Crucial Conference Wins for the Lady Huskies

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Starmount at Ashe on Tuesday, January 27

Ashe County 52
Starmount 49

Over a month and 11 wins removed from their 69-68 away loss to the Starmount Rams, Ashe County was ready for the rematch on Tuesday, Jan. 27, in West Jefferson.

Much like their match on Dec. 19 in Boonville, the game featured a handful of ties, lead changes and suspense. Unlike the first match, Ashe County came out on top.

Ashe County took advantage early, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the first quarter.

But the Rams found their rhythm on both sides of the ball as the quarter progressed and were able to pull within two by quarter's end.

Starmount jumped out fast in the second quarter, taking a 13-12 lead in the first minute. Ashe County scored four to regain the lead, 16-13, before the Rams scored four of their own to go up 19-16.

The Starmount lead wouldn't last, however, as Ashe County scored seven unanswered points to take a 23-19 lead late in the quarter and a 25-21 lead to the locker room.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued in the second half, with one small difference: almost all of Starmount's offense came from sophomore Kelli Bonner. She scored 23 points in the half and the first 20 for Starmount - no one else scored for the team until the 1:56 mark of the fourth quarter.

As it turned out, Bonner's offense was enough to keep the game tight. The Huskies were able to push the lead to six at 29-23 early in the third on four quick points from senior Kendra Yearick, But Bonner scored 10 points in the next three minutes, including a jumper to tie the game at 33 late in the third quarter.

Foster called a timeout seconds later, and the Huskies returned to the floor on fire. Four different players helped the team hit a 7-0 run in the quarter's final minutes for a 40-33 lead.

Sophomore Mariah McVey scored early in the fourth to give Ashe County a nine-point lead, but then the Huskies got cold. They were unable to score for almost four minutes, and Bonner used a three-point shot and three-point play to cut the lead to three at 42-39.

Yearick and McVey then hit back-to-back three-point shots to push the margin back to nine with 2:10 remaining in the game

Starmount began to foul, but the Huskies' weren't able to seal the deal quickly. They went four-for-12 from the line in the final two minutes and missed sox of the last seven. The Rams answered with 10 points to cut the lead to 52-49.

Starmount got the ball back with nine seconds on the clock, but Bonner missed a three that could have forced overtime.

Foster said that "it feels good to beat the only them that has beaten us.
Foster noted, however, that she was concerned by the final two minutes.

"The coach in me is still concerned about our free throw shooting and the way we managed the clock down the stretch," she said.


Ashe at North Surry on Friday, January 30

Ashe County 57
North Surry 52

Kendra Yearick scored 19 points as Ashe County took over sole possession of first place in the Mountain-Valley 2-A with a win over North Surry last night in Toast.

Ashe and North entered the game tied for first at 7-1 in the MVC.

Ashe moved to 19-1 overall and 8-1 in the conference, and North fell to 14-4 and 7-2.

North Surry trailed 52-49 with two minutes to go when Ashe hit a crucial 3-pointer for a six-point lead. North missed opportunities at the end to cut into the margin, and Ashe iced the game with four free throws down the stretch.