Photo: Hokes Bluff’s Kooper Young (3) brings the ball up as Ashville’s Jamon Williams (4) pursues during Ashville’s 94-73 victory in boys high school basketball on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at AHS. (Courtesy of Alex Chaney)
By Chris McCarthy/Publisher
Ashville High sharpshooters were zeroed in on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
In a key Class 4A Area 11 matchup against Hokes Bluff, the Bulldogs shot 73 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range on the way to a 94-73 victory in boys basketball at AHS.
The win pulled Ashville into a three-way tie with the Eagles for first place in the area at 3-1. Both teams have area games on Thursday, with the Bulldogs (11-7) visiting Oneonta and Hokes Bluff (16-4) traveling to Etowah. The Blue Devils are currently 8-8 overall and 1-1 in the area, while Oneonta is 0-4 in area action.
Against the Eagles, Ashville finished with double-digit advantages in rebounds (32 to 17), second chance points (18 to 3) and points in the paint (56 to 34).
“The big thing for us tonight is that we made some 3-pointers, which we haven’t done all year,” said Ashville head coach Caleb Carpenter. “We usually shoot around 20 percent, so that was a huge lift for us. Making big shots like that really boosted our confidence. We also emphasized breaking the press. Hokes Bluff brings some good pressure, and we had some good opportunities in transition and pushed the ball ahead and were able to execute our offense.”
Carpenter pointed to his team’s depth as a major factor.
“We had a lot of guys who came off the bench tonight and stepped up for us. We‘re limited in numbers, so everybody had to be ready to play when called upon. We have faith that every guy who steps out on the court will do what we ask him to do.”
The Bulldogs’ balanced scoring attack included 19 points form Parker Smith, 18 from J.B. Potter, 16 from Dalton Rice-Thompson, 12 from Jrey Colley 11 from Nate Huckbay and nine from Dylan Palmer. Potter grabbed 11 rebounds, followed by Smith with six and Huckbay with four. Thompson distributed 12 assists, while Potter dished out eight.
Hokes Bluff came out of a back-and-forth first quarter with a 20-17 lead. With Potter relegated to the bench with foul trouble during the latter half of the second period, five straight points from Ronan McFadden put the Eagles ahead 30-28.
But Hokes Bluff went scoreless over the final 1:50 of the first half, and seven consecutive points from Huckbay during that same span provided Ashville with a 35-30 advantage at the break.
“We’re a team that really doesn’t rely on one person, so when one guy comes out, another one comes in with the same energy and the same intensity,” said Potter. “We probably put in more work than any other team, and all that [work] is starting to pay off.”
Helped by eight points from Bryce Whitaker, Hokes Bluff kept within single digits for much of the third quarter. His basket with two minutes to go cut the Bulldog lead to five points, but that proved to be the high-water mark for the Eagles. Ashville closed out the period on a 15-6 run, and despite three 3-point baskets by Logan Carr during the final eight minutes, Hokes Bluff failed to get back within striking distance. A pair of free throws from Dylan Palmer down the stretch made it a 20-point advantage for the Bulldogs and effectively ended any chance of an Eagle rally.
Whitaker paced Hokes Bluff with 24 points along with four rebounds. Carr shot 71 percent (5-for-7) from the three-point line on the way to 21 points. He also had six assists. Ronan McFadden scored 13 points, while Anderson Morgan added seven points and 14 assists.
“Coach Carpenter did a very good job of preparing his team for this basketball game,” said Hokes Bluff head coach Ryan Smith. “He put his kids in the right situations to make plays, and our kids didn’t make enough plays. Basketball is a game of runs, and [Ashville’s] runs were longer than ours, which is a tribute to [Carpenter]. My hats off to [Ashville]. They’re a very good basketball team that has a lot of guys with a lot of athleticism. When they get going, they’re like a freight train, and we had a hard time tonight of slowing that train down tonight.”
