Hilliard leads Luray with game-high 20 points, Owens puts up 16
By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Jan. 9 — The Luray Bulldogs came into Friday night’s Bull Run District matchup with undefeated Rappahannock as the No. 2 team in Region 1B, just slightly behind the top-ranked Panthers. The Bulldogs were also just three days removed from losing their second game of the season in a rematch of last season’s Region 2B championship at Central.
However, on Friday night — in front of a nearly packed gymnasium — the Bulldogs didn’t just want to win, they wanted to make a statement.
“That was the goal,” LHS head coach Matt Huff said after the game. “I am not trying to go on the road in that region because it is a far trip to Altavista, or wherever, and I don’t want to go down there. I want to play right here at home… tonight is a step in the right direction for us to have those home games. We came out with some fire and we were ready to roll.”
Senior Matthew Owens, verbally committed to JMU, hit Luray’s first bucket inside of the first 10 seconds, and the Bulldogs never looked back. In the first eight minutes, Luray shot 53 percent from the floor, hit a trio of three-pointers, went 5-of-6 from the line, and only turned the ball over once. With a minute left in the first frame, the home team was up 25-9.
Rapp shot a reasonable 44 percent in the first quarter, but only took nine shots. Luray dominated possession of the ball by controlling the offensive boards and giving themselves multiple chances to score on almost every possession. On the other end of the court, the Bulldogs’ defense recorded three steals and forced five turnovers in the first frame.
“My hat’s off to those guys, they were ready for blood. They took it to us in that first quarter, and of course the whole game,” said Rapp head coach Ray Atkins. “I think we’re two of the top teams, but of course we have to play better than we did tonight.”
LHS senior Riley Benson had a great first quarter with five points and steal. Benson, one of the Bulldogs’ most improved players from a season ago, has become a strong shooter as well as a presence in the paint.
“Riley on any other team is a main star…he’s one of the best shooters on any other team…he’s gonna score a ton… he comes in and he knows his role and his job, and I have to get on him and tell him ‘I need you to shoot it’,” Coach Huff said. “But he rebounds, he defends, he does all the small things… he is that silent leader…he is phenomenal, he does so much for us…he’s the unsung hero without question. And that’s the thing, if he scores and does those things, we are a really dangerous team.”
LHS junior Ayden Haddock posted all six of his points on the night in the second quarter, as the Bulldogs’ defense held the Panthers to only nine. Rapp took more shots in the second, but only hit 26 percent from the floor, while committing six more turnovers. Rapp junior Jason Deal made the second frame more competitive by posting five of his nine points on the night, including a three-pointer.
Luray junior guard Will Judy picked up his fourth foul with 5:14 remaining in the second quarter. Just before the final minute of the first quarter, Judy had posted six points in about four seconds after hitting a three-pointer, and then three straight foul shots. The junior got fouled beyond the arc after Luray stole the inbound attempt. Judy would foul out with 4:41 left in the third.
Luray took a 40-21 lead into halftime, but Rapp would narrowly win the third quarter behind five points from sophomore Aidan Robinson, who ended the night with a team-high 12. The Panthers left some points on the board in the third, as they went 3-for-7 at the line. Luray only hit 25 percent of their shots and still only lost the quarter by a single point.
The Bulldogs won three out of four quarters in the game, but it was the first eight minutes that set the tone and built a huge advantage for the home team. However, senior Connor HIlliard put up eight of his game-high 20 points in the final four minutes, including back-to-back three-pointers.
Rapp put up its best offensive spurt in the fourth, hitting three consecutive triples — two by freshman Brayden Compton, who had a team-high 12 points along with Robinson. However, Luray would hit four of its eight three-pointers on the night in the fourth quarter.
Behind Hilliard’s game-high 20, Owens recorded 16 points for Luray, while senior Riley Benson had nine and junior Aiden Cook added seven. Overall, both teams would end up shooting an identical 39 percent from the floor. Luray did slightly better at the line, but the real difference was the Bulldogs’ defense and the turnover ratio. While Luray committed 14 turnovers, Rapp had 22. The Bulldogs recorded at least seven steals during the game.
That Luray defense also held senior Mason Comer — arguably Rapp’s best player — to only seven points. However, it should be noted that both Comer, the senior leader, and Compton, the freshman standout, were out with the flu earlier this week. So, it’s not clear if two of Rapp’s best players were at 100 percent.
“I’m not going to make excuses,” Coach Atkins said after his team’s first loss of the season. “[Luray] came with a good game plan, they wanted us, and they took care of business…they were the better team tonight. Who knows what’s going to happen the next couple of times, hopefully, that we will meet…we’ll see what happens.”
Being at the top of the Region 1B standings — and probably flip-flopping the No. 1 and No. 2 spots when the standings are updated — Luray and Rapp could face each other multiple times this season, between another regular season matchup and postseason playoffs through the district, region and potentially state tournaments. So, what did Coach Atkins learn about Luray in this first meeting?
“I learned what I [already] knew,” he said. “They’re a great shooting team, they are a great coached team and they been together a long time, so…they’re very strong. We need to work on defense…we gotta figure out why it struggled so much in certain areas, and just be ready to go next time.”
And what did Coach Huff learn about Rapp?
“They are a well-coached ball club, they’re very good, they’re disciplined…offensively, they get the ball inside, they get it outside, they attack the basket, they make some threes… I mean they’re a tough guard,” Coach Huff said. “I knew that coming in. I just thought that our pressure and our length would give them some problems and tonight we were able to give them some problems with that. Hopefully if we play them again, we can continue to give them problems with that because in the half court they’re pretty good.”
While Coach Huff knows his team is good, he also knows it’s a long season. He hopes to build depth beyond the starting five by rotating in a lot of guys to get more experience and give the starters a break. Although, they won’t meet Central again in a region title game, the Bulldogs know that they can be better than they were in a five-point loss to the Falcons on Tuesday.
“Central is a very well-coached ball club, and they did a great job on us. I didn’t make some of the adjustments I should have…offensively…we missed a ton of shots, we missed threes, we missed layups, we missed shots around the bucket…it was one of those nights that it was like, ‘gosh we are just not playing well, and you look up and you’re down one, you’re tied, you’re down two…so, to not play very well and still be in that game…,” Coach Huff said. “I told our guys, that’s something we can grow from, we can get better from… if we learn from it and get better from it, it’s not a loss overall.”
Up next, Luray (3-1, 8-2) will travel to Strasburg for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Rappahannock (3-1, 7-1) travels to Brentsville on Monday, Jan. 12.
With eyes on a big prize this season, Coach Huff believes his team is positioned well near the midway point.
“So far, so good…still a lot of things in our offense that we continue to work on and continue to get better every day. I mean in practice we’re working on the things that we need to do as far as our ball movement to get some better looks,” Coach Huff said, “but as long as our defense continues to improve and our offensive movement continues to improve…it could be very special for us, but we’ve gotta continue to do those things.”
For schedules, rosters and results, check the Bull Run District website.
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