Bulldogs win Bull Run championship in overtime at Strasburg

Owens leads Luray with game-high 23 and named BRD Player of the Year

By Randy Arrington

STRASBURG, Feb. 19 — It’s really hard to beat a good team three times, and the Luray Bulldogs proved that Thursday night. While Strasburg stood as the only team to hand Luray two losses this season, in the Bull Run District tournament finals, the Bulldogs prevailed, 46-42, in a low-scoring barnburner that went into overtime.

“Those guys are tough…they’re physical, their strong, they do all the good things, they’re well coached…we were lucky to come out of here tonight with a win,” LHS head coach Matt Huff said after the game. “This was an old-fashioned slobber-knocker or whatever you want to call it…man, this was a battle. I hope this didn’t take days off of our season battling like that, but man to come in here…these guys were playing as well as anybody, and to come in here and get a win, that means a lot to our program, our team and everything.”

On Jan. 13, the Rams (17-7) beat the Bulldogs on their home court by 11; on Feb. 6, they beat Luray by five on their court. But the third time was the charm for the Bulldogs, as they captured a four-point overtime win when it counted — for a Bull Run District title.

“The first two times we didn’t really make any shots at all. Matthew was kinda hurt the second game. But tonight we hit a couple of big shots and we were able to make some plays down the stretch that just kinda helped us,” Coach Huff said. “Our defense we knew had been getting better and better, so I really wasn’t concerned defensively…but because they play such good defense… are we going to be able to make a shot or make a play when it counted, and we did tonight.”

Senior shooting guard Matthew Owens lead Luray with a game-high 23 points in Thursday’s district championship. Owens hit a pair of three-pointers and went 5-of-6 at the line. After the game, the JMU-commit was named first team all-district and the Bull Run’s Player of the Year. Earlier this season, Owens became the all-time leading scorer in LHS boys basketball history, and currently has 1,579 career points.

In a game filled with offensive threats on both ends of the court, the Bull Run championship was truly a defensive battle in which neither team broke 20 points until a few minutes into the second half. Both teams came out of the gate shooting a combined 4-for-22 from the floor in the first eight minutes, and Strasburg committed seven turnovers in the first frame. However, the Rams lead at the end of the first quarter, 6-5.

The second quarter proved to be a dead even heat. Junior Gavin Dellinger scored all eight of Strasburg’s points, while Owens and senior Riley Benson each had four for Luray. The combined shooting stood at 7-of-24 in the second. The Rams took a narrow 14-13 lead into halftime.

The Bulldogs turned up the heat in the third quarter behind nine points from Owens. Junior Ayden Haddock added a three-pointer, Luray went a perfect 6-for-6 at the line, and the Bulldogs committed no turnovers during the third period. While the title game had two lead changes in both the first and second quarters, there was only one in the third. When Haddock hit his triple at the 6:28 mark, Luray took the lead and headed into the fourth quarter with a two-point advantage, 29-27.

Following a three-pointer by Dellinger to open the fourth quarter, junior Jasiah Warner completed back-to-back traditional threes for a 9-0 run by the Rams in the first two minutes of the final frame. Strasburg lead 36-29 with 6:05 left in the game.

Luray then went on its own 8-0 run behind triples from Owens and Benson to take a 38-36 lead with 2:42 left in the game. Tough defense during that stretch resulted in steals by Owens and senior Connor Hilliard.

Senior Gracen Hottle then hit a bucket for Strasburg to tie the game at 38-38 with 1:45 left. Luray would get the ball back with 1:04 on the clock and call a timeout. The game plan…play keep away and hold for a final shot.

“Because if we didn’t score then they would have held for the final shot, so I said we’re going to limit as many possessions as we can and try to get this last shot…if it goes to overtime, it goes to overtime, and we’ll play from there – but at least get it to overtime,” Coach Huff said after the game. “We shot it a little quick, I thought. I was kind of hoping we would get it off with about 4 seconds [left]…but Matthew slipped, Ayden had it and he was wide open, and I tell them, shoot that all the time.”

When the final shot missed, the district title game went into a four-minute overtime period. All four of Strasburg’s points in the extra period would come from Warner, two on the floor and two at the line. But the Bulldogs would double-up the Rams inside of four minutes behind a basket from Owens, a very timely triple from Benson, and a 3-for-4 effort at the line by Haddock.

Benson’s triple was the last shot from the floor, and it put Luray up 43-40 with 1:17 left in overtime.

“I told the coaches when he shot it, that’s going in baby, and it went in,” Coach Huff said of Benson’s three-pointer. “You know, his senior year, these last couple of games, he has stepped up huge and it’s been great for us. When he makes shots and makes plays, we’re unbeatable.”

The Bulldogs were able to close out the win at the line thanks to Haddock. Warner made it close for the Rams and went 2-for-2 at the stripe to close the gap to 45-42 with just :09.4 on the clock. One second later, Haddock’s final shot at the foul line made it a four-point game. Strasburg’s final possession rendered no points.

“We were lucky enough to get to overtime and then in overtime we made enough plays to win,” Coach Huff said. “Riley Benson, two big threes man.”

After the championship game, Hilliard, Owens and Haddock were all named to the Bull Run All-District team. Hilliard and Owens were first team selections, while Haddock earned second team honors. Owens was named the Bull Run District Player of the Year.

Now, with a Bull Run title under their belts, Luray (18-6) will host Carver College and Career Academy in the quarterfinal round of the Region 1B tournament at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21.

Region 1B Boys Basketball Tournament

QUARTERFINALS ~ Saturday, Feb. 21