ciaramitaro 2, Ashley Rogers 15, Dinardo 2.

Halftime: Smoky Mountain, 32-19.

Brevard fights hard for WAC wins over West

2009-02-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

by Jeremy Trantham, Times-News

Brevard’s boys basketball team knows it can score from the outside. Thursday at West Henderson was no exception as point guard Trell Baker poured in a game-high 27 points.

But the difference in the Blue Devils’ 71-67 Western Athletic Conference win was the play inside. Brock Frisbee scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter while Jake Osteen made a key block and two free throws in the closing seconds to secure the victory.

Brevard, which improves to 8-11 on the year and 3-4 in the WAC is making a late-season playoff push. The Devils sit at fourth place in the league, just one game behind the Falcons (9-10, 4-3) and two behind Pisgah (5-2 WAC), which they will play on Friday.

“It puts us in a position where we can crawl up to second or third in our league, which is big in terms of the playoffs,” said Brevard coach Tim Trantham. “It was a big win for the kids.”

The Devils battled back from a 11-point second-half deficit behind Baker, Osteen and Frisbee. Osteen scored six unanswered points before Baker canned a deep 3-pointer to pull Brevard within five entering the fourth quarter.

Then Frisbee took over, scoring 10 straight points early in the fourth before fouling out with 4:45 to play. The 6-5 junior even hit a 3-pointer while being fouled for a four-point to play. His shot gave the Blue Devils a 60-59 lead, their first since the second quarter, which they never relinquished.

“I didn’t mind it too much because it was in the flow while we were making a little run,” Trantham said of the shot. “It was a big basket.”

Brevard had 11 rebounds in the fourth to seven for West.

“They dominated us,” said West coach Rob Bliss. “For whatever reason we’ve gone two games in a row where we just can’t finish in the lane.”

With West trailing 69-67 in the closing second Colby Thelen, who scored a team-high 15 points for West, drove into the lane. Osteen was waiting with a clean block. He then hit two free throws to seal the victory.

Kagan Williams added 11 points for the Falcons while Adam Troutman had nine points and 10 rebounds in a game originally schedule for Wednesday.

“It was one of those games where we were fortunate to have the last run,” Trantham said. “I think either played extremely well. I think a lot of that had to do with, you get geared up to play (on Wednesday), can’t play and have to back here to play the next day.”

West’s second straight conference loss leaves the Falcons needing help, likely from Brevard, to get back to second in the WAC.

“They just out-executed us,” he Bliss said. “I’m really grasping right now to be honest. I’m fearful that we’ve met our expectations. That’s taking nothing away from Brevard. Tim does a great job and he’s really got his kids playing well down the stretch.”

Brevard’s girls held a 43-35 lead at the end of the third quarter. That was on Wednesday evening before snow halted play.

On Thursday, the Lady Devils had to wait an extra four minutes of game-time to secure a 60-57 overtime win.

West’s Ashley Rogers hit a jump shot as time expired in regulation to tie the score at 53. But foul trouble caught up with the Lady Falcons as three players fouled out in overtime.

“It’s kind of expected that my young baby Devils were going to allow Rogers to shoot that last shot,” said Brevard coach Jenny Crew. “I am extremely proud. It seemed like they composed themselves. They grew up a little big in overtime.”

Emily Hollingsworth hit two free throws with 57 seconds remaining in overtime to give Brevard (3-16, 2-5) the lead for good at 59-57. After Courtney Lance, who scored 18 points, gave the Lady Devils a three-point lead with a foul shot, Shonese Jones stole West’s inbounds pass to prevent the Lady Falcons from launching another game-tying shot.

Jones, who hit 5-of-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, scored a game-high 21 points in the rare two-day game. Lance had eight rebounds and six steals.

“I’ve been playing since the first grade through four years of college,” Crew said. “I’ve been coaching for 13 years and never in my life have I had to do this before. We started off the way I thought we would — slow and little stiff.”

Rogers scored seven of her team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to help West force overtime. She also had eight rebounds and six assists.

Summer Kremer added 14 points and six rebounds for West (5-14, 3-4 WAC) while Erica Cantrell added 11 points.

Brevard will travel to Pisgah on Friday while West will go to East Henderson.

Note: West Henderson graduate Connie Creasman earned a varsity letter playing for Kay Yow at N.C. State in 1980. She earned another letter in 1982 as a manager. West and Brevard had a ‘Pink Out’ for the girls’ game to support breast cancer research.

SUMMARIES

BOYS

BREVARD (71) — McNeil, Trell Baker 27, Brock Frisbee 12, Zandecki 2, Griffin 5, Roberts 4, Smith 7, Erwin 1, Babin 2, Jake Osteen 11.

WEST (67) — Embler, Colby Thelen 15, Young 9, Roberts 8, Kagan Williams 11, Shaw, Reeves 2, Troutman 9, Thomas 7, Hyatt 4, VanWingerden 2.

Halftime: West, 39-34.

GIRLS

BREVARD (60) — Hollingsworth 6, K. Lance 3, Akridge, Redmond 6, Dierolf 6, Courtney Lance 18, Shonese Jones 21, Landreth, Owen 6.

WEST (57) — Summer Kremer 14, Erica Cantrell 11, Burton 4, Turlington, Bishop 8, Stewart 2, Ashley Rogers 19, Dinardo.

End of third quarter: Brevard, 43-35.

End of regulation: 53-53.

West scores two wins against North

2009-01-24T10:04:00.000-08:00

By Jeremy Trantham

Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

Michael Justus/Times-News

West Henderson’s Adam Troutman swings around North Henderson’s Kevin Searcy to take a shot on Friday during the game at West.

Both of Friday’s varsity games at West Henderson looked over at halftime. One actually was. West’s girls erased a 16-point halftime deficit to win the opener 51-46 over North Henderson. The Falcon boys built a 30-point halftime lead in their 78-41 Western Athletic Conference victory.

Daniel Hyatt scored half of his game-high 18 points in the first quarter and West held North to one second-quarter field goal. It added up to a 49-19 lead at the break.

“I told the kids earlier this week that it had been awhile since I thought we really played well,” said West coach Rob Bliss. “Our defense got us going early. It got us out in transition and made it an up-tempo game. Usually when we can get a good transition game going we shoot the ball well.

“It all kind of snowballed on top of each other.”

A technical foul on West during pre-game warmups helped the visiting Knights take a 4-0 lead. But a Hyatt 3-pointer gave West a 5-4 advantage and the Falcons never trailed again.

The Falcons used a variety of full- and half-court traps to force Knight point guard Jordan Brunelle to give up the ball.

“That’s a good philosophy and we have to be able to do something with the ball when it’s out of his hands,” said North coach Skip Taylor. “We didn’t make some good decisions and part of that was my fault. I don’t think I had them as prepared as I should have.”

All the preparation in the world might not have helped against a hot-shooting Falcon team. Hyatt hit 7-of-8 from the field while Kevin Thomas (13 points) was 6-of-7.

Keenan Young and Adam Troutman each scored 13 points for West, which moved to 9-8 overall and 4-1 in the WAC.

Troutman had nine rebounds while Hyatt added seven steals and six rebounds.

Colby Drake led North (5-11, 1-3) with 16 points while Brunelle finished with eight.

The Lady Falcons were ice-cold against North’s changing zone defenses in the first half. West busted the zones with its outside shooting in the second.

West coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy said she thought it was the teams’ best shooting half of the season.

“Things were falling for North in the first half and in the second half everything was falling for us,” she said.

Trailing 30-14 at the start of the third, the Lady Falcons went on a 20-5 run to close the period to pull within 39-38 by the start of the fourth.

West tied the score on a Summer Kremer jumper with 5:42 remaining and took the lead for good when Kremer scored inside 30 seconds later.

“I didn’t feel like we came out with the same hustle in the second half,” said Lady Knight coach Kevin Rhodes. “We knew West was going to make a run.”

Sophomore Ashley Rogers led the charge with 11 of her game-high 13 points in the second half. Kremer scored eight of her 10 in the second half and had six rebounds.

Erica Cantrell added 11 points for West (5-12, 3-2) while freshman guard Sieara Bishop added nine points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Sydney Lyda and Ashley Brown led the Lady Knights (8-8, 1-3) with 11 points apiece. Jodi Edwards added 10 points.

North returns to conference action on Tuesday at home against Brevard. West will travel to Pisgah on Friday.

Summaries

BOYS

NORTH (41) — Brunelle 8, Lamb, Norton, Lancaster, Colby Drake 16, Roberts 1, Pruitt 2, Searcy 2, Lytle, May, Duckett 4, Morgan 4, Brackett, Brown 4.

WEST (78) — Embler 3, Thelen, Keenan Young 13, Roberts 5, Williams 3, Shaw 4, Reeves 4, Adam Troutman 13, Kevin Thomas 13, Daniel Hyatt 18, VanWingerden 2.

Halftime: West, 49-19.

GIRLS

NORTH (46) — Sydney Lyda 11, Jodi Edwards 10, Ashley Brown 11, Hartley 8, Israel 6, Dalton.

WEST (51) — Summer Kremer 10, Erica Cantrell 11, Burton 8, Turlington, Bishop 9, Stewart, Ciaramitaro, Ashley Rogers 13, Dinardo.

West tops East to remain undefeated in WAC

2009-01-19T06:36:00.000-08:00

By Jeremy Trantham

Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

Patrick Sullivan/Times-News

West Henderson’s Erica Cantrell passes the ball past an East Henderson player during the game on Friday at West.

West Henderson’s Kevin Thomas looked lost at times playing varsity last year. But then, how many freshmen don’t?

On Friday at West, it was the rapidly developing sophomore who sparked the Falcons’ second-half rally in a 56-50 conference victory over rival East Henderson. The win moves West to 3-0 in the Western Athletic Conference heading into today’s game at league favorite Smoky Mountain.

Three Lady Falcons scored in double figures as West’s girls team won the opening varsity game 63-21.

“Kevin has grown so much as a player,” said West coach Rob Bliss. “He is a double-edged sword that we really need. He gives us a body that we can use in the post to rest our two seniors and at the same time he’s a good 3-point shooter. He’s matured to the point that we have to have him on the floor.”

Thomas scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and hit two 3-pointers early in the third quarter to get West going offensively. The Falcons opened the second half with a 7-0 run to tie the score at 27 after some poor shooting put them in a halftime hole.

West managed just two field goals, against nine turnovers, in the second quarter.

“I think the second quarter was due to East’s match-up zone,” Bliss said. “We couldn’t make any shots and got frustrated. In the second half we got out in transition, hit some shots and got our confidence back.”

East meanwhile faltered in the third quarter. The Eagles’ senior backcourt of Michael Robinson and Chase Hill combined to score 16 of the team’s 27 first-half points. But the duo went cold in the second half.

The Eagles made just two field goals, against seven turnovers, in the third quarter.

“After a disappointing loss last Friday at home, I thought these kids gave a lot of effort,” said East coach John Johnston. “We just went a little stale in the second half offensively. In the first half, everything we got was fluid.”

Keenan Young, who added 15 points for West, put the Falcons on top for good with a 3 to open the fourth quarter.

“We felt like we had opportunities (against the zone), we just weren’t seeing them,” Bliss said. “We weren’t attacking them.”

Robinson scored a game-high 17 points for East while Hill added 12 and forward Conner Duermit added 11.

Erica Cantrell had 12 points to lead the Lady Falcons, who jumped out to a big lead and never looked back. Sieara Bishop and Kaitlyn Burton added 10 points apiece, and all nine players on the roster scored at least two points.

Four Lady Eagles — Terran McCrary, Timmie Hoffman and Nicole Lowe — each scored four points.

East will return to action on Friday against Brevard. Bliss, meanwhile, is looking forward to today’s game in Sylva against the state’s third-ranked, and only unbeaten, 2-A team.

It will be West’s fourth game in eight days because of exams.

“I told the kids it’ll probably be one of the funnest days of their lives,” Bliss said. “We have been fortunate to be 3-0 and Smoky Mountain’s at 3-0. It’s at their place. They’re the team that’s supposed to win the league so we can just go up there, push hard and see what happens.”

Summaries

BOYS

EAST (50) — Chase Hill 12, Davis 5, Conner Duermit 11, Michael Robinson 17, MacPherson 2, Lofters 3, Ford, Williams.

WEST (56) — Embler, Thelen 8, Keenan Young 15, Roberts, Williams 1, Shaw, Reeves, Troutman 5, Kevin Thomas 21, Hyatt 4, VanWingerden.

GIRLS

EAST (21) — Sexton, McCrary 4, Brooks 2, Workman, Hoffman 4, Lowe 4, Perry 3, Jones 2, Day 2.

WEST (63) — Erica Cantrell 12, Turlington 2, Sieara Bishop 10, Rogers 2, Dinardo 8, Kremer 7, Kaitlyn Burton 10, Stewart 6, Ciaramitaro 6.

East @ West - We Won 56-50!

2009-01-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

West Rallies Past Brevard

2009-01-13T06:37:00.000-08:00

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.

Half-court buzzer beater wins game (and I missed it!)

2009-01-10T08:48:00.000-08:00

Undoubtedly my paper missed it, too. This sucks as a Prep roundup for what was a great game. Not even a complete box score (Matt had 7 points) and NO mention of the fact that it was our first conference game (against Pisgah) much less any details of the great shot from half court by Keagan Williams to give us the lead by three and the win! My story is better and I wasn't even there! Geesh, TN!

Published: Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 12:00 a.m.

BASKETBALL

BOYS

West Henderson 65

Pisgah 62

PISGAH (62) — Top scorers: McClure 19, Matthis 11.

WEST HENDERSON (65) — Top scorers: Kevin Thomas 19, Kagan Williams 18, Colby Steven 9

Halftime: Pisgah, 31-34.

Highlights: Williams made a 3-pointer at the end of the game to win.

Jayvee game: Pisgah d. West Henderson

Next game: West, Monday at Brevard.

West @ Enka - We lost but Matter scored 10!

2009-01-06T22:56:00.001-08:00

TC @ West - January 2, 2009

2009-01-03T06:33:00.000-08:00

We lost the game, but it was really close the whole time. Matthew had a shot to tie in the last second with a 3 point shot that was tipped by a TC player. He had 15 for the game with three 3 pointers!

Roberson tops West boys, girls
By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

To foul, or not to foul? That was the question West Henderson posed to T.C. Roberson on Friday.

Faced with the same scenario as last year — a three-point lead with time winding down — Roberson coach Kevin Keen wasn’t about to let history repeat itself. The Rams were going to foul before the Falcons could get off a potential game-tying 3-pointer.

That strategy, and a healthy 21-4 edge in offensive rebounding, helped the Rams (9-3) hold on for a 66-63 nonconference win. Six-foot-seven forward Tim Carpenter, who finished with a game-high 16 points, helped Roberson hammer West on the glass.

“We just really struggle on the glass and some of it’s our size,” said West coach Rob Bliss. “Some of it you can understand but not to point that it’s 21-4. I can think of at least two instances I can think of it turning into a three-point play.”

Aided by Roberson’s 10-for-22 night at the foul line, West still had a chance to force overtime. Trailing 64-61, the Falcons (5-6) took possession with 13.9 seconds remaining. The Rams fouled Kagan Williams (13 points) as he dribbled across half court. Williams hit both free throws with 8.8 seconds remaining.

“We talked about it a lot,” said Keen of the situation. “Will we (foul)? Won’t we? Last season, (Zach) Corliss hit a 3 to tie the game and send it into overtime and we then we lost. The foul was too quick, but luckily we made two free throws to get (the lead) back to three. We were going to foul again but they passed it before we could.”

The strategy didn’t surprise Bliss.

“Not with their size,” he said. “They’ve got to be pretty confident they can get it off the defensive board.”

Carpenter answered Williams with a pair from the line and West’s final three-point shot to send the game into extra time sailed wide as the buzzer sounded.

Matt Roberts scored a team-high 15 points for West while Kevin Thomas added 13, including a 3-pointer with 13.9 seconds left to cut the Ram lead to two. The Falcons hit 10-of-25 (40 percent) from behind the arc.

“For two games in a row we’ve played with the kind of intensity it takes to win,” Bliss said. “We’ve just got to get better at our execution.”

Four Rams — Carpenter, John Moody (14), John Winkenwerder (13) and Austin Patton (10) — scored in double figures.

Keen was left impressed with West’s improvement since the two teams’ first meeting, a 56-37 Roberson win on Dec. 5.

“The first time we played at their pace, strictly a walk-it-up-the-floor game,” Bliss said.

The experienced and talented Lady Rams had not problem in the girls game, racing to a 53-15 halftime lead and then tightening up the defense in the second half for a 74-18 victory.

Senior Maria Young scored a game-high 18 points for Roberson.

Kaitlyn Burton scored five for West, which will travel to Enka on Tuesday before opening Western Athletic Conference play on Friday.

SUMMARIES

BOYS

ROBERSON (66) — John Moody 14, Darity 2, Austin Patton 10, Wrenn, Gailey 2, John Winkenwerder 13, Fields 3, Joe Winkenwerder 6, Pressley, Tim Carpenter 16.

WEST (63) — Thelen, Young 9, Matt Roberts 15, Kagan Williams 13, Troutman 6, Kevin Thomas 13, Hyatt 7, VanWingerden.

Halftime: Roberson, 31-25.

GIRLS

ROBERSON (74) — Feimster, Edmonds 9, Chasity Devlin 13, Tee’Ara Copney 13, Duff 3, Yazmean Burgess 10, Maria Young 18, Terry 4, Love 6.

WEST (18) — Kremer, Cantrell 4, Burton 5, Turlington 3, Bishop 1, Stewart, Ciaramitaro, Rogers 3, Dinardo 2.

Halftime: Roberson, 53-15.

West wins a thriller on Troutman's buzzer-beater

2008-12-31T11:59:00.000-08:00

Michael Justus/Times-News

West Henderson's Kagan Williams tries to drive past North Buncombe's Black Westbrook during Tuesday's game at West.

By Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 7:45 a.m.

West Henderson’s final game of 2008 will be remembered as its best.

Tuesday night at the West Christmas Doubleheader, the nightcap came down to the final minute, and what a final minute it was. North Buncombe’s Randy Pressley, arguably one of the best rebounders in the state, had an offensive rebound and put back with 5.3 seconds left, giving the Blackhawks a 54-53 lead.

But West answered with Daniel Hyatt hitting Kagan Williams on the inbounds pass, and Williams firing to a streaking Adam Troutman across the lane. Troutman then rolled the ball off his fingertips at the buzzer, and the ball found the net as the home crowd erupted after the thrilling 55-54 win.

“Kagan made a great assist, and I knew I didn’t have much time so I just jumped as far and as high as I could and fingerolled it in,” Troutman, who finished with a team-high 14 points, said. “It was my first game-winner, and it feels fantastic.”

Teammates surrounded him and showered him with high-fives.

“The thing about Adam is that he’s got a quick jump shot, and that makes him hard to defend,” Falcon coach Rob Bliss said. “For a senior who didn’t get to get to play a lot last year to be able to step in like he has this year and hit a shot like that, it’s big.”

It was a see-saw affair throughout, with the Blackhawks building a nine-point lead at 50-41 following six quick points from Pressley, who ended the night with a game-high 18 points. But the Falcons rallied for a 10-0 run to take the lead back after Kevin Thomas’ layup with 50 seconds left.

North Buncombe (6-6) answered with a quick jumper by Alex Roberson that made it 52-51, but the Falcons took the lead right back when Hyatt drained a 10-footer, setting up the two last-second shots by both teams.

Hyatt (10 points and 10 rebounds) and Troutman (10 rebounds) both had double doubles for West (5-5). Thomas was the only other Falcon in double figures with 13 points.

In the girls opener, a depleted Lady Falcon squad stayed close with the Lady Blackhawks for the first period but ran out of gas down the stretch to fall 55-32.

Nicole Gentry led North Buncombe with 16 points, and Sydney Revis was close behind with 13.

“We had a one-point loss last night, so I was proud for the girls to come back from that,” Lady Blackhawk coach Robby Parker said.

Kaitlyn Burton had 11 rebounds for West (2-8), and Danielle Dinardo had four steals.

“Their press hurt us, and they really beat us on the boards,” West coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy said.

West’s boys and girls return to action Friday night at home against T.C. Roberson.

Summaries

BOYS

NORTH BUNCOMBE (54) — Bridges 4, Pressley 18, MacDowell 6, Ledbetter 6, Westbrook 3, Magee 4, Roberson 7, Fox 2, Bailey 4.

WEST HENDERSON (55) — Thelan, Young 6, Roberts 8, Williams 2, Troutman 14, Thomas 13, Hyatt 10, VanWingerden 2.

Halftime: West, 25-22.

GIRLS

NORTH BUNCOMBE (54) — Bridges 4, Pressley 18, MacDowell 6, Ledbetter 6, Westbrook 3, Magee 4, Roberson 7, Fox 2, Bailey 4.

WEST HENDERSON (55) — Thelan, Young 6, Roberts 8, Williams 2, Troutman 14, Thomas 13, Hyatt 10, VanWingerden 2.

Halftime: West, 25-22.

Matthew Makes the Highlight Reel

2008-12-31T11:52:00.000-08:00

Click HERE to see highlights from the North Buncombe @ West game last night, the video takes a few minutes to load and it starts with the girl's games so be sure and wait for it! Matthew's three pointer is shown and Stan even says his name! So cool!

Visiting Erwin sweeps West at tourney

2008-12-30T16:53:00.000-08:00

With the first day of the second annual West Christmas Doubleheader over and done, both Falcon squads fell to the visiting Warriors of Erwin. The Falcons blasted out the gates and led 23-12 in the first quarter, but a halfcourt trap utilized by Erwin slowed down the tempo and helped them pull off a hard-fought 54-52 win.

“I thought their trap gave us some problems, but to be honest with you I feel like this is one of those nights where we kind of did it to ourselves,” West coach Rob Bliss said. “We played with a lot of energy early, and then we just went flat.”

That energy was on full display in the first quarter as West went on a 19-4 tear. A great halfcourt bounce pass from Daniel Hyatt to a streaking Kevin Thomas (team-high 16 points) signaled the up-tempo game West hoped to maintain. But the Warriors’ halfcourt trap slowly stymied the Falcons and forced them into 21 turnovers for the game.

“We didn’t really play again until the last two minutes of the game,” said Bliss. “We fought and gave ourselves a chance, but you can’t live with just that.”

Down 51-45, West (4-5) came alive in the fourth behind consecutive 3s from Kenan Young (seven points) and Kagan Williams (10 points). With 1:14 left, Warrior guard Jonathan Goforth (14 points) did the same thing he’d done all game: penetrate the lane and hit an acrobatic layup. Kevin Thomas followed suit with a drive and drew a foul, hitting only one free throw.

With 20.7 seconds left Erwin (9-2) bled the clock to within five seconds before Goforth drew a foul. He made the first, missed the second, and Erwin’s Adam King scooped up the offensive rebound, denying West a last chance. King finished the night with a game-high 25.

In exact opposite fashion, the Lady Falcons — with only seven players dressed out — fell behind to Erwin 22-4 in the first quarter. But a stingy zone defense that forced Erwin into 18 turnovers for the game gradually brought West back 34-20 at the half.

“We tried to play a hurry-up offense in the first quarter and that didn’t work,” West coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy said. “So we tried to slow it down and make every possession count.”

That they did. Starting with Ashley Rogers’ offensive rebound and put-back, the Falcons keyed a 13-2 run that pulled the game to within 14 going in at the half. That momentum carried into the beginning of the third quarter with consecutive 3s by Kaitlyn Burton (nine points) and Erica Cantrell (game-high 13 points). Both finished the night with five steals a piece and Burton also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Though West’s perseverance kept the game close, the Lady Warriors (8-3) had answers for every Falcon run. Still, West coach Scott-Gaddy was pleased with what she saw from a depleted squad.

“I commend my team a great deal,” she said. “They came out and played as a team. And I told them at the end of the game that that was the best we’d played as a team all year, I don’t care what the score shows. They played as a team.”

I love this picture

2008-12-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

Taken by Morgan Lancaster and on her facebook site .... I stole it 'cause I like it!

West Henderson falls to Asheville

2008-12-18T07:11:00.001-08:00

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Thursday, December 18, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Mike Dirks/Times-News
West Henderson’s Colby Thelan tries to avoid the steal from Asheville’s Zavion Brown.

Senior Adam Troutman’s basket had brought West Henderson’s deficit to two with 2:30 to play on Wednesday at West. Once again Asheville High senior Wakefield Ellison had an answer.

The Cougars’ standout senior canned an open 3-pointer from the corner to help push Asheville to a 64-53 victory. Ellison, who has committed to East Carolina, finished with a game-high 25 points.

“I thought we played hard,” said West coach Rob Bliss. “Asheville’s an awfully athletic team. We just had some breakdowns defensively a couple of times and they made some big shots. Our margin for error isn’t very big when it comes to teams like this so even the smallest mistake can change the outcome of the game and that’s what happened tonight.”

A lot of several small mistakes on the boards added up to cost West. The Cougars (5-4) outrebounded the Falcons (4-4) 41-21.

“That’s been our Achilles heel all year,” Bliss said. Some of it is our stature and some of it is that we’re not in the habit of being physical. Then some of it is we’re playing the big boys on the block.”

Bliss said that in eight games this season, the Falcons have allowed 120 offensive rebounds.

Still, West had its chances despite falling behind 20-9 at the end of the first quarter and then by 10 early in the fourth. The Falcons battled back to take a 26-25 halftime lead but saw it evaporate late in the third. Ellison broke a 40-40 tie with an inside bucket which sparked a 15-5 run.

Sophomore forward Kevin Thomas spearheaded an 8-0 West run capped by Troutman’s putback with 2:30 remaining.

Asheville patiently worked around West’s trapping defense to find Ellison alone in the corner. Cougar guard Zavian Brown hit all six of his free throw attempts in the closing moments as West went cold from the field.

Brown had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists. Maurice Harrison added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Troutman also had a double-double with a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds.

“Troutman’s a kid that as a coach you’re so proud of,” Bliss said of the senior who saw limited playing time last season. “He’s certainly our most consistent player both on the offensive end and on the glass.”

Thomas scored six of his 14 points in the fourth quarter while Kagan Williams added nine points on three 3’s for the Falcons.

For one half, the Lady Falcons hung right with the Lady Cougars. But West’s 32-26 halftime deficit unraveled in a hurry as Asheville pulled away for a 78-54 win.

“In the first half we had our feet under us and in the second they went on a run right there and we just couldn’t seem to catch up,” said Lady Falcon coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy. “As far as the defense our intensity level wasn’t quite where it needed to be.”

Desiree Gamble led the charge with 27 of her game-high 31 points in the second half.

Summer Kremer had 10 points for the Lady Falcons. Kaitlyn Burton added nine points and eight rebounds, Sieara Bishop added nine points and five assists while Chelsea Turlington had seven points and four steals.

The Lady Falcons fall to 2-6 on the year.

“I think (this game) will help us know what we need to practice and work on,” Scott-Gaddy said.

West will return to action on Dec. 29 a home to start a two-day tournament.

SUMMARIES

BOYS

ASHEVILLE (64) — Ireland 2, Whitmire 4, Darity 2, Head, Smith 2, Ray 7, Wakefield Ellison 25, Zavion Brown 12, Maurice Harrison 10, Harvin.

WEST (53) — Thelen 1, Young 2, Roberts 4, Williams 9, Adam Troutman 15, Kevin Thomas 14, Hyatt 8, VanWingerden.

Halftime: West, 26-25.

GIRLS

ASHEVILLE (78) — Cortney Rogers 18, Desiree Gamble 31, Scanzoni 1, Lane 7, Merissa Brewton 11, Ma. Brewton 8, Watty, Surratt, Lance 2, Smith.

WEST (54) — Summer Kremer 10, Cantrell 8, Burton 9, Turlington 7, Bishop 9, Stewart 1, Ciaramitaro, Rogers 4, Dinardo 6.

An Incorrect Box Score by the Charlotte Observer

2008-12-17T07:19:00.000-08:00

Matthew told me they lost the game at RS Central by 9 points and that he scored 11. This is the box score from the Charlotte Observer. The only thing that matches up is that they show Matthew scoring 11 points.

Anyway, pretty sure they lost. I will look for a more accurate box score, but thought it would be cool to post this:

W. HENDERSON 71, R.S. CENTRAL 61

R.S.	16	10	18	17	0	61
W. Hend.	18	16	17	20	0	71

W. Henderson 71 – Thomas 17, Hyatt 11, Roberts 11, Troutman 10, Williams 3

R. S. Central 61 – Lynch 13, Foster 13, Fuller 8, Holmstrom 8, Kinlaw 8, Kinshaw 8

Matter gets Elfed

2008-12-13T23:29:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

West Henderson flies past Enka 91-71

2008-12-13T22:57:00.001-08:00

By Dean Hensley

Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Saturday, December 13, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, December 13, 2008 at 11:17 a.m.

West Henderson boys basketball coach Rob Bliss said his speedy Falcons are at their best when they are in transition.

On Friday night against visiting Enka, it seemed like West stayed in transition — highlighted by a two-handed slam by Adam Troutman in the closing minutes — as the Falcons pulled away to an easy 91-71 victory.

“We knew it was going to be a physical game. They are big, so we were hoping to counteract their size with our speed and transition game,” Bliss said.

It worked.

By the end of the first period, the Falcons (4-2) had built a commanding 27-12 lead after an offensive rebound and put back by Troutman, followed by a quick steal and layup by Kagan Williams.

The Jets (3-3) had a brief comeback in the second period, thanks to an offensive spurt by 6-foot, 8-inch junior Corey Hensley. He scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the first three minutes of the second period. His old-fashioned three-point play at the 4:15 mark cut the Falcon lead to five at 29-24.

But West countered with a quick 10-1 run and never looked back.

Young led the Falcons with 23 points, and Troutman was close behind with 19. Williams and Kevin Thomas each added 16.

Hensley led the way for Enka, and Alex Gaddy was the only other Jet in double digits with 16.

The opening girls’ contest was a little closer, but it was the same result — a West home win. The Lady Falcons and Lady Sugar Jets were close for three periods, but the Lady Falcons, led by Summer Kremer, pulled away to earn a 42-30 victory.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it,” West girls coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy said. “It was real physical, but we felt like we handled their man defense pretty well.”

Kremer added nine rebounds to her game-high 16 points. She was the only player for both teams that reached double figures.

In jayvee action, the West girls and Enka boys won.

West’s boys and girls return to the court Tuesday when they travel to R-S Central.

Summaries

BOYS

ENKA (71) — C. King 3, Gaddy 16, C. King 6, Hensley 24, Sawyer 9, McCarson 6, Waddell, Mashburn.

WEST HENDERSON (91) — Thelen 4, Young 23, Williams 16, Keeves 2, Troutman 19, Thomas 16, Hyatt 9, VanWingerden, Roberts, Shaw.

Halftime: West, 44-29.

GIRLS

ENKA (30) — Smart 7, McCurry 8, Norton 1, Bridges 6, Burleson 7, Bosma 1, Crowe, Hyatt.

WEST HENDERSON (42) — Kremer 16, Cantrell 4, Burton 3, Turlington 7, Bishop 4, Stewart 8, Rogers, Dinardo.

Halftime: West, 18-16.

West Henderson Boys, Girls Defeat HHS

2008-12-12T14:48:00.000-08:00

West Henderson boys, girls defeat HHS

By David Phillips
Times-News Correspondent

Published: Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.

Ater a slow start, the West Henderson Falcons defeated Hendersonville on the hardcourt Tuesday 83-69 at West.

The Hendersonville girls fell to the Lady Falcons 47-32.

The Falcons got double-figure scoring from Kenan Young with 19, Adam Troutman with 17 and Kevin

Thomas, who led all scorers with 20.

“Kenan Young has only been in our program for a month,” said West coach Ron Bliss. “We’re pleased with his progress. He has really been a help to us in the early season.”

Coach Robert Strong’s Bearcats opened the first period like they would make a rout of the contest. After the first 3:15, the visiting Hendersonville team was up 9-2.

After the first quarter, the Bearcats held a 20-10 advantage.

West began solving the Hendersonville press in the second quarter, creating layups for the big three Falcon scoring leaders. At the half, West was up by seven at 37-30.

In the third period, West continued to beat the Bearcat press down the court and led 65-58 at the end of three quarters.

Four Hendersonville starters have only had two practices since the end of the football season which ended last Friday. Their inexperience began to show in the final stanza.

West opened the final quarter with a 65-58 lead, and was able to maintain their advantage thanks to some timely free throw shooting down the stretch. Thomas converted four straigt charity tosses in the last minute of play.

Hendersonville’s Tori Sitton and Darren Perry had 11 points each, and Desmond Whiteside had 10 to lead the Bearcat offense. All three are fresh off a state 1-A semifinal run in football.

West improves to 3-2 on the young season with a date against a strong Enka squad on Friday on their home court.

“Enka is big up front and will present quite a challenge for us,” said Coach Bliss.

For the Lady Falcons, Erica Cantrell led the scoring with 16 points and Summer Kremer had 12. Cantrell also had 10 rebounds for the game, recording a double-double.

For the Lady Bearcats, Brookes Walz was the scoring leader with a dozen points.

The win was the first of the season for the Lady Falcons, against four losses.

“We’re beginning to come together as a team,” said Falcon coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy. “It was good to come out and get a win.

“I think we could have been more intense,” Scott-Gaddy continued. “Hopefully this win will inspire our girls for the future.”

West held a 10-6 lead until the final seconds of the first quarter, until Walz nailed a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one.

West outscored Hendersonville 13-6 in the second quarter for a 23-15 halftime lead.

In the third quarter the Bearcat press gave West some trouble initially. However, by the end of the period, West clung to a 10-point advantage at 33-23.

Hendersonville only scored nine points in the fourth quarter, while West added 14 to its total.

“We have only been able to get in three games so far this season because to the extended football season,” said Hendersonville coach Mike Norman. “I saw some improvement out there tonight.”

The Lady Bearcats host Madison on Friday. They go into the contest with a 2-1 record.

Summaries

BOYS

HENDERSONVLLE (69) — Rogers 4, Young 9, Kirkland 3, C. Rogers 8, Tori Sitton 11, Darren Perry 11, Desmond Whitesde 10, Cauley 9.

WEST HENDERSON (83) — Theren 9, Keenan Young 19, Roberts 6, Willaims 6, Reeves 2, Adam Troutman 17, Kevin Thomas 20, Hyatt 3, VanWingerden 1.

GIRLS

HENDERSONVILLE (32) — Stoney 5, Lilly 4, Ward 1, Brookes Walz 12, westmorland 7, Hubert 2, Reames 1.

WEST HENDERSON (47 ) — SummerKremer 12, Erica Cantrell 16, Bishop 2, Stewart 7 Rogers 8, Dinardo 2.

R-S Central steals two wins from West

2008-12-10T06:25:00.000-08:00

R-S Central steals two wins from West

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Michael Justus/Times-News
R-S Central’s Shaquille Wilkins tries to stuff West Henderson’s Adam Troutman on Tuesday during a game at West.

Heartbreak came to West Henderson’s gymnasium on Tuesday night as R-S Central’s girls and boys teams came away with a pair of last-second wins.

Quatez Fuller got a steal in the backcourt on an inbounds play with 4.9 seconds remaining in the boys game and hit a layup for a 65-53 win while Melissa McLaughlin drove down the middle and rolled in a runner with 15.4 seconds remaining to give the Lady Hilltoppers a 45-44 victory.

Fuller’s steal and basket capped a tight nightcap which saw Central battle back from a five-point fourth-quarter deficit.

“I take the blame for that,” said West coach Rob Bliss of the final play. “I put us in a bad position and should not have done that. I didn’t make a good decision with how we wanted to get the ball up the floor.”

“Quatez came up big in the fourth,” said Central coach Greg Wright. “During the timeout we talked about him staying back to stop the long pass and then coming up if his man got the ball.”

Fuller scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth.

West’s Colby Thelen hit a pair of free throws with 26.7 second remaining to tie the score at 63-63 and when Central threw the ball away with 4.9 seconds left, it looked as though the Falcons would at least take the game into overtime.

But Fuller converted on West’s sixth fourth-quarter turnover to drop the Falcons to 2-2 on the season.

Matt Roberts hit three of West’s seven 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 15 points while senior Adam Troutman added 13. Kevin Thomas had 10.

West built an 18-10 lead at the end of the first quarter but Central opened the second with a 12-0 run.

“We didn’t take great care of the basketball and for whatever reason we continue to refuse to run offense,” Bliss said. When we ran offense we got good things. When we decided to play playground basketball we played right into their hands.”

Roberts tied the score at 29 entering halftime with a late 3 and the Falcons came out blazing in the third quarter to build a 37-31 advantage.

Central battled back behind Fuller. The final five minutes saw three ties and three lead changes.

It was the second straight loss for a young Falcon team which has just one returning starter in senior Daniel Hyatt, who had eight points.

“We’re still trying to figure out what we do best and how we do it,” Bliss said.

He said he hoped to have things figured out by Christmas.

The Lady Falcons provided a fitting prelude.

West held a 42-32 lead with around five minutes to play before Central staged a furious comeback behind an intense pressure defense.

West faltered down the stretch with a slew of turnovers and no field goals in the final five minutes.

McLaughlin got the closing 13-2 run started with a free throw. A Lady Falcon free throw with 2:48 to play stretched the lead back to 10.

After Mclaughlin hit a pair of foul shots with 1:32 to play the Lady Hilltoppers trailed 44-40. Then Mercedes Davis canned a 3 to give her eight points on the night.

With time winding down, Central cleared out for McLaughlin, who drove down the lane for the game-winner, her only field goal of the game.

After another near-turnover near midcourt, West inbounded the ball with 3.2 seconds remaining but the final desperation heave fell short.

Erica Cantrell scored six of her game-high 12 points in the first quarter to help West build the lead. Kaitlin Burton and Chelsea Turlington each scored seven points for West, which falls to 0-4.

Shannon Hines scored a team-high 11 points for Central, which had four players score at least eight points.

West returns to action on tonight against rival Hendersonville in a rescheduled game.

Summaries

BOYS

CENTRAL (65) — Miller, Lynch, K. Holmstrom 10, Lynch 3, Foster 9, Littlejohn 2, Wilkins 6, Q. Fuller 22, Carson, Kinlaw, J. Fuller, C. Murray 10.

WEST (63) — Embler, Thelen 8, Young 6, Roberts 15, Williams 3, Shaw, Reeves, Troutman 13, Thomas 10, Hyatt 8.

Halftime: Tied 29-29.

GIRLS

CENTRAL (45) — Whitesides 2, Hines 11, McLaughlin 8, Logan, McDaniel, Edgerton 8, Davis 8, Miller, Crenshaw 3, Case 3, Twitty.

WEST (44) — Kremer 5, Cantrell 12, Burton 7, Turlington 7, Bishop 4, Stewart, Ciarimiataro 2, Rogers 5, Dinardo 5, Meyer 2.

Halftime: West, 22-16.

Box Score from West vs TC Roberson

2008-12-06T08:29:00.000-08:00

BASKETBALL

BOYS

T.C. Roberson 56

West Henderson 37

WESTHENDERSON (37) — Thomas 13, Young 9, Roberts 6, Troutman 6, Hyatt 3.

tT.C. ROBERSON (56) — Patton (16), Fields (14), Carpenter (13), Darity (4), Moody (4), Winkenwerder (3), Pressley (2)

More Pictures from West vs. TC Roberson

2008-12-06T07:33:00.001-08:00

West vs TC Roberson

2008-12-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

West lost the game 56-37. Matthew scored the first points for West with a 3 point shot from the corner with only 2.8 seconds left in the first quarter. He went on to score 3 more points, finishing the game with 6 points. The Rams had 3 players in double figures, we only had one, Kevin Thomas, who had 13.

West struggled with offensive rebounds, getting zero putbacks. It was kind of sad, but TC is a really great team - fast and big!

The photo pictured is of Matt (5) attempting a shot.

West Henderson keeps Tuscola boys winless

2008-12-05T13:30:00.001-08:00

Dennis Smathers - Tuscola Beat Writer

The Tuscola varsity boys basketball team scored 33 first half points Wednesday night against visiting West Henderson. But the Mountaineers lost their shooting touch in the second half, scoring only 19 points as the Falcons beat Tuscola, 69-52, in a non-conference game. Tuscola dropped to 0-4 overall and will play at Pisgah (8 p.m.) tonight. The Mountaineers will look to snap a 14-game losing streak to the Black Bears. The last time the Tuscola boys beat Pisgah in basketball was Feb. 2001 in the conference tournament. Against the Falcons, Tuscola held a 17-15 lead after the first eight minutes, lead by sophomore Jonathan Hopper’s six points. But the Mountaineers lost the lead in the second quarter and went into halftime trailing, 35-33. The Falcons nearly doubled Tuscola’s offensive output in the third quarter to extend their lead to nine points, 50-41, entering the final quarter. West Henderson (2-0) scored nine of its 19 fourth quarter points from the free throw line to ice the game. For the first time this season, no player scored in double figures for the Mountaineers. Hopper posted a team-high eight points while junior Alex Smith finished with seven points. Juniors Walton Shepherd and Will Valentine chipped in six points apiece while seniors Sidney Blankenship and Tyler Green scored five points apiece. Senior Aaron Fernandez, junior Billy Lirely and senior Paul Allen finished with four points each.

Boys Prep Basketball 2008-09 by Dean Hensley

2008-11-27T05:15:00.000-08:00

WEST HENDERSON

Mascot: Falcons.

Coach: Rob Bliss, third year.

Conference: Western Athletic 2-A.

2007-08 record: 14-14 overall, 6-4 WAC (third).

Postseason play: Lost 60-50 to Newton-Conover in the first round.

Returning starters: Daniel Hyatt, 6-3 senior guard/center.

Other returning players: Kevin Thomas, 6-3 sophomore guard/forward; Matt Roberts, 5-11 junior guard; Adam Troutman, 6-3 senior forward; Colby Thelen, 5-9 junior guard.

Newcomers: Kagan Williams, 5-10 junior guard; Karl Bernadas, 5-5 sophomore guard; Corey Shaw, 5-11 junior guard; Taylor Reeves, 6-2 junior forward; Kyle Earwood, 6-5 sophomore forward; Matt VanWingerden, 6-1 junior forward.

Outlook: West Henderson lost leading scorer and point guard Zach Corliss, who is now a freshman guard at Armstrong Atlantic State in Savannah, Ga., with good friend Chris VanLandingham, a former North Henderson standout, to graduation.

Corliss reached the 1,000-point plateau his senior year, and now Falcon coach Rob Bliss will be looking for someone to help fill those big shoes. After the early practices, he knows he has plenty of players who can shoot the ball.

“The key word for us right now is youth. We do shoot the ball well at times, and I’d have to say that’s our strength. Dan shoots it well, and Kagan shoots it well. Kevin Thomas is also a pretty good perimeter shooter, so we have some shooters.

“We just don’t have the experience,” Bliss said.

Led by Corliss, the Falcons finished in third spot in the WAC last season and ended up falling to Newton-Conover in the first round of the state playoffs.

Bliss believes this group could be in the mix as well in the conference.

“Your goal every year is to win the conference championship, but when you have a young team like this, you have to be realistic. I believe Smoky Mountain has all the pieces to not only win the conference but make a state title run. We’re hoping to be in the top half of the conference,” Bliss said.

2008-11-05T22:05:00.000-08:00

2008-11-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

2008-11-05T21:59:00.000-08:00

2008-11-05T21:56:00.000-08:00

2008-11-05T21:51:00.000-08:00

Matthew gets pic on the web

2008-05-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

The caption reads Matt Roberts safely slides into 2nd base! You can check it out by clicking here: www.blueridgenow.com

West's Hyatt deserves a big salute

2008-05-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

BlueRidgeNow.com

May 10, 2008
West's Hyatt deserves a big salute

In Henderson County sports lore, names like Tom Pryor, Jim Pardue, Jan Stanley and Rick Wood are synonymous with sustained athletic excellence. After securing his 400th career coaching victory on May 2, while simultaneously clinching his team's seventh consecutive conference championship, West Henderson's veteran head baseball coach, Jim Hyatt, is beyond worthy of having his name etched alongside these individuals.

John Fields
Be Our Guest

In Henderson County sports lore, names like Tom Pryor, Jim Pardue, Jan Stanley and Rick Wood are synonymous with sustained athletic excellence. After securing his 400th career coaching victory on May 2, while simultaneously clinching his team's seventh consecutive conference championship, West Henderson's veteran head baseball coach, Jim Hyatt, is beyond worthy of having his name etched alongside these individuals.As Times-News sportswriters will attest, try talking to the man about such notable professional accomplishments and you will be met by the old coach with resounding alacrity that these accomplishments are the result of players, assistant coaches, community support and school administrators and due not so much to his own contributions. Perhaps, but only to a certain extent.Having been closely associated with the Hyatt family for the better part of two decades, I can unequivocally affirm that more credit is due to the man at the top of West Henderson's baseball helm than he is willing to bestow upon himself publicly.Hyatt has won numerous conference championships as well as a state championship during his tenure at West. He has won with great players; he has won with average players. He has won despite the occasional problem parent; he has won despite losing the previous season's "star" players. He has won while he and his family have had to deal with gut wrenching personal adversity and he has won when all indications were he shouldn't have been able to win. Simply stated, he has won -- 400 games in 17 plus seasons.Consider the following: since taking over the varsity baseball program in 1991, Hyatt's teams have never had a losing season -- never. They have never had a "tailing off" period as so may other successful sports teams have eventually encountered. The most losses a Jim Hyatt West Henderson baseball team has had in a season is seven.Consider, for example, another perspective. For ever 100 games a Hyatt-lead West Henderson baseball team has taken the field since the inaugural season, the Falcons have walk off the diamond victorious, on average, 85 times.The late Hendersonville High coaching legend, Jim Pardue, told me one time years ago while we were discussing Hyatt's then-notable accomplishments, "I don't know him well, but I'll tell you one thing, I'll always root for a coach like that because he's like I was in a lot of ways. The main thing is he's in this thing we call 'coaching' with both feet; not just a couple of toes like so many others I've known." To be in coaching "with both feet," as Coach Pardue stated, hit the proverbial nail squarely on the head when referring to Coach Hyatt.In addition to the scores of coaching accolades Hyatt has enjoyed, he has taken extraordinary pride in ensuring that the West Henderson baseball facility has become -- and remains -- one of the finest complexes in the state. This has been accomplished by countless hours of dedicated work before and after school, as well as on weekends -- twelve months out of the year. Maintenance at the West Henderson baseball field does not cease with the season's final out.There is no question that Henderson County has other talented coaches but no coach in Henderson County works as diligently as Hyatt from both the coaching and facilities maintenance aspects of his job, period.Admittedly, many others have been instrumental in the continued success of West Henderson Baseball during the Hyatt era. The one individual, however, who has without question complimented Hyatt's career more than any player or assistant coach has been his charming wife of more than twenty years, Charlotte. She is the quintessential "coach's wife."Well, the Falcons, as usual, will be continuing their season as they enter the state playoffs this week and Jim Hyatt will be vying for yet another victory. Past history suggests he just might get it.In closing, sincere congratulations to you, Coach Hyatt, on your 400th career win. The dozens of current and former players you have directed during your distinguished career are fortunate to have been able to call you "Coach;" I'm more fortunate, though, because I get to call you "Friend."

Sports Cliches Translated ... Funny Article by Jeremy Trantham

2008-05-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

BlueRidgeNow.com

May 9, 2008
Time to translate the clichés

A significant portion of a sports writer's job is to ask obvious, boring questions. Coaches and players, in turn, give obvious and boring responses. Rare is the coach not well versed in the language of cliché.

Prep Notebook
By Jeremy Trantham

A significant portion of a sports writer's job is to ask obvious, boring questions. Coaches and players, in turn, give obvious and boring responses. Rare is the coach not well versed in the language of cliché.This dance isn't bad -- usually. It's just the way these things work.With the spring season prep playoffs upon us, you, dear readers, are about to swim in a sea of coach-speak.
Lest you drown, here's a handy translation guide.

*What is said: "We didn't execute very well today."
What is meant: The mind of a 15-, 16-, 17-, 18-year old is too cluttered to get a bunt down.

What is said: "We came out flat today."
What is meant: It was mystery-meat Tuesday in the cafeteria. You do the math.

What is said: "If I could figure that one out I could retire a rich man."
What is meant: I wish I could figure that one out. The 'fulfillment' from shaping young minds isn't worth the long hours and low pay. I mean, would you rather have a villa in Tuscany or spend all day with teenagers?

WIS: "That one call didn't decide the game."
WIM: That one call decided the game. If I say otherwise I'll be fined and we already had to pay those blind fools to officiate the game. No way am I letting them cost me any more money.

WIS: "That's a good team we beat."
WIM: Even though its record says otherwise.

WIS: "We lost to the better team."
WIM: It's a shame coaches aren't allowed to recruit in high school.

WIS: "You know in (baseball, basketball, football, bocce ball) things like that happen. Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn't."
WIM: It didn't bounce our way. We're ordering new balls tomorrow. Also, the refs were terrible.

WIS: "We have some talent this year, but all the talent in the world doesn't matter if you don't work hard."
WIM: So, yeah, we should win a state title.

WIS: "We've had a good year, but the playoffs are a whole new season. You've got to play well every game from here on out or you're going home."
WIM: We have a chance to advance really far and I'm not going to jinx it.

WIS: "We didn't get the conference title we wanted, but we're really playing well going into the playoffs. We can make some noise."
WIM: We can win some games depending on how things shake out. A state title would be a miracle equal to the 1980 USA hockey team winning the gold. Some good officiating would help.

WIS: "It is what it is."
WIM: The terrible officiating didn't help.

WIS: "He knows what he did was wrong and why it can't happen again. We're handling the matter internally."
WIM: That kid is running until he collapses. Or the world ends. Whichever comes first.

What is said: "We've just got to take things one day at a time and keep improving."
What is meant: The next day's time is going to be spent in intense practice.

What is said: "We've got to get back to basics and work on the fundamentals."
What is meant: This season is going nowhere fast.

What is said: "We're just happy to be in the playoffs."
What is meant: Ever notice how the only people who say 'It's a honor just to be nominated' actually won. We aren't just happy to be here.

WIS: "You have to adjust to how the game is being called."
WIM: Really, those guys in the striped shirts are morons. I really wish I could say something on the record.Don't worry coach, you already did.

*All translations were totally fabricated.

Tempers Flare in Falcon's Victory

2008-03-11T20:03:00.001-07:00

Mar 11, 2008
Tempers flare in Falcons' victory

West Henderson blasts Erwin, 14-3.

By Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

ASHEVILLE -- When West Henderson senior Casey Allison approached the plate Monday in the top of the seventh inning at Erwin, he knew what was going to happen."One of my assistant coaches saw the Erwin coaches give the intentional signal, and by intentional, I mean that they were planning on hitting Casey," Falcon coach Jim Hyatt said after his team cruised to an easy 14-3 win. "We knew it, they knew it and Casey knew it. Casey even told the umpire before the pitch was thrown that he was going to get hit."Warrior reliever Chris Seager's pitch plunked the back of Allison, and Allison threw his bat down in anger as he headed down the first-base line. Close behind was his coach, ready to defend his player."You know that was intentional don't you? You know that," Hyatt screamed to the home plate umpire, but to no avail. Allison took his base, and Seager remained in the game with West up 12-2.Hyatt stormed back down the third-base line as fans yelled at him and he yelled back. He then told his team to put up some more runs, and West did, added two more in the inning."There's no place in the game for that, especially Casey and what he's been through. That's a kid that had reconstructive surgery on his face after getting hit with a pitch, so I can't just sit back and watch something like that happen to him. Plus, they had tried it earlier in the game and also against Josh (Moore). They picked out our two best players and went after them," Hyatt said.Erwin coach Granville Gehris disagreed."It was not a situation that calls for somebody to be hit. This is high school baseball, and we did not intentionally throw at anybody. That's not how we teach the game, and that's not how we play it," he said. "At the same token, we have to establish the inside part of the plate as a pitcher."A year ago, the Falcons put a 23-1 pummeling on the Warriors, a game that Gehris remembers very well."Allison was one of the boys last year that Jim left in. They were up 19-0 and Allison goes on to hit his third home run against us," Gehris said.Hyatt said during that game, he had just 10 healthy players and didn't have anyone to sub for Allison."Today, (Hyatt) is out there stealing bases when he's up 14-2. These are the golden rules of baseball -- you don't steal when you're up more than 10 and you don't try to run it up on somebody, but that's just what he does. When you schedule Jim, you just have to realize that's part of the package. We won't be scheduling them in the future," Gehris said.Hyatt's son, Daniel, had the hot bat Monday, going 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base. Tyler Isgett also had a big day, going 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs for the Falcons (4-0).Josh Moore picked up the win, going seven innings, allowing three runs off three hits with four strikeouts and no walks.Linescorer h eWest Henderson: 3 0 0 2 4 1 4 -- 14 12 2Erwin: 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 -- 3 3 1Winning pitcher: Josh Moore (1-0) (7 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 4 Ks, 0 BBs)Losing pitcher: Josh Smith (3 2/3 IP, 5 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 K, 4 BBs)

"Matt, " said Coach Hyatt,

2008-03-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

"Your JV career is over." Now, when we girls heard that, were thinking, "Oh my gosh." But Matthew, who knows he is a good player, knew exactly what Coach Hyatt meant. He meant, "NO MORE JV, YOU ARE NOW ON THE THE VARSITY TEAM!" WOW! So cool, Matthew and Zak Beard are the only sophomores to make the Varsity Baseball Squad. As you can imagine. We're pretty darn proud.

Falcons blast the Patriots

2008-03-04T15:19:00.001-08:00

Mar 4, 2008

West Henderson's Tim Isgett leads off from first base during Monday's game against Madison at West. PATRICK SULLIVAN/TIMES-NEWS

West Henderson's batters didn't take long introducing themselves to Madison starting pitcher Zach Robinson on Monday at West.

By Jeremy Darnell
Times-News Staff Writer

West Henderson's batters didn't take long introducing themselves to Madison starting pitcher Zach Robinson on Monday at West.The Falcons scored 10 runs in the bottom of the first and rode a spectacular pitching performance by junior Daniel Hyatt to a 12-0 win."Tonight we were sharp," said West coach Jim Hyatt, whose team improves to 2-0. "We didn't make any errors, didn't allow any walks and we banged it around pretty good."Seniors Zane Tallant and Josh Moore crushed two-run homers as West sent 14 batters to the plate in its half of the first.Tallant went 2-for-2 with a walk. Moore, a commitment to the Naval Academy, finished 3-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and three RBIs.The early outburst was more than enough for Hyatt.The 6-4 righty allowed a pair of two-out hits in the top of the second but ended the Patriots' threat with a strikeout.Hyatt preceded to strike out the side in each of the next three innings, giving him 10 consecutive punchouts, and enacting the 10-run mercy rule after Madison's half of the fifth."He had his stuff going," Daniel's father and coach, Jim, said. "Daniel's kind of a spot thrower and he mixes in a lot of junk and he was on tonight."Hyatt (1-0) finished with 13 strikeouts in five innings, allowing only two hits while walking no one."Thirteen strikeouts is a lot on 15 outs. When your fielders don't have to make but two plays you've had a decent night," Coach Hyatt said.Hyatt was also pleased with his team's overall progress. The Falcons looked sloppy at times in Saturday's 14-4 win over Freedom."There was no comparison between that performance and this one tonight."West will host Asheville today at 6 p.m.Moore is slated to pitch for the Falcons.Linescorer h eMadison: 0 0 0 0 0 x x -- 0 2 2West: 10 0 0 2 x x x -- 12 12 0

And now we tune in for a bit of baseball ....

2008-03-02T01:15:00.001-08:00

CITIZEN-TIMES.com
Falcons ready to soar to greater heights

By Andrew Pearson
March 2, 2008 12:15 am

A countless number of plastic baseballs shot around the floor and walls of West Henderson’s gym Wednesday.

Intermittently, one would ricochet softly off the Falcons’ captains — outfielder/pitcher Casey Allison, infielder/pitcher Daniel Hyatt and infielder/pitcher Josh Moore — as the trio took a break from practice.

All this activity in such a contained space was forced upon a six-time defending conference championship team by late February snow, but the weather is not chilling annual expectations.

“I think we should be able to contend for a conference title,” Moore said matter of fact. “It’s become a tradition to do it here.”

Moore couldn’t be more correct.

The Falcons have not finished worse than first in either the Western Athletic or Western Highlands conferences since dropping from 3-A to 2-A in 2002. During that time, their average number of wins (23.6) and losses (three) falls in line with last season’s 23-3 record.

“The kids know they’re a marked team, and they really take a lot of pride in that,” West Henderson coach Jim Hyatt said. “Sometimes you have little letdowns or don’t show up on a certain day, and that’s why you don’t see baseball teams go undefeated much. But if our kids aren’t winning, they get concerned.”

‘They have the ability to create some havoc’

Between the regular season and then summer and fall competition, many of West Henderson’s players willingly participate in about 100 games a year.

“Our kids love baseball. For many of them, this is the only sport they know,” Jim Hyatt said. “It’s a darn enjoyable group to work with. They show up every day ready to get better. They never whine.”

For all of the Falcons’ success on a local scale, a state championship has eluded them since 1992. However, no WNC school has won a NCHSAA baseball title since 2002 (Roberson, 3-A) and the area’s current chances appear cloudy at best.

Allison, who belted out a school record and WNC-best 15 home runs last spring, is the only returning first-team selection from the 2007 Citizen-Times All-WNC team. And nobody is getting the level of national attention paid to recent Major League Baseball draft picks — Sam Runion (Reynolds, 2007), Justin Jackson (Roberson, 2007) and Cameron Maybin (Roberson, 2005).

But the Falcons do feature a WNC-high three seniors committed to colleges – Allison (Wingate), Moore (Navy) and John Smith (Newberry). Daniel Hyatt, who is a junior, could be a potential Division I recruit for 2009.

“If we get beat by a good pitcher, that’s one thing,” Allison said.

“But we can’t afford to look past anybody. We definitely don’t want to be the group that lets down what is expected of West baseball. I think a lot of people out there might doubt the ability of this year’s team. It’s up to us it go out there and keep it going.”

Can they?

The Falcons return only four full-time starters, and of their 36 junior varsity and varsity players — 24 will either be freshmen or sophomores.

Jim Hyatt, who has been at West Henderson since 1991, concedes that his pitching rotation won’t overpower opponents. But if a West Henderson batter gets on base — Moore (who hit .398 in 2007), Daniel Hyatt (.425) and Allison (.506) will likely be the first three names on every lineup card — catchers had better keep a hair trigger on their throwing arm.

“This is probably the fastest team we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Hyatt said. “They have the ability to really create some havoc. I think we’re going to be able to score some runs. We’re going to have to.”

Falcons fall to the Red Devils ... and another basketball season ends

2008-02-27T01:18:00.000-08:00

BlueRidgeNow.com
Feb 27, 2008

NEWTON -- Part of the challenge in the state boys' high school basketball playoffs is being able to play the game different ways.

By Chris Hobbs
Hickory Daily Record

NEWTON -- Part of the challenge in the state boys' high school basketball playoffs is being able to play the game different ways.For the Newton-Conover boys on Tuesday night, it was about measuring up to West Henderson's physical style in a first-round game of the 2-A bracket.Keeping their cool, the Red Devils edged the Falcons 60-50 to advance to a second round game on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Mountain Heritage, a 47-46 first-round winner over North Wilkes.Adrian Powell scored 14 points, Roderick Geter had 12 points and six rebounds and Jordan Gibbs had 10 points and nine rebounds as Newton-Conover (17-9) won for the 10th time in 11 games."Composure," said Gibbs of why he felt the Red Devils won. "And keeping it together and some of the other guys stepping up."The Red Devils overcame two early fouls on Powell and Gibbs and an aggressive effort by the Falcons (13-13), who are coached by former East Burke head coach Rob Bliss.When Powell and Gibbs were in early foul trouble, it did not disrupt the Red Devils' offense, with Grant Vinson coming off the bench to score four second-quarter points.Newton-Conover led 30-16 at the half.Zach Corliss led West Henderson with 25 points and Buddy Hutchinson had 13.A late 13-5 run by the Falcons made it a 10-point game after Newton-Conover had leads of as many as 19 points late in the third quarter.SummaryWEST HENDERSON (50) -- James 2, Corliss 25, Hutchinson 13, Ducote 4, Staggs 2, Troutman 4, Landreth, Isgett, Hyatt, Barbour, Roberts, Thomas, Thelen, Williams.NEWTON-CONOVER (60) -- Gillespie 8, Vinson 4, Royall 4, Davis 6, Geter 12, Powell 14, Kelley 2, Jordan Gibbs 10.Halftime: Newton-Conover, 30-16. Copyright © 2008 BlueRidgeNow.com

West Loses to Smoky Mountain

2008-02-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

West Henderson's Daniel Hyatt, right, and Smoky Mountain's Martin Davis battle for the loose ball during Wednesday WAC tournament semifinals at East Henderson. MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

EAST FLAT ROCK -- A 10-0 run to close the first half gave West Henderson the momentum. Smoky Mountain took it all back in the third quarter of Wednesday's 72-51 Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal win.The second-seeded Mustangs (21-1) opened the second half with a 20-3 run to rout a team that handed them their first loss of the season."Our two previous games have been very similar," said West coach Rob Bliss. "They've had 10-, 12-point leads and we've been able to get back in the game. For whatever reason tonight we were unable to do that."West (13-12) had played the state's sixth-ranked 2-A team tough in the regular season, losing by two at Smoky Mountain in the second meeting. But apart from the late flurry to end the first half -- highlighted by Zach Corliss' pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer -- the Falcons were taken apart in the third meeting."I thought even in the first half our execution, our effort, were just not of championship quality," Bliss said. "When you get to this point in the season you have to play with championship effort."Mustang freshman center Jackson Simmons scored 11 of his team-high 20 points in the first quarter as Smoky Mountain raced to a 9-2 lead and never trailed.After closing the gap to six at halftime, West managed just one field goal over the first 61/2 minutes of the third quarter allowing league co-champion Smoky Mountain to build a 28-point lead.Corliss scored a game-high 22 points and tied Daniel Hyatt with a team-high five rebounds. Buddy Hutchinson added 10 points for the Falcons, who, barring something unforeseen, will travel to Newton-Conover on Tuesday to open the 2-A playoffs."They killed us on the boards all night and got a lot of second-chance points," Bliss said.

BOYS
WEST (51) -- Roberts, Thelan, Williams, James 3, Troutman, Corliss 22, Isgett 2, Barbour 2, Staggs, Thomas, Hutchinson 10, Ducote 5, Hyatt 7.SMOKEY MOUNTAIN (72) -- Dunford 1, Hunt 6, Martin Davis 12, Brown 15, Fortner 15, Henson, Carter, Parris, Cauley, Frazier, Smith 6, Hyde, Simmons 20.Halftime: Smoky Mountain, 34-28.

2008-02-20T13:40:00.000-08:00

Game Center
Event Date:
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 Smoky Mountain West Henderson
72 51

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Smoky Mountain 15 19 31 7 72
West Henderson 11 17 12 11 51

Game Summary
North Carolina High School Basketball - West Henderson ripped by Smoky Mountain

(February 20, 2008: Sylva, NC 28779) In Wednesday's non-league match, the host Smoky Mountain Mustangs basketball team scored a decisive 72-51 triumph over the West Henderson Falcons.

In their next game, the Mustangs confront the Pisgah Bears (Canton, NC) in a non-league match, on Friday, February 22. Smoky Mountain will attempt to move on its 19-2 season record. The Bears enter the match with a 19-2 record after their 61-53 non-league win over North Henderson (Hendersonville, NC).

With the defeat, West Henderson moves to 12-9 on the year.
Smoky Mountain
Scoring/Shooting # Athlete Name Pts FG FGA FG% 2FG 2FGA 3FG 3FGA FT FTA
No statistics have been entered for the team.

West Henderson
Scoring/Shooting # Athlete Name Pts FG FGA FG% 2FG 2FGA 3FG 3FGA FT FTA
Zach Corliss 22
Dallas Ducoate 5
Daniel Hyatt 7
Mike James 3
Matt Roberts 4
3 C Thelen 2
23 Buddy Hutchison 10
Team Totals: 53

West Beats East in the Tournament ... Matthew scores 3!

2008-02-19T06:24:00.000-08:00

Feb 19, 2008
Falcons put away East

By Jeremy Darnell
Times-News Staff Writer

EAST FLAT ROCK -- The boys nightcap provided some drama early, but No. 3 West Henderson dominated the boards and pulled away for a 62-41 win over No. 6 East Henderson."It was a solid win and I knew East would come out and give us a great shot because they are a well-coached team," said West coach Rob Bliss. "One of our emphases was trying to take advantage inside tonight and I though we did a real nice job getting on the glass."The Falcons (13-12) outrebounded East 36-19 overall and 17-3 in the fourth quarter."They beat us to death on the boards, which is always a concern for us," said East coach John Johnston. "If we shoot well we are competitive, if not then we have a tough time."Chase Hill's 3 cut the West lead to 23-19 with 3:24 left in the first half but the Falcons reeled off a 10-point run and took a 14-point lead into the break.The lead grew to 19 after a Zach Corliss trey and Dallas Ducote jumper, but East's defense responded and held the Falcons scoreless over the next 6:20.The Eagles (5-18) trimmed the lead to 38-28, but Chris Staggs ended West's futility with a three-point play with 59.6 left in the third."We cut it to ten and then we had four straight turnovers," Johnston said. "Then they come down and get that three-point play to kill the momentum."We had opportunities, but when you work that hard to get it back to a manageable score, you gotta take advantage of those chances."Colby Thelen's put back pushed the lead to 14 and West never looked back."The highlight of the night for us was our young kids went in there and kind of rejuvenated us and rebuilt the lead for us."There was a scary moment with 1:54 left in the first quarter. A ball riccocheted off of a West player and cut the nearest referee's lip, spewing blood onto the court. The referee was treated by a team trainer and continued after a short break.Mike James led the Falcons with 12 points. Ducote added 11 points and nine rebounds, Daniel Hyatt chipped in with 11 points and seven boards and Corliss scored eight and dished out 10 assists.Hill finishhed with 13 to lead East. Michael Robinson added 10.West will face the No. 2 seed Smoky Mountain at 5:30 on Wednesday. The loss concludes East's season.

Summaries

EAST (41) -- Dorn, Hill 13, Roberts 6, Robinson 10, Whiteside 9, Ford 3, McClure.WEST (62) -- Roberts 3, Thelen 2, James 12, Troutman, Corliss 8, Barbour, Staggs, Thomas 2, Hutchinson 8, Ducote 11, Hyatt 11, Williams.Halftime: West, 33-19.

Falcons embracing youth movement

2008-02-17T04:55:00.000-08:00

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.

Falcons fight by the Knights in OT

2008-02-15T06:47:00.000-08:00

West Henderson High School's Mike James goes in for a layup during Thursday's game against North Henderson at West. MICHAEL JUSTUS/TIMES-NEWS

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

West Henderson senior Zach Corliss shook off a rough shooting night to hit a 3-pointer with just less than 10 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Falcons a 52-51 win over North Henderson in Thursday's regular-season finale.Seniors Mike James (13 points, seven rebounds) and Dallas Ducote (14 points, six rebounds) played large roles in West's Senior Night home win."I really feel like Mike was the difference for us tonight," West coach Rob Bliss said. "Dallas started hot for us then hit a little lull but kept his composure and did what he does for us on the glass."West finishes the regular season at 12-12 and 6-4 in conference to finish third. North, at 8-13, 3-7, finishes fourth to also earn an automatic playoff spot.North's girls (12-9, 4-6) held on for a 55-50 WAC win, leaving them tied with the Lady Falcons (6-16, 4-6) for third in the league. Lady Knight coach Kevin Rhodes said that a coin flip would determine which team would get the third seed in next week's conference tournament.A free throw from Chris VanLandingham gave North a 44-40 lead with just more than a minute remaining in regulation. Ducote scored inside with 1:04 to play and Corliss hit a pair of free throws to tie the score with 19.7 seconds left.VanLandingham had the ball at the top of key with time expiring and a whistle blew before just before the final horn sounded. No foul was called and the game went into overtime."The officials didn't say anything about it," North coach Skip Taylor said. "We heard a whistle."James scored four straight points at the foul line to open the extra period. A 3-pointer from North's Brad Buckner tied the score with 1:30 on the clock."I didn't think it was our best effort but a lot of credit for that goes to North Henderson and coach Taylor," Bliss said. "They came over here and got after our tails."VanLandingham then hit a pair of free throws with 15.7 seconds remaining to give him a game-high 32 points on the night."Chris is going to get his points because of the way they do things," Bliss said. "I think they're exactly right to do that. Mike did a tremoundous job guarding Chris on defense."With North holding a two-point lead, Corliss came off of a high ball screen from Ducote and fired from the left wing. After missing 10 straight shots, including five straight 3-pointers, his last attempt fell through cleanly."If they doubled we were looking for a slip out of our playside post or a reversal to Daniel (Hyatt)," said Bliss. "(Zach) asked me in the huddle, 'If my defender goes under (the screen) can I take it?' I said yes, we'll take the first good look we get."VanLandingham pushed upcourt and drove the lane, but his driving jumper was short."Zach hit a great shot," Taylor said. "He wasn't suppposed to get open. We didn't do a couple of things correctly. He got open and that's the last thing we wanted."Corliss finished with 14 points for West despite hitting just two field goals.

The WAC tournament will being on Monday at East Henderson.

BOYS
NORTH (51) -- Singletary 2, VanLandingham 32, Buckner 7, Searcy, Pressley 8, Lolley, Lytle, Brown 2.WEST (52) -- Roberts, James 13, Troutman, Corliss 14, Isgett, Barbour, Staggs, Hutchinson 2, Ducote 14, Hyatt 7, Thomas 2.Halftime: North, 25-21.

Matt Scores 8 in Falcon's win over Uncle John's East Eagles

2008-02-09T09:53:00.000-08:00

Published Saturday, February 9, 2008

Milestone moment

West senior Corliss surpasses 1,000 career points

Times-News Staff WriterBy Jeremy Trantham

West Henderson coach Rob Bliss, left, presents Zach Corliss with a ball after Corliss scored his 1,000th career point Friday night against East Henderson at West.
MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS

What occurred right after the final horn had sounded on Friday evening -- a postgame scuffle -- did not befit what came before.

West Henderson held on for a thrilling 60-58 Western Athletic Conference victory after East Henderson's final 3-point attempt with five seconds remaining sailed just long. It was a home win that secured the WAC's third playoff seed for the Falcons (11-11, 5-3 WAC) and it came on a night that saw senior Zach Corliss collect his 1,000th career point.

And then, after a game that went down to the wire, the rivalry turned heated. A physical altercation occurred in the hallway outside of the West locker room but was diffused by school administrators and Henderson County Sheriff's Deputies.

West coach Rob Bliss said he didn't see the fight. A coy Corliss claimed that "nothing happened."

"I'm not sure," East coach John Johnston said. "We'll get back, sort things out and go from there. It's a good rivalry and that's the way it needs to be. If we have some things that we have to do to make it a better setting for high school athletics then we'll do them. I've gotten a few stories but everybody's sort of wide open with it."

"It was a competitive game," West principal Dean Jones, a former assistant principal at East, said. "The adults involved -- coaches and sheriff's deputies -- stepped in quickly to stop it from becoming a bigger situation."

A Corliss 3-pointer gave the Falcons their largest lead of then night, at 50-40, with 4:29 remaining. East closed the gap to 57-56 on a Chase Hill 3 with 1:02 to play.

After a pair of Corliss free throws, his 12th straight points, East's Micheal Robinson (15 points) knifed down the lane for a layup. The Eagles then fouled Dallas Ducote, who hit 1-of-2 from the line, to set up the final play.

"Our philosophy on the road is if we have a chance to go for the win we're going to take it," said Johnston. "Our foul situation really tipped us to do that, our three perimeter players all had four fouls. "We had a good look. His defender slipped, Daniel ran at him but he had a good look. You never blame the game on one shot."

"You've got to give John a tremendous amount of credit," Bliss said.

"They've been up and down but his kids battled their guts out tonight. I think that speaks volumes about John and the character of his kids."

Corliss started slowly, collecting only two points on zero field goals in the first half. He scored 12 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter and his foul shot with 3:04 to play notched his 1,000th career point.

"You try not to think about something like that," he said. "I made my first two foul shots and then I wasn't making any shots. The team stepped up.

"To tell you the truth it wouldn't really have mattered if we'd have lost tonight."

Ducote scored eight of his 17 points in the second quarter to help West build a 26-18 halftime lead. He grabbed five rebounds while Daniel Hyatt had seven.

Chase Hill scored a team-high 18 as the Eagles (4-16, 1-7) put four players -- Robinson (15), Nathan Roberts (11) and Chris Whiteside (10) -- in double figures.

East will host Pisgah on Tuesday while West will travel to Smoky Mountain.

Summary

BOYS

EAST HENDERSON (58) -- Dorn, Hill 18, Roberts 11, Justus 4, Robinson 15, McClure, Whiteside 10, Duermitt, Ford.

WEST HENDERSON (60) -- Roberts 8, Williams 2, James 4, Troutman 2, Corliss 17, Isgett, Barbour 1, Staggs, Hutchinson 6, Ducote 17, Hyatt 3.

Halftime: West, 26-18.

Matter On the Front Page!

2008-02-06T09:15:00.001-08:00

It's Matthew! On the front page of the paper last Wednesday. I didn't see it until the end of the day. He has a guy's arm in his face, but it is definitely him. I have extra copies if anyone needs them autographed ... haha! (If you click on the image it will open up bigger so you can see him better.)

West Beats Brevard ... Again

2008-02-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

BREVARD -- Throughout this season, West Henderson boys basketball coach Rob Bliss hasn't had to worry about getting scoring from senior guard Zach Corliss. It has been finding a secondary scorer that has given Bliss fits.

Judging by his performance on Tuesday night, it seems as if Buddy Hutchinson is willing and able to step into that position.

Hutchinson went 5-of-6 from the field and scored 15 points as West Henderson (10-11, 4-3 WAC) came away from Brevard with a 61-53 win in a Western Athletic Conference matchup.

After a back-and-forth first half, Hutchinson caught fire early in the second half, scoring 10 of his 15 points during a key third quarter stretch that saw West Henderson expand its lead from 29-26 to 40-29 over the course of 4 1/2 minutes.

"Buddy made the most of his opportunities tonight. He has been in the scorer role for us a few games this year, and it is great to have him back in it," said Bliss.

Corliss led the Falcons in scoring with 20 points, going 6-of-9 from the field and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. Corliss, who is now 14 points shy of his 1,000th career point, also dished out eight assists. Dallas Ducote also reached double figures for West with 11.

Brevard was led in scoring by A.J. Zandecki, who hustled his way to 17 points in the losing effort. The Blue Devils' leading scorer for the season, Brian Carrington, was held to just nine points.

"There is no secret that Brian is a strong scorer, but our kids did a great job of playing help-side defense on him tonight," said Bliss.

Summary

BOYS

WEST HENDERSON (61) -- Corliss 20, Hutchinson 15, Ducote 11, James 5, Trantham 4, Williams 2, Hyatt 2.

BREVARD (53) -- Zandecki 17, Muller 9, Carrington 9, Smith 6, Harris 6, Baker 5, Erwin 1.

Bears sweep Falcons at West

2008-02-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

Feb 2, 2008

By Joseph Chilton
Special to the Times-News

Pisgah guard Austin Moore drained a 3-pointer one minute into Friday night’s game between Pisgah and West Henderson to give his team a 3-0 lead. The visiting Black Bears would never trail for the remainder of the evening, as they rolled past West 74-53.

Pisgah (15-3, 5-1 WAC) came out firing, connecting on their first three long range attempts and jumping out to a 13-5 lead with 4:45 remaining in the first quarter. The Falcons (9-11, 3-3 WAC) slowly chipped away at the lead until a 3-pointer by Kevin Thomas tied the game 21-21 early in the second quarter.

That was as close to leading as the Falcons would get, however, as Pisgah responded with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to push its lead to 32-21.

West would pull close again early in the third quarter, when a Zach Corliss 3-pointer narrowed the gap to 37-33. Pisgah fired back quickly again, however, this time with 9-0 run to push its lead back into double digits at 46-33.

In the fourth quarter, West spread its defense out trying to pressure the Black Bears, and Pisgah responded by splitting the defense for several point-blank-range scores.

“We went out of our norm and went into a scrambling defense late. We don’t do that usually, but when you’re down you have to take some chances. Unfortunately, that gave them some easy layups late in the game,” said West coach Rob Bliss, whose team gave up 38 points in the paint.

Corliss poured in 25 points, including four of West’s five 3s, but his scoring barrage was overshadowed by Pisgah’s balanced attack, which saw four players reach double figures.

Austin Moore and Zack Hollifield led Pisgah with 20 points apiece.

“Zach played hard, but we struggled to find other people to score with him,” said Bliss. “Our effort was there, but our execution was poor. We missed a lot of open looks.”

In the girls game, West led throughout until a furious fourth quarter comeback llowed Pisgah to come away from Mills River with a 57-50 victory.

The Lady Falcons led throughout the first three quarters of the game and carried a 34-27 lead into the fourth.

Pisgah’s Katie Hargrove scored 13 of her game-high 16 points in the final period, as Pisgah outscored West Henderson 30-16 in the fourth for the come-from-behind win.

Summer Kremer scored 13 points and Erica Cantrell added 10 in the losing effort for the Lady Falcons. Brittney Clark joined Hargrove in double figures for Pisgah with 14 points.

Pisgah moves to 10-8 overall and 5-1 in the WAC with the win, while West falls to 4-14 and 2-4.

Falcons put away the Blue Devils in WAC showdown

2008-01-30T09:08:00.000-08:00

Jan 30, 2008
Defending home

Brevard's Brian Carrington tries to shoot between West Henderson's Dallas Ducote, left, and Buddy Hutchinson during Tuesday night's game at West. MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Wearing a Duke University tie given to him over Christmas, West Henderson boys basketball coach Rob Bliss watched his team follow through on a staple of the Blue Devil program: Hit more free throws than your opponent shoots.West Henderson made 23 free throws while visiting Brevard attempted 22 on Tuesday in a 64-57 Western Athletic Conference win for the Falcons."We've been a good foul shooting team most of the year," Bliss said. "We spend a lot of time on that in practice because in tight games it makes a difference."Zach Corliss scored 16 of his game-high 23 points from the foul line as the Falcons (9-9, 3-2 WAC) hit 76 percent (23-of-30) of their free throws. The Brevard Blue Devils (6-10, 1-3) managed just 55 percent (12-of-22)."There was a stretch there where we missed seven or eight in a row," said Brevard coach Tim Trantham. "We aren't a good foul shooting team. The other night against East (Henderson) we were 7-of-23."You work on it everyday. It's something psychological right now."A pair of buzzer-beating 3-pointers at the end of the first and second quarters -- from Chris Barbour and Buddy Hutchinson respectively -- helped West take a seven-point lead into halftime."Anytime you do that, I know it's only three points, but it seems to put people over the edge," said Bliss.Trell Baker's third second-half 3 whittled that lead to one point with 2:30 remaining, but the Devils fouled Corliss for a three-shot foul on the ensuing possession and could get no closer than four points the rest of the way.West's senior guard hit 9-of-11 from the line in the fourth quarter."That's the first guy we told them in a timeout not to foul," Trantham said. "Those little things add up to the difference. The other thing is they annihilated us on the offensive boards."Hutchinson grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go along with 13 points.The Falcons opened the game on fire with a 22-point first quarter just four days after Bliss was disappointed in the team's offensive execution."It was better," Bliss said. "We shot the ball better and we were able to get the ball inside a little more. I thought we were really going to have a good night offensively after the first quarter. You've got to give them credit, Brevard turned up the defense."The pace slowed after a blistering first half. Both teams entered the one-and-one bonus in the latter stages of the third quarter.Baker led Brevard with 13 pints. Brian Carrington and Chad Harris added nine point apiece.The Lady Devils had shooting woes of their own as West came away with a 46-31 win in the opener. After starting the year 0-3 in conference, the Lady Falcons have won two league games in a row.Brevard's girls struggled from the field, missing open shots while Lady Falcons (4-13, 2-3) hit theirs to build a double-digit lead in the third quarter.The Lady Devils (2-14, 0-4) cut the lead to seven with just more than two minutes remaining, but the comeback stalled when freshman guard Shonese Jones (eight points) fouled out.Summer Kremer led West with 10 points. Four Lady Falcons -- Erica Cantrell, Tricia Combs, Joy Brown and Ashley Rogers -- scored eight points or more.Anna Limbo led Brevard with 12 points.Brevard will host North Henderson today. Pisgah will visit West on Friday in a key WAC battle.SummariesBOYS
BREVARD (57) -- Baker 13, Frisbee, Zandecki 9, Miller 2, Essenberg 2, Carrington 9, Smith 3, Erwin 8, Babin 2, Osteen, Harris 9.WEST HENDERSON (64) -- Roberts, James 4, Troutman 2, Corliss 23, Isgett, Barbour 4, Staggs 2, Thomas 6, Hutchinson 13, Ducote 6, Hyatt 4, Williams.Halftime: West, 36-29.GIRLS
BREVARD (31) -- Limbo 12, Lance, Akridge 2, Siniard 2, Hollingsworth, Landreth, Redmond 4, Jones 8, Reid, Owen, Nelson 3, Jacques.WEST HENDERSON (46) -- Kremer 10, Cantrell 8, Turlington, Combs 9, Brown 8, Deeley, Foster, Fennell 3, Rogers 8, Dinardo, Springer.Halftime: West, 17-10.

West Loses to North

2008-01-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

Jan 26, 2008
Defensive efforts lift Knights; McMinn within four of 2,000

North Henderson's Morgan McMinn is caught between West Henderson's Erica Cantrell and Brittany Fennell. MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Behind stifling defensive efforts on Friday, two teams North Henderson's boys -- collected their first Western Athletic Conference wins of the season at North's Tom Pryor gymnasium."You start out 0-3 and you want to get that first one -- you don't care who it's against," North coach Skip Taylor said. "That's a pretty big rivalry for us. It's an extremely big win."Chris VanLandingham scored a game-high 35 points and had six assists in a 55-49 Knight (6-10, 1-3 WAC) win.

Two nights after drilling nine 3-pointers to knock off No. 1 Smoky Mountain, the Falcons hit five against North."I'm not surprised at all," said West coach Rob Bliss. "We've done it all year. We can't follow a big win for whatever reason. I felt like the difference in the game was our lack of offensive intensity and execution."Zach Corliss scored 20 points to lead the Falcons while center Dallas Ducote added 11 points and six rebounds."We tried to emphasis guarding Corliss, but he's an awfully good player," Taylor said. "You can't really shut him down."Daniel Hyatt (three points) is one of their not-so-secret weapons. He can really shoot the 3 so we emphasized not letting him get a shot off."VanLandingham managed his 35 points, one below his season average, despite the Falcons sending double teams at him most of the night."You know he's going to shoot it so you try to make somebody else shoot it," Bliss said. "For the most part I thought we did. He went to the line a lot and when you get to go to line, these things happen."North hit 22-of-26 from the line with VanLandingham hitting 16-of-18. Ethan Pressley scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Knights who never trailed after the first quarter.Both schools return to action against Brevard. West will host the Blue Devils on Tuesday. North travels to Brevard on Wednesday.

Summary

WEST HENDERSON (49) -- Roberts, James 5, Troutman 2, Corliss 20, Barbour 4, Staggs, Thomas, Hutchinson 4, Ducote 11, Hyatt 3.NORTH HENDERSON (55) -- Singletary 5, VanLandingham 35, Buckner 4, Pruitt, Searcy, Pressley 11, Lolley, Brown.Halftime: North, 26-23.

West stuns No. 1 Smoky

2008-01-24T09:06:00.000-08:00

West Henderson's Mike James and Smoky Mountain's Jackson Simmons, far right, go after the ball during Wednesday's game at West as Smoky's C.J. Fortner looks on. PATRICK SULLIVAN/TIMES-NEWS

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Exams gave Zach Corliss the opportunity for an extended shootaround prior to West Henderson High School's 46-43 home win over previously unbeaten Smoky Mountain.So when he stepped to the foul line Wednesday for a one-and-one opportunity the senior wasn't nervous. Why would he be? The Falcons were only trailing the top-ranked 2-A team in the state by one point with 37.3 seconds remaining."I was thinking back to those free throws I shot during fourth period saying to myself, 'No need to be nervous,'" Corliss, who scored a team-high 18 points, said. "I'm supposed to make them."Make them he did and when Buddy Hutchinson made a steal and two free throws with 19.8 seconds left all the Falcons needed was one more stop to vault themselves back into the WAC race.West, which played "very well on the defensive end," according to coach Rob Bliss, got the stop to hold on."It's a very big win at this point in the season and it gets us back in the conference race," Bliss said. "The bottom line is that it's a marathon. We've got to make sure this isn't the end."Hutchinson didn't start, as he usually does, for the Falcons (8-8, 2-1 WAC). But the senior sparked West's rally from a 41-34 deficit when his offensive rebound resulted in a three-point play with 4:08 to play."That's an example of what quality kids these are," said Bliss. "I told him he wasn't going to start before the game and he said, 'Coach, I'm good with that. I understand.' I wanted to start Chris (Barbour) to get a little more pressure on their outside shooters."The Falcon pressure was so good that it held the Mustangs (15-1, 3-1) to a season-low point total. Colton Hunt came off the bench to score 18 points but was the lone Smoky Mountain player in double figures.West, meanwhile, hit nine 3-pointers. Corliss and Daniel Hyatt (12 points) hit four apiece."They did a nice job of fronting our post people," said Bliss "Our guards got a little stagnant getting the job inside and part of that was due to Smoky Mountain's ball pressure."Still, Smoky Mountain had a 43-42 lead and the ball with less than a minute to play. Corliss was fouled after rebounding Martin Davis' missed layup and hit two free throws to give West its first lead of the game.Dallas Ducote had six points and nine rebounds for West while helping to hold Mustang post players Cort Smith and Jackson Simmons to 11 points combined.The hot outside shooting was reminiscent of West's other upset win -- at T.C. Roberson -- of the season."We know we can play with anybody on a night when we play well," Corliss said.After taking down the No. 1 2-A team in the state, West will try to slow the state's leading scorer, Chris VanLandingham, on Friday at North Henderson.

SMOKY MOUNTAIN (43) -- Hunt 18, Davis 5, Brown 4, Fortner 4, Couley, Frazier, Smith 3, Simmons 8.WEST HENDERSON (46) -- Roberts, James, Corliss 18, Barbour, Staggs, Thomas 3, Hutchinson 7, Ducote 6, Hyatt 12.Halftime: Smoky, 24-18.

West boys stun top-ranked Smoky Mountain on Sophomore Guard Roberts' Birthday!

2008-01-23T22:41:00.000-08:00

Jan 23, 2008 - Happy Birthday Matter - I added to the headline a bit!

West boys stun top-ranked Smoky Mountain

West Henderson's Zach Corliss drives in for a layup during Wednesday's game against Smoky Mountain at West. PATRICK SULLIVAN/ TIMES-NEWS

The Falcons hand the Mustangs their first loss of the season.

Times-News Online

In a make-up game due to an ice storm in Sylva on Tuesday, West Henderson's boys basketball team handed the top-ranked Mustangs their first loss of the season on Wednesday night by a score of 46-43.The Falcons' upset snapped Smoky Mountain's 15-game winning streak and dropped the Mustangs to 15-1. West improves to 8-8.

For more on this story see Thursday's edition of the Times-News.

alcons pick up their first WAC win of the season; Lady Eagles edge West in thriller

2008-01-19T09:03:00.000-08:00

Jan 19, 2008
Rivalry Friday

West Henderson's Kevin Thomas tries to get around East Henderson's Chris McClure. MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS

EAST FLAT ROCK -- West Henderson High School boys basketball coach Rob Bliss felt Friday's game was a must win. Four Falcons scored in double figures, led by 19 from senior Zach Corliss, in a 59-49 victory at rival East Henderson. The win puts West (7-8, 1-1 WAC) at .500 in the league.

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

EAST FLAT ROCK -- West Henderson High School boys basketball coach Rob Bliss felt Friday's game was a must win. Four Falcons scored in double figures, led by 19 from senior Zach Corliss, in a 59-49 victory at rival East Henderson. The win puts West (7-8, 1-1 WAC) at .500 in the league."We've been on a rollercoaster most of the season," Bliss said. "We challenged the kids to make a decision which way we were going to go. East was 1-1 in the league with a win over North. We came in 0-1 in the conference and felt like this was a game we had to have."The Falcons responded to Bliss' challenge early, building a 23-11 lead with three minutes to play in the second quarter. East's Nathan Roberts canned three 3-pointers before halftime to keep the Eagles close."We were lucky to be in the game in the first half," East coach John Johnston said. "At the same time I don't think our posts touched the ball more than two times all night. We've got to find a better balance between our posts and the perimeter to be successful.""I told the kids at halftime, we defended well, had only four turnovers and rebounded well," said Bliss. "They just shot the lights out of it."West had no problems with balancing its attack. Daniel Hyatt scored 12 points, Buddy Hutchinson had 11 and Dallas Ducote added 10."We did a good job of making the extra pass. That's where we've run into trouble against pressure. We were too concerned with getting the ball back in Zach's hands I think. We worked real hard the last week on trusting yourself and trusting your teammates."Roberts (19 points) hit his sixth 3 of the game to cut West's lead to three with 4:31 to play. West responded with a 6-0 run over the next three minutes to pull away."Bottom line: Us and West are very similar except for a few different parts," Johnstson said. "We knew tonight was going to be about execution and they executed a few more times than we did."Michael Robinson scored 14 points for East before fouling out with 2:35 to play, leaving the Eagles without their point guard. The Eagles fall to 4-11 and 1-2 in the WAC.In the opening girls game, Krysti Fisher helped the Lady Eagles collect their first conference win of the season, 42-39 in overtime.Behind intense pressure defense keyed by Joy Brown, the Lady Falcons came back from a six-point fourth-quarter deficit. Brown hit a pair of free throws to give West a 34-31 lead with under nine seconds to play. Fisher got the ball, pulled up from the top of the key and canned a 3 to send the game to overtime."That was just get it down court, get a 3. I'd like to say I (drew up the play), but that was all them," said East coach Katie Easler. "They're a great group of girls."Brown's bucket with 1:53 remaining in overtime gave her team a 39-37 lead, but it would prove to be West's last basket of the game. Terran McCrary's layup with 50 seconds remaining gave East (4-12, 1-2) the lead for good."(Brown) had had great pressure on the ball and pressure is one of our problems," Easler said. "We did a better job at the end. We came down and ran our plays pretty well."Fisher led East with 17 points while Jessica Case (10 points, 10 rebounds) collected a double-double. Brown scored eight of her team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter for West (2-12, 0-2).West will host Smoky Mountain on Tuesday while East will travel to Pisgah.SummariesBOYS
WEST HENDERSON (59) -- Roberts 2, Thelan, James 4, Troutman, Corliss 19, Isgett, Barbour, Staggs, Thomas, Hutchinson 11, Ducote 10, Hyatt 12.EAST HENDERSON (49) -- Dorn, Hill 9, Roberts 19, Justus 2, Robinson 14, McClure 2, Whiteside 1, Ford 2, Dermitt.Halftime: West, 30-25.GIRLS
WEST HENDERSON (39) -- Kremer 4, Cantrell 2, Turlington 2, Combs 4, Brown 12, Fennell 5, Rogers 5, Dinardo, Springer.EAST HENDERSON (42) -- Crook 8, Fisher 17, McCrary 5, Idres 2, Johnson, Case 10, Kitchen.Halftime: West, 16-15.

Tough losses: Corliss hurt in West loss; Lady Falcons fall to Hawks

2007-12-29T09:01:00.000-08:00

Dec 29, 2007

West Henderson's Tricia Combs looks for help while being guarded by North Buncombe's Rebekah Wilson and Madison Emory during Friday's game at West. MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS

Though several former Falcon standouts were on hand to watch -- Sam Smithson, Lindsey Pate and Brooke Stanley, to name a few -- West Henderson dropped a pair of games to North Buncombe in Friday's final day of the West Henderson Christmas Tournament Doubleheader at West.

By Jeremy Darnell
Times-News Staff Writer

Though several former Falcon standouts were on hand to watch -- Sam Smithson, Lindsey Pate and Brooke Stanley, to name a few -- West Henderson dropped a pair of games to North Buncombe in Friday's final day of the West Henderson Christmas Tournament Doubleheader at West.The Lady Falcons (2-9) came up just short in a 48-46 loss to the Lady Black Hawks (10-3)."I was impressed with my girls for the way they fought back," said West coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy, whose squad trailed 16-7 after the first period but pulled within two at the half. "Even when North Buncombe went up by five late in the game we didn't stop fighting."Freshman Ashley Rogers led the West attack with 15 points. Tricia Combs finished with five points and six assists.The Lady Falcons held a 33-32 advantage heading into the fourth quarter but the Lady Hawks outscored West 16-13 across the final eight minutes.North was able to get to the charity stripe much more often than the Lady Falcons, sinking 15 of their 22 attempts. West only attempted nine free throws, making six."I am seeing improvement from this team and I believe that we will see more of these tough games as we head into conference," Scott-Gaddy said.Senior Shana Brookshire scored a game-high 18 points for North.West's boys lost their game with North 81-61, and may have lost their heart and soul, senior guard Zach Corliss, for the foreseeable future.Corliss went down with a left ankle sprain in the second quarter and did not return. Corliss had problems with his other ankle earlier in the season.West coach Rob Bliss said he expects Corliss to be day to day for the remainder of the season.The Black Hawks got off to a fast start and held a 27-13 lead with five minutes left in the half before West answered with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to cut the lead to six.North answered with a 12-0 spurt to end the half. The run occurred after Corliss' injury and key contributor Dallas Ducote picked up his third foul and was forced to the bench."We put some of our young kids in a position there due to Zach's injury and other stuff and that was a tough situation to be in," Bliss said when asked about the run. "Our other seniors have got to be able to provide us with more leadership. We just kind of folded tonight."West's Buddy Hutchinson's three-point play cut the Hawks' lead to 15 with 6:21 remaining in the third, but the Falcons never got any closer.West committed an eye-popping 40 turnovers in the sloppy loss."We work on that every day. We constantly harp on the turnover issue and until we stop panicking it's gonna continue to be a struggle every day," Bliss said.The Falcons fall to 6-6 while North improves to 12-1.In the middle game, the Smoky Mountain Mustangs kept their unbeaten record intact with a 78-46 blowout of Carolina Day. The Mustangs outscored the Wildcats 44-21 in the second half and improve to 11-0.West was slated to return to action on Jan. 9 against Enka. A scheduling conflict may force the game to be rescheduled, Bliss said.SummariesBOYS
NORTH BUNCOMBE (81) -- Ledbetter 23, MacDonald 13, Pressley 10, Westbrook 10, Roberson 7, Magee 4, Fox 4, West 4, Young 4, Robinson 2, Ingle.WEST (61) -- Thomas 13, Ducote 11, Barbour 7, Corliss 6, James 6, Staggs 6, Troutman 4, Hyatt 4, Hutchinson 3, Isgett 2, Roberts, Thelen.Halftime: NB, 41-23.GIRLS
NB (48) -- Brookshire 18, Wilson 8, Gentry 7, Cook 6, Pitts 4, Emory 3, Moore, Fox, Revis.WEST (46) -- Rogers 15, Cantrell 7, Dinardo 6, Combs 5, Brown 5, Fennell 5, Turlington 3, Kremer, Foster, Springer.

Corliss sparks West surge in win over Carolina Day

2007-12-28T09:00:00.000-08:00

Dec 28, 2007

West Henderson's Buddy Hutchinson grabs the pass over Carolina Day's Leo Cashin on Thursday during the West Henderson Christmas Tournament Doubleheader at West. MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS

Two days after Christmas, West Henderson's boys basketball team appeared a little sluggish at the start of Thursday night's game against Carolina Day in the West Henderson Christmas Tournament Doubleheader.

By Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

Two days after Christmas, West Henderson's boys basketball team appeared a little sluggish at the start of Thursday night's game against Carolina Day in the West Henderson Christmas Tournament Doubleheader.But the Falcons got back to their pre-Christmas break form in the second quarter, going on a brutal 24-2 run to eventually pull away from the Wildcats by a final score of 72-55.Prior to that was the game of the night, featuring two undefeated boys teams -- Smoky Mountain and North Buncombe. Martin Davis poured in 22 points, and Cort Smith added 16 as the Cougars pummeled the Blackhawks 79-59.Smoky Mountain improves to 10-0 and will take on Carolina Day (4-5) at 7 p.m. tonight at West, while North Buncombe drops to 11-1 and will face the host Falcons in the nightcap at 8:30."(Smoky Mountain) Coach (Jimmy) Cleveland is a great friend of mine, but I'll probably have to choke him now, I guess," West boys coach Rob Bliss said. "Because now we are going to be facing an angry North Buncombe team."The West-Carolina Day game featured two of the best shooting guards in the area -- the Falcons' Zach Corliss and the Wildcats' Evan Salzano. Each led their teams with 28 points apiece, but in the end, the Falcons had a stronger supporting cast.Dallas Ducote was a force in the paint for West, and was a rebound away from a double double with 15 points and nine rebounds.After Carolina Day jumped out to a 27-16 lead in the first 11 minutes, Corliss went to work. He had seven quick points, including a 3-pointer, and two easy jumpers following steals to cut the lead to 27-23 at the 3:58 mark.The Falcons' trapping defense forced another Wildcat turnover, and West capitalized with another easy bucket by Chris Barbour.Corliss then took a charge from Carolina Day's Jake Stanley to give West the ball back and a chance to tie the game, and the Falcons did just that thanks to Daniel Hyatt. After a Corliss miss, Hyatt boxed out to get the easy rebound and put back to make it 27-27 with 2:55 left in the first half. He ended the night with seven boards.The Falcons added 13 more points, including 3-pointers by Corliss and Buddy Hutchison (13 points), to take a commanding 40-29 lead. At the break they led 42-31."In the first quarter there, it looked like we were still on break. But once Zach knocked down his shots in the second quarter, we got going, and we just ended up wearing them down," Bliss said. "But you have to give Carolina Day all the credit in the world. They could've easily let this become a blowout, but they kept battling until the end."The Wildcats did cut the lead to five in the closing minutes of the third period after Stanley (14 points) had a driving layup to make it 48-43, but they couldn't get any closer.West went on a quick 10-0 spurt that included two quick jumpers by Chris Staggs as the Falcon bench erupted."It was great to see the bench players put in some quality minutes for us. We were all really happy to see Chris knock down those shots," Bliss said.The tournament continues today with West's girls facing North Buncombe in the opening game at 5:30 p.m. The Smoky Mountain-Carolina Day boys and the West-North Buncombe boys will follow.SummaryCAROLINA DAY (55) -- Salzano 28, Bartsch 3, Stanley 14, Kuehne 4, Casain 2, Davidson 4, Wood, Jaben, Burt, Morrow.WEST HENDERSON (72) -- Corliss 28, Hutchison 13, Ducote 15, Hyatt 6, James 4, Staggs 4, Barbour 2, Thelan, Roberts, Troutman, Thomas.Haltime: West, 42-31.

Two unbeatens part of field in West Christmas tourney

2007-12-27T08:58:00.000-08:00

Dec 27, 2007
Back to court
Two unbeatens part of field in West Christmas tourney

West Henderson's Mike James tries to get past Hendersonville's Lance Allen their game on Nov. 30 at Hendersonville. The Falcons will be back in action tonight when they take on Carolina Day in the West Henderson Christmas Tournament Doubleheader. MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS

It will be a reunion of sorts over the next two days on the basketball court when West Henderson plays host for its first-annual West Henderson Christmas Tournament Doubleheader.

By Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

It will be a reunion of sorts over the next two days on the basketball court when West Henderson plays host for its first-annual West Henderson Christmas Tournament Doubleheader.Falcon boys coach Rob Bliss will be getting to see two of his former workmates -- Smoky Mountain coach Jimmy Cleveland and North Buncombe coach David Roney."My first year at Brevard, Jimmy and I worked together, and David Roney and I were both assistants at Freedom under (coach) Rogers, who is now at Mars Hill. It should be a lot of fun," Bliss said.And entertaining.Both of those programs -- the Smoky Mountain boys and North Buncombe boys -- are currently unbeaten. They will face each other at 7 p.m. tonight in the second game of the tournament. The Smoky Mountain and North Buncombe girls tip off first at 5:30."Smoky and North are undefeated, and we will be playing North Buncombe in the final game of the tournament on Friday. So, we will be facing either a team that's undefeated or a team that has only one loss," Bliss said.The Falcons' first game of the tournament will be the nightcap tonight -- an 8:30 p.m. showdown with the Carolina Day boys."We're going to have two tough games, and that's what we want to get ready for our conference season coming up to start the year. Carolina Day is very athletic, especially the Salzano kid (Evan). He's a really good player," Bliss, whose team is 5-5, said.Friday's lineup will be the host West girls taking on North Buncombe at 5:30 p.m., Smoky Mountain facing Carolina Day in boys' action at 7, followed by the Falcons' game with the Blackhawks at approximately 8:30.The tournament originally had eight teams competing, but the Carolina Day's girls team dropped out."Most of their players were out of town, so they didn't have enough to play," Bliss said.

Box Score - West vs RS Central

2007-12-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

West Henderson 52 R-S Central 43

R-S CENTRAL (43) -- B. Young 7, Holmestead 9, Foster 9, Harris 1, Johnson 2, Lynch 2, Martin 6, M. Young 3, Littlejohn 2, Murray.

WEST HENDERSON (52) -- Roberts 2, Thelan 4, James 5, Zach Corliss 22, Barbour 2, Thompson 1, Hutchinson 1, Ducote 7, Hyatt 9.

Halftime: West, 29-25.

Highlights: For West, Dallas Ducote had 11 rebounds in this non-conference game.

West boys and girls gain victories over Hendersonville

2007-12-12T08:54:00.000-08:00

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

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.

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.

2007-12-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

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

By Jeremy Trantham
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.

West loses to East Rutherford

2007-12-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

Dec 6, 2007
Miller's jumper lifts Cavs over Falcons

East Rutherford sweeps West Henderson in basketball action.

By Jeremy Darnell
Times-News Staff Writer

Hosting an athletic East Rutherford squad in a non-conference tilt on Wednesday night, West Henderson basketball coach Rob Bliss knew that a slower pace would improve the Falcons' chances of winning.So Bliss did the unthinkable: For the first time in his coaching career he utilized a zone defense.And with West holding a 43-36 lead with just over six minutes remaining, the scheme looked like it would deliver a win.But the Cavaliers climbed back and with the score tied at 47, East's Mico Miller buried an 18-foot jumper from the left wing as time expired for the 49-47 victory."When you play a slower style like that the scores are gonna be closer," said West coach Rob Bliss, whose team falls to 1-3. "We just didn't make some plays down the stretch where we had a chance to distance the lead."The first half featured seven lead changes, and the Falcons held a slight 28-26 lead as the teams entered the lockerrooms.Zach Corliss torched the East defense on an array of long-distance jumpers and feathery floaters. He scored 14 of his game-high 16 points in the first half.Though West largely prevented the Cavaliers from finding an offensive rhythm, sweet-shooting East guard Corey Jimerson nailed four 3-pointers in the first half to stretch the zone. Jimerson finished with 15 points."This is the 19th team I've coached counting jayvee and that's the first time I've ever played zone," Bliss said. "It was OK, I guess. We're grasping at a few straws right now trying to figure out what the identity of this team is more than anything else."The Falcons continued to look comfortable in the 2-3 zone after the break and edged their lead to 39-36 after three.Dallas Ducote stretched the lead to 43-36 in the opening moments of the fourth with a 13-foot jumper and a put back off an offensive board.Cavalier guards Teon Beckett and Tyler Hamilton scored consecutive buckets to pull East within three with 4:50 remaining, but a Corliss runner from the left baseline put West back in charge. It was Corliss' only points in the second half."That's the first thing that teams are gonna look to do against us, to take Zach away. I've thought since the first of the year that this is gonna be a team where it's gonna be a different person step up every night. Right now we're just not getting it done," Bliss said.After a Beckett free throw, Miller swished a 3 from the top of the key to pull the Cavs within one with 3:11 showing.Zack Price's 3 from the same spot gave the Cavs their first second-half lead with 1:54 to go.Ducote answered with a jumper from the left elbow 20 seconds later to tie it at 47. He finished with 15 points and nine boards.East was content to take the last shot. A West deflection gave the Cavs the ball with 37 seconds left, and a Buddy Hutchinson block squirted out of bounds with 12 seconds left.West again almost came up with a steal but the ball rolled out and to East with 5.9 showing.That's when Miller struck.East inbounded to the hot hand Beckett, who finished with 15 points, and two Falcon defenders rushed to guard him.Beckett lofted a pass over the double team to an unmanned Miller on the left wing. Miller set his feet and his shot hit nothing but nylon as the buzzer screamed."Give them credit, they knocked down shots when they needed to," Bliss said.Miller finished with nine points.The girls game was far less exciting as the Lady Cavaliers' dynamic guard duo of Micheala and Ashley Watkins scored 25 points in East's 51-31 win.The Watkins girls harassed the West ballhandlers all game and turned turnovers into easy points."We didn't take care of the basketball like we needed to," said West (1-3) coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy. "They wanted to run up and down the court, and we had a tough time staying with them at first."East extended a 24-16 halftime lead to 41-23 after three behind the rugged inside scoring of LaTwyella Maxwell. She finished with six points in the period and 10 overall.Erica Cantrell was the only Lady Falcon in double figures with 11 points. Brittany Fennell had five points and 10 boards.West will travel to T.C. Roberson on Friday.SummaryBOYS
EAST RUTHERFORD (49) -- Beckett 15, Jimerson 15, Miller 9, Murphy 5, Hamilton 2, Price 0.WEST (47) -- Corliss 16, Ducote 15, Hutchinson 4, Hyatt 4, Thomas 3, Staggs 2, Barbour 2, James 1, Roberts.Halftime: West, 28-26.GIRLS
EAST RUTHERFORD (51) -- M. Watkins 14, A. Watkins 11, Maxwell 10, G. Watkins 6, Edgerton 4, Gray 3, Beckett 2, S. Watkins 1, El Amoor, Strickland, Hunt.WEST (31) -- Cantrell 11, Fennell 5, Combs 4, Rogers 4, Brown 3, Dinardo 2, Eckley 2, Kremer, Springer.Halftime: East, 24-16.

West loses to Hendersonville

2007-12-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

Dec 1, 2007
New-look Cats
Loaded Hendersonville runs past the Falcons

West Henderson's Mike James is blocked by Hendersonville's Adam Roper, left, and Lance Allen during Friday night's game at Hendersonville. MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS

By Jeremy Darnell
Times-News Staff Writer

What a difference a year can make.A year ago Hendersonville's boys basketball team was mired in a 23-game losing streak that stretched back to the 2005-06 season. But the Bearcats finished strong last season, including a second-place finish in the Western Highlands Conference tournament, and have rode that momentum into a fast start this year.Showcasing a newfound swagger and utilizing their trapping, aggressive defense, Hendersonville (2-0) collected 31 steals and built a 20-point halftime lead on their way to a 68-56 win over county rival West Henderson (1-1) at Hendersonville."These guys are starting to gain some confidence in themselves and their abilities," said Bearcats coach Robert Strong. "You know confidence can take you a long ways and for us this is a big win because West has been for the last several years the dominant team in the county."Led by their dynamic backcourt of seniors Stephen Clay (21 points) and Robert Beal (13), Hendersonville frustrated West and created a bevy of turnovers in a fast-paced first half.Clay finished with nine rebounds and seven steals while Beal finished with four steals."Tonight's performance is my fault," said West coach Rob Bliss. "I didn't have us prepared to handle their pressure."Though the Falcons held an 8-7 lead midway through the first period, the Bearcats ended the quarter on a 17-7 surge."I think our defense definitely wore them down a bit," Strong said.The Bearcats held the Falcons to only seven second-quarter points and took a 42-22 lead into the break."The Hendersonville kids pretty much drug us around the whole first half. I'm not sure the final score was an indication of the type of whipping we took tonight," Bliss said.West slowly inched back in the second half and trailed 58-50 with 4:55 remaining in the final period.But West only made one bucket over the next four minutes and never fully threatened the Bearcats.Hendersonville junior forward Torian Sitton had 13 points, while sophomore Keyvon Young finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and seven steals.Buddy Hutchinson led West with 16 points. Zach Corliss added 11 while Dallas Ducote finished with eight points and eight boards.In girls action, West (1-1) took a 21-3 lead 16 seconds into the second quarter and never looked back in a 59-36 win over the Lady Bearcats (1-1)."I told my girls 'We gotta start looking for our shots,' and I think they did a better job of spreading it around and making some shots tonight," said West coach Stephanie Scott-Gaddy.Hendersonville had no answer early for West's Brittany Fennell. Fennell used her long frame to score nine first quarter points and dominate the offensive glass. She finished with 13 points and 13 boards."Brittany is a big asset for us in more ways than one. If she can produce we are gonna do well," Scott-Gaddy said.West's Summer Kremer added a double-double of her own with 10 points and 10 rebounds."We didn't do a good job of hitting the boards in the first quarter and that was the difference in the game," said Lady Bearcats coach Mike Norman.Hendersonville got within 11 in the second period, but West stretched the lead back out for a 29-15 halftime advantage. The Lady Bearcats again used a 7-0 run in the third to get within nine before the Lady Falcons reeled off a 14-4 run of their own to hold a 45-26 lead after three.The Lady Bearcats had one last surge and rode a 9-0 run to pull within 10 at 45-35 with 5:37 remaining.But West's Erica Cantrell scored six straight points to end the threat. She finished with eight points and eight boards."I thought when we cut it to ten there in the fourth I felt like we had a chance. I was real proud of the way we scrapped all night long. Everytime we would come back and cut it to ten or twelve, they'd square up and knock down six points in a row," Norman said.Brooks Walz led Hendersonville with 14 points. Tiffany Westmoreland collected a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards.Hendersonville will host Blue Ridge on Monday. West will travel to Enka on Tuesday.SummariesBOYS
WEST (56) -- Hutchinson 16, Corliss 11, Hyatt 9, James 8, Ducote 8, Staggs 3, Roberts, Isgett.HHS (68) -- Clay 21, Beal 13, Sitton 13, Young 9, Dominique Whiteside 8, Allen 2, Perry 2, Desmond Whiteside, Roper.Halftime: HHS, 42-22.GIRLS
WEST (56) -- Fennell 13, Kremer 10, Ashley Rogers 10, Cantrell 8, Combs 4, Brown 4, Turlington 4, Foster 2, Dinardo 2, Springer 2, Eckley.HHS (39) -- Walz 14, Westmoreland 13, Stoney 5, Lilly 4, Ward 2, Massagee, Hubert, Johnson, Sheiry.Halftime: West, 29-15.

Matt's Basketball Schedule 2007-2008

2007-11-27T22:05:00.001-08:00

Right now, Matthew is playing on the Varsity Team but he isn't sure if he will stay there the whole season. If he does, most of these games start around 6:30. If he plays on the JV team, count on him starting about 4:30 each day. I will try to keep you up on wins and losses.

Tonight they won against RS Central.

Matt Gets 2 Hits Against Bears

2007-04-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

Grandma & Granddaddy got to see Matt's team won today at Pisgah! They also got to see him go 2 for 4, including one base hit up the middle and one by the shortstop. The Falcons won 12-6 on what turned out to be a beautiful day for baseball. After the game, Matthew got to talk a bit with Grandma & Grandaddy, who were really glad he called them to tell them the game had been changed from Thursday night. Matt's next game will be Tuesday against the Brevard Blue Devils at West. (Funny, my high school vs who I cheered for when I was little comes right after their game against Pisgah, the school all my cousins went to. Small world.)

2007-04-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

My All-Star Layout

2007-03-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

This is a layout I did for a contest where I had to use Green, A Song, and Doodling. I used the song, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." I love that song.

Of course, the pictures are of Matthew and were taken about 2 weeks ago.

JV's Defeat Tuscola 6-5

2007-03-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Matthew's team wins again, this time in Tuscola, right around from Grandma and Granddaddy. They won 6-5, he got to first on fielder's choice, but struck out once and grounded out once. I'm sure he looked awesome in the field, though! :)

Falcon JV's Split with Enka

2007-03-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

Matthew played two against Enka yesterday at West. In the 1st game the Falcons battled back from a 3-0 deficit to win 7-4. Tyler Austin was the winning pitcher.

In game 2 Enka defeated the Falcons 9-2. Bryce Danielson took the loss on the mound. Ben Stanley had 2 hits for West.

Matthew now has 5 Singles, 1 Double, 4 walks, and 1 stolen base. He also reached base once on fielder's choice and once on error. Both Enka & West JVs were undefeated heading into the doubleheader, now they are both 5-1.

3/9 West vs. Hendersonville More Pics

2007-03-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

That's Gary with him - all of the boys, on both JV and Varsity, shaved their heads to honor MAtt Pruitt, a varsity player who is dealing with cancer right now.

3/9 West vs. Hendersonville

2007-03-14T15:25:00.001-07:00

Score was 13-3 ended after 6 innings. Matthew hit single to outfield and eventually scored!