Owens posts game-high 33 points for Luray; Combs leads Page with 17
By Randy Arrington
SHENANDOAH, Jan. 20 — Tuesday night’s rivalry game between Page and Luray lived up to the billing in terms of a packed gymnasium and an enthusiastic crowd on both sides of the court…but many thought it would be a little closer. Both teams came in with experienced talent and sitting at or near the top of their respective regions.
However, the Bulldogs would have the hotter hand, building their lead in offensive spurts to close out a 24-point Bull Run District win on the road at their rivals, 72-48. Despite the lop-sided point difference, LHS head coach Matt Huff saw this as a quality win.
“Yeah, it is…because those guys are really good. They are very well coached…they can make plays. They got [Caden] Combs that can make plays, Isaac [Foltz], I mean they are a really good team,” Coach Huff said after Tuesday’s game. “So to come out here and just perform like we did…it’s impressive. It really is…I couldn’t be more proud of this group. They worked their tales off and they earned it tonight.”
LHS senior Matthew Owens hit the bottom of the net four times from beyond the arc. The JMU-commit also scored easy points in the paint and hit fade-away jumpers in the face of tough defense for a game-high 33 points. Overall, the Bulldogs shot 58 percent from the floor — including a 9-for-11 stretch in the final eight minutes. Luray shot 60 percent from the lines and committed 10 turnovers.
Page County played tough defense, especially in the opening minutes. They took five more shots than Luray, and hit four three-pointers in the third quarter alone. However, the home team only hit 34 percent from the floor and went 4-for-13 from the line. The Panthers also committed two more turnovers than the visitors.
The Panther offense that put up a season-high 85 points against Clarke County one week earlier and hung 74 points on Madison Friday night was stymied by the Bulldog defense.
“They’ve had our number since last year…we just can’t figure out a way to get over the hump,” PCHS head coach Tyler Parker said after Tuesday’s loss. “They continuously throw the same junk defense at us and we are struggling to figure it out…I’ll do the best of my ability to figure it out on the next one.”
Both defenses kept points low in the opening minutes, and the scored was tied twice. Then midway through the first, triples by Owens and LHS senior Riley Benson helped create some separation as Luray closed out the opening frame with a 14-6 run. Behind eight points from Owens, Luray lead 19-11 after the first eight minutes.
The second quarter was much of the same, as the Bulldogs outpaced the Panthers 20-13 behind another seven points from Owens and 10-consecutive points from junior Will Judy, who hit a pair of three-pointers inside of 86 seconds.
“If [Judy] plays like that, man, we are a tough out,” Coach Huff said. “We had Blake Jenkins last year that kind of had that motor and could score like that, and today, he had that motor going and if he gets his motor running, we are dangerous.”
Combs had 13 points by halftime for Page, but the Panthers still trailed 39-24.
However, in the third quarter, Page found some life behind the strong inside play of senior Isaac Foltz, who scored seven of his 11 points on the night in the third frame.
“We were looking for him to try take over this game a little bit, you know with the defense they are playing on Caden,” Coach Parker said. “[Foltz] struggled a little bit tonight, missed a few easy ones and they made it tough on him…and they just had our number.”
The Panthers won the third, 16-14, but still trailed heading into the fourth, 53-40.
In the final frame, Page would go 3-for-12 from the floor, while Luray would go 9-for-11. Owens chipped in nine more for Luray, while five other Bulldogs would contribute to the scoring as well.
Behind Owens’ impressive 33 points for Luray, Judy posted 12, senior Connor Hilliard had 11 and Benson finished with seven.
For Page, Combs again lead the way with 17 points, while Foltz added 11 and senior Aaron Hensley had eight. In several statistical categories, the Panthers played fairly even with a talented Bulldog squad — except the one that counts most. Coach Parker knows he has a talented team as well, but he also knows how hard Tuesday’s loss hit his team.
“We need to regroup, especially tomorrow and Thursday at practice and we have to get some revenge on Rappahannock on Friday, get the momentum built back up, go on a little bit of a run, and then hopefully go down to Luray and get these guys again,” Coach Parker said on Tuesday.
Both Page and Luray remain in the hunt for top spot in both the district and the region. Central (6-1, 11-3) took over the top spot with a 40-34 win over Strasburg (5-2, 8-6) on Tuesday. That leaves a three-way tie for second place at 5-2 in the Bull Run, among Page, Luray and Strasburg.
After falling by five points to Central on Jan. 6, the Rams handed Luray its second district loss one week ago, 53-42.
“They put one on us,” Coach Huff said of Luray’s only double-digit loss this season. “They are super well coached. I love their coach, he does a phenomenal job with those guys. They came out and they were physical…everything we tried to do, they had an answer for…and offensively, our motor wasn’t going like it was tonight, and that was kind of the difference. But the good news is, in basketball, we get them again, so hopefully we can make the adjustments and go out and take care of business the next time we see them.”
With eight games remaining in the regular season, the Bulldogs believe they are right where they want to be.
“I think we’re starting to move in the right direction,” Coach Huff said this week. “I mean we’re still in film and practice working on things to get better, defensively, offensively…we’re still trying to find that rhythm and peak, but I guess you want to find that in February and we’re getting close, so I think we’re trending in the right direction.”
For schedules, rosters and results, check the Bull Run District website.
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