The Shadow
LOW MOOR – In the second game of a Class 3, Region C doubleheader at Alleghany High School on Friday evening, the No. 7 Cougars boys’ basketball team were victorious over No. 10 Rustburg 73-65 in the regional first-round.
It was game in which Alleghany controlled throughout but also allowed Rustburg a chance to get back in on multiple occasions.
The Cougars never trailed in their first-round win over the Red Devils.
AHS opened the game scoring the nine points before Tremane Vassal ended the scoring drought for RHS with four minutes left in the first quarter.
But as quick to a start that Alleghany got on, Rustburg came right back and outscored the Cougars 16-12 in the quarters final four minutes to cut the deficit down to only five points at 21-16.
The momentum the Red Devils were riding going into the second quarter would only last for so long as the Cougars took back control of the game as their lead slowly extended back up to 10 points late in the first half on an Eli Entsminger jumper.
Jalen Raether would further extend the lead for AHS on a 3-pointer as the Cougars took a 38-26 lead with only seconds remaining in the half.
The lead would continue to grow for Alleghany at the start of the third quarter as Xzavier Hayslett on a fastbreak dished the ball out to an open and trailing Mason Hale who dropped in a layup to push the Cougars lead to 16 points at 42-26.
Alleghany would extend their lead to as high as 19 points in the third quarter and took a 58-42 lead heading into the fourth.
Just as it seemed like Alleghany was headed towards the regional quarterfinals, Rustburg would not go down easily.
The Red Devils opened up the fourth by outscoring the Cougars 11-2 during the first three minutes as RHS was back in the game and only down seven points at 60-53 following a Vassal layup.
Head coach Seth Bradley saw enough and called a timeout for Alleghany.
The timeout would prove to be the biggest key to slowing down Rustburg as Alleghany following the timeout went on to grab back-to-back layups from Chase DePriest and Hale. The Cougars would score six straight points to extend their lead back to double digits at 66-53.
Rustburg would find themselves once again back in a scoring drought, this time of three minutes before finally getting back on the scoreboard on Thomas Goff 3-pointer which cut the lead down to 10 points with two minutes remaining.
Following the 3-pointer, Jaydon Herndon stole the inbounds pass and dropped in layup to cut the deficit to single digits. Herndon led all scorers with a game-high 24 points.
It would be too little too late for Rustburg.
The Red Devils looking to extend the game fouled DePriest who silenced the noise from the RHS side and made both free throws to ice the game and seal with the win for AHS.
The Cougars finished the game with four players scoring in double figures. Hayslett scored a team-high 20 points, DePriest had 15, while Hale scored 12, and Raether added 10. DePriest also finished with a double-double as he brought in 10 rebounds.
Alleghany (16-8) will now advance to Monday’s regional quarterfinals in Penn Laird when they take on No. 2 seed Spotswood (20-3). The Trailblazers have won 15 in a row heading into the tournament. Tip-off time is set for 6:00 p.m.
Rustburg 16 10 16 23 – 65
Alleghany 21 17 20 15 – 73
