The Shadow
The Alleghany Mountaineers boys JV basketball team capped off a 20-win season by winning the 2021-22 Three Rivers District JV Tournament Championship.
The Mountaineers held off a second half comeback from the Glenvar Highlanders in the championship game to prevail 53-44.
In the title game, the Mountaineers were led by a trio of players who scored in double figures. Eli Entsminger and Chase DePriest, each scored 13 points, while Hunter DePriest recorded a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Reed Hutchison and Eli Taylor, did all they could to keep the Highlanders in the game after the team fell down early by double digits. Hutchison, finished with a team-high 12 points, while Taylor added 11 for the Highlanders.
After Jake Williams scored his only basket of the game to put the Highlanders up 2-0, the team would go cold the rest of the first quarter as they missed their last nine shots. During that stretch, the Highlanders watched as the Mountaineers went on an 11-0 scoring run. The Highlanders ended their scoring drought before the quarters end on a Liam Paxton free-throw to cut the lead down to eight points at 11-3.
In the second quarter, the Mountaineers lead grew up to double digits at 21-11 before the Highlanders were able to cut it down to six points by the end of the first half.
Trailing by eight points, Hutchison and Garland Smith knocked down back to back three-pointers to cut the lead down to just two points. It was the closest the team had been since the first quarter.
Entsminger, ended the Highlanders run by scoring the next five points to build his teams lead back up to seven points at 32-25.
Just like the first half ended, the Mountaineers went into the final quart leading by six points.
In the fourth quarter, Aidan Hylton brought the score down to five points while making a layup and being fouled. Hylton, did not convert the three-point play which kept the score at 45-40.
Down the stretch of the final few minutes, Entsminger, knocked down 5-of-6 free-throws to seal the victory.
After starting the season out winning their first 15 games, the Mountaineers dropped back to back games against Radford to fall to 15-2. The team won their last five games including the two district tournament games.
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Ttl
AHS 11 12 13 17 53
GHS 3 14 13 14 44
Mountaineers Statistics
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl
Entsminger 13 1 7 2
Jackson 2 1 1 1
Knighton 4 5 4 1
C. DePriest 13 7 – 1
H. DePriest 12 13 3 2
Fisher – 1 – –
Chapman – 1 – –
May 9 3 2 –
Highlanders Statistics
Player Pts Reb Ast Stl
Shepherd 2 1 – 2
Hutchison 12 3 – 4
Williams 2 3 – 1
Hylton 8 2 – 1
Taylor 11 2 2 2
Paxton 3 – 1 2
Smith 6 3 1 2
