The Shadow
GALAX – A two minute stretch of the fourth quarter proved to be the difference maker in the Galax Maroon Tide’s 54-37 win over the Covington Cougars in the first round of the boys Region C basketball tournament Wednesday night.
Galax sophomore Lawrence Parsons came off the bench to score the first four points of the fourth quarter for the Maroon Tide and Devae Goins added an old-fashioned three-point play to increase a 36-32 lead into a 43-32 lead with 4:26 remaining.
The Cougars were never able to regroup.
Senior Keenan Smith had a nice drive-and-layup for Covington after a four minute scoreless stretch to bring the Cougars to within nine (43-34), but Galax’s Justin Hash responded with his second three-ball of the game.
Michael Myers’ three-point play with 2:32 remaining in the game made the score 46-37, but the hosts would score the final eight points of the game and advance to Friday’s semifinals.
“That two minute stretch there in the fourth quarter really hurt us,” said Covington coach Rob Bennett. “We could just never regroup.”
Deion George gave Galax an early 4-0 lead in the first quarter, but Covington’s Dominique Jordan responded with a three-ball and followed that up with a feed to Aaron Fertig to give Covington a 5-4 lead with 6:29 to play in the first quarter.
Jordan’s drive-and-layup increased the Covington lead to 10-6 with 5:04 left, but a George runnner and feed to Devae Goins for two knotted the score at 10 with four minutes left in the opening quarter.
Galax led 15-12 with under a minute to play in the first, but Smith knocked down a pair at the line to pull Covington to within one, 15-14, after the first quarter.
It must’ve been something with the even numbered quarters that made the basket shrink up for the Cougars as they scored just five points in both the second and fourth quarters.
Chad Lipes’ layup to open the second quarter gave Covington a 16-15 lead and they led 19-17 with 5:45 remaining the first half following the first of five Ryan Hall 3-balls on the night.
That would be the Cougars final bucket of the half as the Maroon Tide would close the quarter with a 12-0 run to take a 29-19 lead at the break.
The hot-hand of Hall helped the Cougars keep the Tide within reach.
Justin Hash’s dish to George to open the third quarter increased Galax’s lead to 31-19, but Hall responded with a triple from the top-of-the-key.
Galax increased their lead to 36-24 after Jerad Brown hit 1-of-2 at the line with 3:53 left in the third.
The Cougars would close the quarter with an 8-0 to pull themselves to within four heading into the final eight minutes.
Myers knocked down a pair at the line with 3:36 remaining in the third quarter to pull the Cougars to within 10 (36-26) and Hall knocked down two more threes in the final two minutes to make the score 36-32.
Hall went 5-of-5 from behind the arc through the first three quarters and hit 5-of-6 attempts on the night.
“I thought Ryan Hall shot the ball extremely well,” said Bennett. “He kept us in it with the three-ball. We just got killed on the boards tonight and couldn’t make a shot when we needed to.
“I told the team at halftime that I wanted them to cut their lead to at least five and they got it to four. I’m proud of how hard they fought to get back in it,” added Bennett.
The loss meant the end of the careers for six Covington seniors – Fertig, Myers, Smith, Ryan Kidd, Matt Paxton and James Hunter – who all suited up in the blue and gold for the last time.
“It’s a shame that I only got to work with this group of seniors for just one year,” said Bennett. “They adapted to the changes well and I wish them nothing but the best of luck in the future. They are a good group of guys.”
Covington finished the season with an 8-11 record.
