Saturday, March 06, 2010
Gobblers have easy time with Bengals
Bassett loses after 27.5 percent shooting from the field and missing crucial free throws.
varsity.roanoke.com
Timesland on Twitter
HARRISONBURG -- If Broadway is the feel-good story of the Group AA Division 4 basketball tournament, Bassett is having a hard time sharing those sentiments.
The Bengals played from behind for most of the night, making several spirited comebacks before they were undone by woeful free-throw shooting.
Broadway, operating under the assumption that it was playing in its first state tournament, pulled away down the stretch for a 53-39 victory at the JMU Convocation Center.
"We're making history every night," said Broadway coach Dwight Walton, whose Gobblers advanced to the Division 4 semifinals Wednesday at the Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth.
"Somebody better pinch me pretty quick."
At that point, Walton was advised that Broadway won a state championship in 1926 and finished second in 1941, so all this team has done is make the Gobblers' first appearance in the state tournament in 69 years.
"I guess that was when there was Linville and Singer's Glen and schools like that," Walton said. "We know that there was something way back in there. Every time we go to the state, we get the book out."
Didn't he say the Gobblers hadn't been to the state tournament?
"Oh, when I go, it's just to watch," he said. "I go every year. I'm never on the floor, though."
Broadway (20-6) will go to Richmond with a seven-game winning streak and a six-man core that was led Friday night by 6-foot-3 senior Kyle VanOrden, who finished with game highs of 18 points and 15 rebounds.
VanOrden made only two of nine free throws, but he had ample company in a Bassett team that made its first nine free throws of the game, then missed nine of its last 11, including seven in a row.
It looked as if the game was getting away from the Bengals (16-8) when Broadway increased its lead to 36-25 in the third quarter but Bassett responded to a timeout called by coach Tom Herring by scoring six points in a row.
Isaac Barbour, whose hustle contributed to the comeback, made two free throws to cut the deficit to 36-31 but then missed four straight free throws as Broadway went into the fourth quarter ahead 38-31.
Talk about deflating.
"It definitely was," Herring said. "You make that run and you give yourself an opportunity to get back in the game and then you lose all your momentum. We just could not sustain any sort of run. We preach free-throw shooting. Got to hit 'em."
Barbour wasn't alone. After swishing four free throws in the first half, senior Matt Chitwood missed both ends of two two-shot free-throw opportunities in the fourth quarter.
"I got really frustrated," said Chitwood, who was close to a 70-percent free-throw shooter during the regular season.
Bassett wasn't particularly deadly from the field either. The Bengals shot 27.5 percent (14-of-51) and missed all nine of their 3-point attempts. Senior forward Anton McGill led Bassett with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Chitwood added 10.
"I feel like we're a much better team than we showed tonight," said Bengals point guard Grant Wickline, who fouled out of his final high school game.
Bassett got one step further than it did in 2009, when it was eliminated by Hidden Valley in the Region IV semifinals.
"When the season started out, we weren't sure what to expect," Herring said.
"We don't have a lot of size, but we have a group of seniors who put in a lot of time and energy and effort toward getting better."
BASSETT (15-9)
Chtiwood 3 4-8 10, McGill 6 2-3 14, Rumley 2 0-0 4, Wickline 1 2-2 4, Barbour 1 2-6 4, Lane 1 1-1 3. Totals 14 11-20 39.
BROADWAY (20-6)
Fulk 1 0-0 2, Caplinger 3 3-6 9, Knight 4 6-6 15, Richardson 4 0-0 9, VanOrden 8 2-9 18. Totals 20 11-21 53.
Bassett 11 10 10 8--39
Broadway 13 11 17 12--53
3-point goals -- Broadway 2 (Knight, Richardson).
