Bulldogs beat Page, 76-55, secure No. 3 seed in Bull Run

LHS sophomore Connor Hilliard attempts to get the ball out of the corner in front of a packed home crowd on Feb. 9. Hilliard finished with 10 points, including two three-pointers.

By Randy Arrington

LURAY, Feb. 9 — Friday night’s basketball game at Luray High School proved to be a special night in many ways. Not only did the Bulldogs post a season-high 76 points in their regular season finale win against their rival Page … LHS also celebrated its 120th anniversary with cupcakes, recognized senior athletes across several sports, noted the state title achieved by Davey Johnson in track, honored legendary alum and multi-sport athlete Neil Porter with a framed jersey, and paused the start of the game to get Jordan “Gigi” Cash out on the floor to sink a bucket…to which the standing-room-only, capacity crowd erupted.

While no applause the rest of the evening exceeded (or even matched) the one received by Mr. Cash, the Bulldogs gave the home crowd something to cheer about early on as they jumped out to 20-9 lead in the first quarter. Sophomore Matthew Owens recorded eight of his 17 points on the night in the opening eight minutes, including a pair of three-pointers.

Luray went on a 17-11 run in the second quarter to extend their lead to 37-20 by halftime. Six different Bulldogs scored during the frame. Junior Blake Jenkins provided six of his game-high 19 points during the second quarter. It should be noted that Jenkins also posted a team-high 19 points at Page County on Jan. 27 in front of another capacity crowd.

The Panthers’ shooting struggled in the first half, as the visitors only hit 23 percent of their shots. While it improved some in the second half, Page still went 29 percent from the floor for the night and finished under 70 percent from the line. Combined with a dozen turnovers and no way to stop Luray’s offense, the Panthers struggled all night — except the third quarter, where they matched Luray 19-19. Sophomore Caden Combs would score 10 of his team-high 18 points in the final frame.

The evenly matched third quarter left the Luray advantage at 17 points, 56-39, heading into the fourth. The Bulldogs closed the game strong with 20 points in the fourth, fueled by two three-pointers from sophomore Connor Hilliard that opened and closed the final quarter. Luray picked up its 10th district win in the regular season finale, 76-55, and exceeded its previous season-high of 74 points scored at top-seeded Madison on Jan. 23.

Luray’s backcourt trio accounted for 46 points on Friday night — Jenkins lead all scorers with 19, Owens recorded 17, and Hilliard had 10. The Bulldogs’ frontcourt also stepped up with 21 points between seniors Christian Lentz (12) and Ryder Liscomb (9). Luray also got some great minutes off the bench from junior Jae Frye, who posted six points down in the paint.

Overall, Luray shot 46 percent from the floor and 79 percent from the line. They only committed six turnovers on the night, three in each half.

Page County (3-11, 4-19) was lead once again by Combs with 18 points, followed by senior Seth Cloude with 12. Senior Noah Lucas posted nine points, while junior Ace Campbell added eight.

Page County has endured a tough season filled with narrow losses — including three overtime losses and eight losses of six points (two possessions) or less. That includes a 67-65 overtime loss to the Bulldogs on Jan. 27. The Panthers now have lost seven straight and enter the Bull Run District Tournament next week as a No. 7 seed. Page travel to No. 2 Clarke on Monday night for a 6 p.m. tip-off in the district quarterfinal.

Despite a 10-point loss at Clarke on Wednesday, Luray has now won seven of their last eight games heading into next week’s district tournament. The Bulldogs secured the No. 3 seed in the Bull Run tourney and will host No. 6 Central on Monday at 6 p.m.

BOYS BULL RUN TOURNAMENT ~ Quarterfinal Round ~ 6 p.m. tip Monday, Feb. 12