ERHS Beats TA
Eagles Win Rematch, 54-51
Posted: December 6, 2012
BRIDGEWATER – The East Rockingham High School boys’ basketball coaching staff did lots of debating both before and during a rematch against Turner Ashby on Wednesday.
Who to start? (They went with a completely new lineup.) Zone defense or man? (Mostly man after zone in the last meeting.) Foul with a 3-point lead late in the game or play it straight? (Straight.)
Just about all of their decisions worked out.
Six days after losing by double digits to the Knights – and one day after getting blown out by Fort Defiance – the Eagles took an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, then held on for a 54-51 win, their first over a Group AA school in nearly two years.
East Rock (2-3), which competes in Group A, hadn’t beaten a higher-division team since Harrisonburg on Dec. 7, 2010. Since then, the Eagles had lost 12 straight against Group AA teams and five against TA (3-1), including a 52-41 loss last week.
“They had a great game plan, I have to give ’em that,” TA coach Chad Seibert said of ERHS. “They had different personnel…and some of the stuff they did defensively gave us problems.”
Perhaps the most encouraging part for the Eagles was that, unlike some games in the past, Tyler Hensley wasn’t always running the show.
Sure, Hensley had a team-high 17 points – including a leaning 40-footer that swished at the halftime buzzer to make it 23-all – but the Eagles’ best stretch didn’t include any of that.
They outscored TA 16-5 from around the six-minute mark of the third to seven minutes left in the fourth, with none of those points coming from Hensley.
Instead, it was players like junior Chase Comer (11 points), sophomore Logan Lam (10), senior Sharif Price (six) and sophomore Jeff Bailey (six) who provided a lift.
“I love watching other people come in and step up,” Hensley said.
Still, after leading 41-30 early in the fourth, the Knights, who got a game-high 22 points from junior Shane Brown, mounted a final charge and trailed by just three with three seconds left. The Eagles elected not to foul with a three-point lead, which of course would potentially allow a tying 3-pointer.
But Price knocked the first in-bounds pass out of bounds, and the next with one second left only led to a desperation 3 from senior Jonathan Keppel that missed badly.
“I felt like we could’ve fouled – I was going to suggest that,” ERHS coach Mark Palmer said. “…We debated that. I said, ‘We don’t want to foul there?’ [Assistant coach Matt Rhea] said, ‘No, just play it straight up.’”
EAST ROCKINGHAM
Price 2 2-2 6, Dofflemyer 0 0-0 0, Hensley 8 0-0 17, Harman 1 0-1 2, James 0 1-2 1, Lam 4 1-2 10, Gooden 0 1-6 1, Bailey 3 0-1 6. Totals 22 8-19 54.
TURNER ASHBY
Layman 3 0-1 7, Keppel 2 1-2 5, Corbin 5 2-2 13, Hanifee 0 0-0 0, Brown 6 9-10 22, Bravo 1 0-1 2, Pence 1 0-0 2, Hamner 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 12-16 51.
East Rock 10 13 14 17 - 54
Turner Ashby 11 12 7 21 - 51
3-Point Goals—East Rockingham 2 (Hensley, Lam), Turner Ashby 3 (Layman, Corbin, Brown). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—East Rockingham 32 (Comer 6), Turner Ashby 26 (Keppel 9). Total Fouls—East Rockingham 13, Turner Asbby 16.
Who to start? (They went with a completely new lineup.) Zone defense or man? (Mostly man after zone in the last meeting.) Foul with a 3-point lead late in the game or play it straight? (Straight.)
Just about all of their decisions worked out.
Six days after losing by double digits to the Knights – and one day after getting blown out by Fort Defiance – the Eagles took an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, then held on for a 54-51 win, their first over a Group AA school in nearly two years.
East Rock (2-3), which competes in Group A, hadn’t beaten a higher-division team since Harrisonburg on Dec. 7, 2010. Since then, the Eagles had lost 12 straight against Group AA teams and five against TA (3-1), including a 52-41 loss last week.
“They had a great game plan, I have to give ’em that,” TA coach Chad Seibert said of ERHS. “They had different personnel…and some of the stuff they did defensively gave us problems.”
Perhaps the most encouraging part for the Eagles was that, unlike some games in the past, Tyler Hensley wasn’t always running the show.
Sure, Hensley had a team-high 17 points – including a leaning 40-footer that swished at the halftime buzzer to make it 23-all – but the Eagles’ best stretch didn’t include any of that.
They outscored TA 16-5 from around the six-minute mark of the third to seven minutes left in the fourth, with none of those points coming from Hensley.
Instead, it was players like junior Chase Comer (11 points), sophomore Logan Lam (10), senior Sharif Price (six) and sophomore Jeff Bailey (six) who provided a lift.
“I love watching other people come in and step up,” Hensley said.
Still, after leading 41-30 early in the fourth, the Knights, who got a game-high 22 points from junior Shane Brown, mounted a final charge and trailed by just three with three seconds left. The Eagles elected not to foul with a three-point lead, which of course would potentially allow a tying 3-pointer.
But Price knocked the first in-bounds pass out of bounds, and the next with one second left only led to a desperation 3 from senior Jonathan Keppel that missed badly.
“I felt like we could’ve fouled – I was going to suggest that,” ERHS coach Mark Palmer said. “…We debated that. I said, ‘We don’t want to foul there?’ [Assistant coach Matt Rhea] said, ‘No, just play it straight up.’”
EAST ROCKINGHAM
Price 2 2-2 6, Dofflemyer 0 0-0 0, Hensley 8 0-0 17, Harman 1 0-1 2, James 0 1-2 1, Lam 4 1-2 10, Gooden 0 1-6 1, Bailey 3 0-1 6. Totals 22 8-19 54.
TURNER ASHBY
Layman 3 0-1 7, Keppel 2 1-2 5, Corbin 5 2-2 13, Hanifee 0 0-0 0, Brown 6 9-10 22, Bravo 1 0-1 2, Pence 1 0-0 2, Hamner 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 12-16 51.
East Rock 10 13 14 17 - 54
Turner Ashby 11 12 7 21 - 51
3-Point Goals—East Rockingham 2 (Hensley, Lam), Turner Ashby 3 (Layman, Corbin, Brown). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—East Rockingham 32 (Comer 6), Turner Ashby 26 (Keppel 9). Total Fouls—East Rockingham 13, Turner Asbby 16.