SHS Hits Stride
Blazers Smack Knights, 87-44
Posted: January 25, 2013
TA’s Shane Brown drives while SHS’s Caleb Detamore (left) and David Blandon defend. (Photo by Michael Reilly / DN-R)
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Junior point guard Tucker McCoy scored 24 points and Weiler added 19 points and 10 rebounds as Spotswood ended Turner Ashby’s six-game winning streak in an 87-44 rout Thursday night, creating a three-team race for the Valley District crown.
Spotswood (17-1 overall, 8-0 in the Valley) sits alone at the top with four league games remaining, while R.E. Lee and Fort Defiance remain in contention.
“It was statement time, honestly,” Weiler said. “We had a lot to play for in this game. It was a big game. We knew TA was getting better and we knew we had to bring it. … [We] wanted to make a statement that, yeah, we were good at the beginning of the season, but we’re still improving more than any other team, as well.”
McCoy tallied 13 of Spotswood’s 20 points in the second quarter, including three of his four 3-pointers. The Blazers expanded on a 36-22 halftime lead with an impressive 51 points in the second half, scoring at will in transition and hitting eight 3-pointers.
“I just thought we had quality play 1 through 11. I’m proud of our effort,” said SHS coach Chad Edwards, who watched 10 Blazers score. “The challenge I’ve issued to our team – every year, my personal goal, is for our teams to improve the most during the course of a season. So, I’ve really been preaching that message, and after our Monticello game, I feel like I have their attention maybe a little more.”
TA never tasted the lead and struggled to keep up with SHS all night.
“When they’re clicking like that, geez, they’re hard to keep up with,” TA coach Chad Seibert said. “And when you’re not scoring yourself, there’s an anxiety that begins to build.”
Junior guard Shane Brown led the Knights with 10 points, while three teammates – Justin Layman, Angel Bravo and Brenan Hanifee – each finished with seven.
Hanifee was called for a flagrant foul on Austin Nicely with 5:08 left in the game, creating tension on and off the court. But both coaching staffs remained relatively calm. After the game, both Seibert and Edwards downplayed a heated fourth quarter.
“Look, people get emotional, but it’s high school basketball,” Seibert said. “It was a good, hard foul. It looked bad. I just watched it on film. It was clean. The kid [Nicely] was trying to dunk it and Brennan was trying to block it. You know, collisions happen. It is a contact sport. I don’t think there was any intent there.”
Added Edwards: “It’s a rivalry game, to start with, and point differential had something to do with it. I think that’s the two biggest things.”
Nicely and Lasam each added 11 points for SHS, which converted all four of its and-one chances and forced the Knights into double-digit turnovers in the second half. TA turned the ball over just four times before the break.
“The transition game is what we like to thrive on,” McCoy said. “It’s what we like to get our energy from.”
SPOTSWOOD
McCoy 9 2-2 24, Davis 1 0-0 2, Nicely 4 3-6 11, Garber 2 1-2 6, Weiler 7 5-5 19, Blandon 2 2-2 6, Lasam 4 0-2 11, Lokey 1 2-5 4, Saylor 0 2-2 2, Hinkle 1 0-2 2. Totals 31 17-28 87.
TURNER ASHBY
Layman 3 1-2 7, Keppel 1 0-2 2, Corbin 1 0-0 2, Brown 3 3-8 10, Bravo 2 2-2 7, Hanifee 2 1-2 7, Pence 1 0-0 2, Majors 1 1-2 3, Smiley 1 0-0 2, Wilson 1 0-1 2. Totals 16 8-19 44.
Spotswood 16 20 26 25 - 87
Turner Ashby 10 12 6 16 - 44
3-Point Goals—SHS 8 (McCoy 4, Lasam 3, Garber), TA 4 (Hanifee 2, Brown, Bravo). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—SHS 35 (Weiler 10), TA 25 (Brown 5). Total Fouls—SHS 17, TA 20.