Luray and Page now sit at second and third, respectively, in Bull Run
By Randy Arrington
SHENANDOAH, Jan. 22 — Page County arguably played their best game of the season on Wednesday night, as the Panthers had four players in double figures and posted a season-high 73 points against rival Luray. The Bulldogs entered the game undefeated in the Bull Run, while Page had dropped five of their last eight games. However, when harsh winter temperatures and a troubled boiler at LHS caused the game to be relocated, the Panthers took advantage of their home court and a packed house in a 73-65 district win that firmly put them in third place — right behind the Bulldogs.
“This was huge… we’re riding this momentum as much as we can,” PCHS head coach Tyler Parker said after Wednesday night’s game.
Juniors Caden Combs and Dawson Richards both lead the Panthers with a game-high 23 points, while senior Ace Campbell had 13 and junior Isaac Foltz added 12. Page County was hot from the floor all night, hitting 48 percent of their shots in the first half and 58 percent in the second half. In addition, they went 5-for-5 from the line in the first half.
“We’ve been shooting it well…we just, down the stretch in the third and fourth quarter, we’ve gotten gun shy lately,” Coach Parker said. “I told our guys, stay with the foot on the gas, and we did tonight. We shot well all night. I’m proud of ’em.”
By contrast, Luray only hit 27 percent of its shots in the first half (8-for-30), and only 35 percent in the second half (13-for-37). Overall for the night, the Bulldogs were 21-of-67 (31 percent) from the floor. The visitors also went 14-for-21 (67 percent) from the free throw line.
“We missed a whole lot of shots…and unfortunately, tonight our offense was dictating our defense. We’d like to have our defense kinda dictate our offense, meaning we pride ourselves on playing defense and then that carries the offense, but tonight we let our missed shots, our missed layups, some of our turnovers dictate our defense,” LHS head coach Matt Huff said after the game. “And then of course, they came out and they didn’t miss…and if they don’t miss, they can play with anybody in the district.”
The Bulldogs also had four players in double digits and were lead by junior Connor Hilliard, who also had a game-high 23 points. Junior Matthew Owens recorded 12 points in the rivalry game, while both senior Blake Jenkins and sophomore Ayden Haddock added 10.
Dawson and Richards combined for three triples in the opening frame, as Page County jumped out to a 20-11 lead in the first quarter. That nine-point difference would generally hold for the rest of the game, as the second (15-15) and third (22-22) quarters were a draw, and Luray won the fourth quarter by only a point (17-16). The Panthers had seven shots from beyond the arc, with five three-pointers by Dawson.
Luray would only hit four buckets in each of the first two quarters and trailed 35-26 at the half. However, the Bulldogs hit seven of their nine three-pointers in the second half to draw as close as four points, 65-61, with 2:33 left in the game. Hilliard hit his fourth triple of the night with just under a minute to play, bringing the score to 69-65. A bucket by Campbell and a pair of free throws from Foltz capped off the win for Page.
“Our guys aren’t gonna quit…they are always going to fight and they fight until the end…and I’m proud of that effort,” Coach Huff said. “If we could have gotten a few of those shots to fall early, it might have been a different game…It was just one of those nights where it all came together in a perfect storm where we didn’t play very well, and they played really well and we had to fight and claw to get back into it and just didn’t have enough down the stretch.”
The Panthers actually turned the ball over eight times during the game, compared to only one turnover (in the fourth quarter) for Luray. However, the difference in shooting told the tale of this rivalry matchup.
“They were ready. It was their Super Bowl, and they played like it, and they got the win,” Coach Huff added. “Our rotation wasn’t what it normally has been…we weren’t getting the extra help in the rotation down, and then when they kicked it we weren’t closing out like we normally do and they made shots. Teams in their building, if they make shots, it can make for a long night on the road, especially in the Bull Run because the Bull Run is very competitive, very tough…and they are a really good team. When that team plays like that, they are a top team in the league. They just haven’t been playing like that all year…this might get them going.”
Now sitting firmly in third place in the Bull Run District, Page County (3-2, 7-6) hopes to close out its remaining nine district games on a positive note. Up next, the Panthers travel to Madison (2-3, 3-11) Friday night for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
“We’re hoping to get a late push to where we can get in the region and get a high seed and have a home game,” Coach Parker said. “So we’re riding this momentum… super proud of the guys right now.”
Coach Parker also knows that Page’s level of success will greatly depend on the play of Combs down the stretch.
“He’s impressive…he puts in so much time and so much effort,” Coach Parker said of his leading scorer. “Even last year, we just didn’t get the recognition…we felt last year he was the best player in the district, and this year…he just proved it tonight.”
The second-place Bulldogs (5-1, 9-3) suffered their first district loss to their cross-county rivals Wednesday night and broke a six-game winning streak, but Coach Huff hopes his team can regain its focus for the remainder of the season.
“We didn’t have a very good shoot around… we weren’t focused, we were kinda goofing off and I kicked ’em out of shoot around because we weren’t focused,” Coach Huff said of the Page game. “So the message was we gotta refocus, get back to the basics, get back to what has gotten us to where we are so far in order to make a run and try to finish the season strong.”
Up next, Luray travels to George Wythe High School in Wythville for a non-district tournament on Friday and Saturday, facing George Wythe at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Union at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
For schedules, rosters and results, check the Bull Run District website.
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