Lady Huskies Win Conference
February 23, 2009 Ashe County Huskies
Article by: Michael Graybeal- Sports Editor Jefferson Post
Date: 2/23/09
The Lady Huskies, after winning the 2008-09 Mountain Valley Season Championship, headed into the 2009 MVAC Tournament with home court advantage, being ranked the first seed, and were heavy favorites to win the tournament. Ashe lived up to the expectations, and swept through the tournament with a 56-42 victory over Wilkes Central in the semifinals, and then a 58-53 victory over North Surry in the finals to win the 2009 MVAC Tournament Championship, the first for the Lady Huskies since the 2005 MVAC Tournament.
"Winning the regular season was huge," commented Lady Huskies' head coach, Laura Foster, "but I am just lost for words. I am so proud of the team and could not be any more proud of them with winning this type of game. It is unbelievable."
The Huskies had home court advantage throughout the entire tournament, as they were deemed hosts of the tournament prior to the start of the season. Ashe took advantage of the home court, large crowd, which favored the Huskies, and after a hard fought game, emerged victorious over North Surry with a 58-53 final score.
In an unusual scene for the Huskies, the game opened up with North Surry leading the majority of the first quarter. Ashe tied the game at 11-11 when Kim McNeil converted a three-point play with just 16.9 seconds remaining in the first quarter, and then two made free throws by Kendra Yearick with 1.4 seconds left gave the Huskies a 13-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Huskies came out in the second quarter, and scored first, claiming the largest lead thus far in the game, four points, at 15-11. However, the Greyhounds fought back and tied the score at 15-15, but never took the lead. Ashe and the Greyhounds battled back and forth for the entire quarter, Ashe never leading by more than three points, and North Surry only leading once, with the score at 23-22. However, Caitlin Elliott would give the Huskies a 25-23 lead heading into halftime when she made one of two free throws after being fouled in the process of shooting. After missing the second free throw, Elliott grabbed the rebound off of her own miss, and laid the ball in the hoop for two more points, giving the Huskies a 25-23 lead at halftime.
Leading the Huskies in the first half, with huge first halves were Mallary Clay and McNeil, who each scored nine points, combining for 18 of the Huskies 25 points in the first 16 minutes of action.
To open the second half, Ashe jumped ahead early with a 29-23 lead, but then North Surry battled back and took a 30-29 lead. At the 4:27 mark, a basket by Clay gave the Huskies a 31-30 lead, and the Huskies then went on a 11-0 run, building a 40-30 lead, with 1:45 remaining in the quarter.
North Surry then mounted a 7-0 run, and cut the Huskies lead to 40-37, but then an assist by Elliott to McNeil gave the Huskies a 42-37 lead with just seconds remaining in the period. However, Hodges for North Surry swished home a three pointer to beat the buzzer, and cut Ashe's lead to 42-40 heading into the fourth and final quarter.
After Hodges' three pointer cut the Huskies' lead to only two points, the Greyhounds also were awarded first possession of the fourth quarter, with the opportunity of tying the game, or even taking the lead. However, the Huskies defense caused a quick turnover, and Ashe's offense immediately began to roll.
McNeil opened up the scoring with a free throw at the 7:49 mark, and then Ashe scored five more points unanswered, giving the Huskies a 48-40 lead.
The lead would stretch to ten points for Ashe, but North Surry would cut it down to nine points when what appeared to be a disaster for Ashe occurred. Leading by nine points, one of Ashe's leading scorers, McNeil, went down during a play after a loose ball with cramps in her leg. As the play continued, North Surry would swish a three pointer, cutting their deficit to only six points, with 1:39 remaining in the game.
McNeil missed nearly the next minute of action, in which time; North Surry cut Ashe's lead to five points.
Ashe was on the end of another unfortunate break when Elliott was whistled for her fifth foul with 34.9 seconds left in the game, which sent North Surry to the line, where they hit one of two free throws, coming just four points shy of the Huskies, 56-52.
Down the stretch, Clay sank two free throws for Ashe, giving them their final 58 points, and defensively Ashe held the Greyhounds to only one more point, giving the Huskies a 58-53 final victory over North Surry, naming the Huskies as the 2009 MVAC Tournament Champions.
Leading the way for Ashe was All-Tournament selection Mallary Clay, who scored a game high 25 points in the contest. Following Clay was Kim McNeil, who was voted the 2009 MVAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, marking the first Husky to win the honor since 2005 when Kelly Hudler won the award.
Leading the way for North Surry was Midkiff and Hodges, who both scored 15 points.
Rounding out the scoring for Ashe was Kendra Yearick with nine points, Caitlin Elliott with seven points, and Mariah McVey with three points.
Rounding up the tournament, the MVAC announced the All-Conference and Honorable Mention selections for the 2008-09 season. This year, the Huskies placed six members on the All-Conference and Honorable Mention squads, with four earning All-Conference honors. Kim McNeil earned a spot on the All-Conference team for her fourth straight season, and was also selected as the 2008-09 MVAC Player of the Year. Shelly Barker was honored with her third selection to the All-Conference team, Kendra Yearick and Mallary Clay also earned spots on the All-Conference team. Earning Honorable Mention awards were Caitlin Elliott and Mariah McVey for the Huskies.
Coach Laura Foster capped off the awards as she was presented with a plaque as being voted the MVAC Coach of the Year.
The victory in the Championship Game was the Huskies second MVAC Tournament Championship of all time, and their third MVAC Championship including their Regular Season Championship.
Ashe moves on in post-season play beginning this evening, Tuesday, when they host West Davidson High School, beginning at 7 p.m.
West Davidson is entering the contest with a 10-13 record on the season, and represents the fifth seed from the Central Carolina Conference. The winner of tonight's game will move on to face the winner of Salisbury and East Lincoln on Thursday evening. Salisbury is posting a 23-2 records, and the second seed from the Central Carolina Conference and East Lincoln has a 17-9 record, and is the third seed from the Southern Piedmont Conference.
Ashe is in a good position as they are the number one seed for the MVAC, and will host the remainder of the games in Sectional Play.
Other MVAC teams that has moved onto the NCHSAA Playoffs is North Surry as the second seed for the MVAC, Starmount as the MVAC third seed, and Wilkes Central as the MVAC fourth seed. Forbush, with a 9-13 record, was awarded a wildcard bid into the playoffs. |
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