Both teams have high hopes for postseason starting next week; Owens still questionable for district tournament
By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Feb. 12 — After suffering a 24-point loss at home on Jan. 20 to their county rivals, the Page County Panthers bounced back for a 13-point win at Luray on Thursday night, 61-48, in the regular season finale for both teams.
“It’s always good to come in, especially on the road here at Luray, and get one at the end of the season,” PCHS head coach Tyler Parker said after the Bull Run victory. “I’m really proud of the guys tonight.”
Page County came into the hyped-up rivalry game after suffering a tough, Senior Night loss to Madison County on Tuesday, 57-54. The struggling Mountaineers (4-8, 6-14) found a way to hang with the Panthers before going on a 14-8 run in the fourth to close out a narrow district victory. Despite committing 10 turnovers (compared to only four for Page), Madison got a game-high 30 points from sophomore Isaiah Jones and won the game at the charity stripe, hitting 75 percent at the line in the final two minutes.
PCHS senior standout Caden Combs lead the Panthers against Madison on Tuesday with a team-high 15 points. On Thursday night at Luray, Combs posted a game-high 22 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter.
“You couldn’t ask for a much better ending to the regular season to come out and beat them,” Combs said after the Luray game. “We played pretty good against the triangle-and-two…usually we struggle against it, but we found a way to score… we played good defense… maybe could have rebounded a little better…but you have to play as a team against the zone. Our coach told us we’re gonna have to have guys step up and that’s exactly what they did.”
Seniors Trenton Eppard and Isaac Foltz both recorded 14 points for the game.
“We knew that they were going to leave Eppard open in some spots, so we’ve really been focusing on just catching it in rhythm and letting it fly, letting it fly with confidence,” Coach Parker said.
The Panthers shot 34 percent from the floor against Madison, but hit 50 percent of their shots against Luray in the second half. While it took a team effort to win the game, Coach Parker acknowledges that his All-District and All-Region senior star has been a key to the Panthers’ success this season.
“I always say he’s special and I’m gonna miss him when he’s gone,” Coach Parker said on Thursday night. “He’s a true competitor, he loves the bright lights, he loves the crowd, and tonight he finally got going a little bit, so we’re proud of him.”
The big story for Luray in Thursday night’s rivalry game was the absence of Division I, JMU commit Matthew Owens — the Bulldogs’ leading scorer this season, and as of last week, the program’s all-time leading scorer.
“He didn’t play Tuesday night either [at Stonewall Jackson]. He rolled his left ankle on Monday against Madison, and he had already had a rolled right ankle previously that we were still battling. So we already knew where we were in the region, so as a coaching staff we said what is the point of him playing?” LHS head coach Matt Huff said after Thursday night’s game. “Our goal is to win a region championship and hopefully move on and try to win a state championship…and getting him at 100 percent is the only way that we are going to do that. So we knew he was going to be sitting the next couple of games to try to get him healthy for that playoff push…and it also gives some other guys an opportunity to step up and earn some minutes..so going forward, they have game minutes.”
LHS senior Connor Hilliard stepped up with a team-high 17 points against Page County, followed by juniors Will Judy and Ayden Haddock with nine points each. Senior Riley Benson added eight.
Hilliard scored seven of his 17 points in the first quarter, as Luray jumped out to a 15-13 lead. The Bulldogs would go 7-of-8 at the line in the first half, but only 5-of-12 in the second half.
Page took over the lead in the second frame behind strong play from Combs and Eppard to lead 25-23 at the half. Luray shot 3-for-13 from the floor in the second quarter.
The Panthers continued to dominate the scoring in the third, as senior Aaron Hensley closed the period with back-to-back three-pointers as part of a 19-13 run. Page hit five total triples in the third and carried a 44-36 lead into the fourth.
While Page had only been to the line once in the first 25 minutes of the game, they made five trips to the charity stripe in the final 1:49. They went 6-for-8. While the score narrowed to as close as four points with six minutes left in the game, the Panthers steadily pulled away en route to a 13-point win.
Page County (9-5, 13-9) will be the No. 4 seed in next week’s Bull Run District Tournament, which features only four teams in a semifinal round on Tuesday and those winners in a district championship on Thursday. The Panthers will travel to the winner of Friday night’s Bull Run matchup between Strasburg and Central for Tuesday’s district quarterfinal.
“It’s getting real, it’s coming down to the end here, so we’re just trying to cherish every moment we’ve got here together.,” Coach Parker said. “No matter how long we’ve got, we’re just gonna love each other, care for each other, and play for each other. So, that’s what we’re going to do down the stretch.”
Luray (10-4, 16-5) will be the No. 3 seed in the district tournament. It’s unlikely that Owens will hit the court for the Bulldogs in Tuesday’s semifinal.
“We’ll see. That’s kinda up in the air right now,” Coach Huff said on Thursday night. “I would probably say that Tuesday he may be out…Thursday could be open, but right now I would say he’s probably out for the semifinals…the championship, if we can make it there, we’ll see.”
Coach Huff knows his team is deeper than just its star player, but he acknowledges the hole Owens’ absence leaves.
“When you have a guy like [Owens] that can go make a play and go get 33 on any night, it’s crunch times like this where you could tell we were missing him in that area tonight,” Coach Huff said. “But I thought that our other guys played really well… I mean we were right there in the ballgame until the very end, so I’m very proud of our effort to be right there in the ballgame minus [Owens].”
Luray will travel to the loser of Friday’s Strasburg at Central matchup for Tuesday’s district quarterfinal.
For schedules, rosters and results, check the Bull Run District website.
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