LHS senior sets career scoring record for boys basketball
Not only did Owens surpass LHS great Craig Tutt’s 1,482 points — a two-time All-ODAC selection at Bridgewater College — he also posted 30 points in the road game on Tuesday at Rapp. The first team All-State selection and Region 2B Player of the Year from a season ago also recorded a dozen points against Central, Strasburg and Madison during a six-game stretch in 10 days to close out the season.
The new career high for scoring in boys basketball at LHS stands at 1,535 points…and it’s still climbing.
“He’s a special player…he’s a once in a lifetime type player,” LHS head coach Matt Huff said of Owens. “For four years we’ve had him and he’s won a lot of games for us, and hopefully we got a lot more left in us until he graduates. You can’t say enough about the kid.”
The Bulldogs close out the regular season this week on the road Tuesday night at Stonewall Jackson (0-11, 2-18) before returning home on Thursday, Feb. 12 to host rival Page County (8-4, 12-8) in a Bull Run District regular season-finale that will carry some postseason seeding implications.
The Bulldogs (9-3, 15-4) currently sit in third place in the Bull Run District — a half-game behind No. 2 Strasburg (9-2, 13-6) who picked up a narrow 45-40 win over Luray on Friday night. Luray defeated No. 1 Central (10-2, 16-4) on Wednesday, 52-44.
“Central and Strasburg are really good, they are very well coached. They do a great job… We split with Central and we were right there tonight,” Coach Huff said after Friday’s 45-40 loss to the Rams. “Offensively, we didn’t do very well…we took some shots that were forced a little bit…but 22 to four free throws…probably the only night you’ll ever hear me complain about officiating, but I didn’t think we got a fair shake tonight. But hats off to Strasburg, they played well enough to beat us.”
Despite the loss, Friday night proved to be a special moment in LHS basketball history. Most of the dozen players who have reached 1,000 points or more in boys basketball at LHS gathered on the court to be recognized before the game.
“It was awesome to have a lot of those guys come in and be able to honor them… I think that’s unique. I don’t know of anyone that’s ever done it, and I just felt it was awesome for us to do…the crowd loved it,” Coach Huff said of the pre-game program. “I was hoping we could have gotten a win for those guys coming back like that, it didn’t go that way…but a very special night, and I was just proud to be a part of it.”
Luray also sits in second place in Region 1B behind Cumberland County. Rapp (5-7, 11-7) has dropped back to fourth place in the region.
Owens helped lead the Bulldogs to two-straight Region 2B titles and two consecutive trips to the VHSL Class 2 state tournament. Luray wants to top last season’s 21-8 mark and earn a trip to the VHSL Class 1 state tournament in early March at VCU’s Siegel Center in Richmond.
“We’ve been playing pretty well. I’d been telling people before the season that Strasburg was my pick to win the district, maybe the region, them or Central. They’re both really good and they are one and two [in the district standings]…so I knew it was going to be a battle with those guys,” Coach Huff said on Friday. “Offensively, we still have some things we have to tweak, still gotta learn a few things, we’re still adjusting, we’re still working on it, so we’re still getting there. So as soon as it starts to click with everybody and it gets there, I think we can be a really dangerous team.”
For schedules, rosters and results, check the Bull Run District website.
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