By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Jan. 10 — It was one of those games…a tale of two halves. The first half belonged to the Bulldogs of Luray as they hit six three-pointers on their home court and took a 14-point lead into halftime. However, the visiting Rams of Strasburg flipped the script in the second half Tuesday night as they greatly improved their shooting and kept chipping away at the Bulldog lead.
Luray only shot 35 percent from the floor in the first half, but hit 50 percent of their shots in the first quarter behind a trio of three-pointers from freshman standout Matthew Owens. The Bulldogs held Strasburg to only five points in each of the first two frames as the Rams shot a miserable 4-for-31 from the floor (12.9 percent) in the first 16 minutes of the game. Luray went on runs of 13-5 in the first quarter and 11-5 in the second, to lead 24-10 at the half.
The game flip-flopped in the second half as Strasburg shot 73 percent from the floor, taking more high-percentage shots inside the paint and winning the battle of the boards. Meanwhile, Luray hit only 33 percent of their shots in the second half and allowed the visiting Rams to steal the momentum.
Eight different Rams scored on the night, lead by junior Griffin Carter with 13 points and 6’7″ junior forward Walker Conrad with 10 points. Sophomore Takhi Coates recorded all of his eight points in the fourth quarter in which Strasburg went on an 18-8 run to close out the game. The Rams outpaced the Bulldogs 19-10 in the third quarter, which brought them within five at 34-29. The final run in the final eight minutes lead to a five-point victory, 47-42.
Owens lead Luray with 16 points on the night. The sophomore is proving to be one of the purest shooters on the team and is providing a spark for a group that is struggling to find its identity and mesh together various talents as they battle injury, illness and disciplinary issues.
Sophomore Blake Jenkins ended the game with 10 points, while junior Christian Lentz posted seven and senior Bailey Graybeal had five before fouling out with 4:06 left in the game.
With the loss, the Bulldogs drop top 2-9 on the season and travel to Clarke County (7-5) Friday night.
With the win, Strasburg moves to 7-3 and travels to Clarke on Thursday night before hosting Central (3-7) on Friday.
For full schedules, rosters and standings — check out the Bull Run District website
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