The Shadow
Senior night can be a juggling act for high school basketball coaches.
Nolan Caldwell handled the job perfectly Friday.
The seven Alleghany seniors dressed all logged big minutes and they ended their evening walking off the floor with a 76-65 Three Rivers District win over Giles.
“Senior night — first off you want to get those guys a win,” said Caldwell. “You want to let them remember senior night as a win. And you’re trying to get them as many minutes as you can.”
The Mountaineers have eight seniors, but Charles Honaker missed the game with the flu.
“We were really upset that he couldn’t be with us tonight,” Caldwell explained. “He’s a fine young man.”
But with Honaker’s No. 40 draped over a chair on the end of the bench, his classmates — Christian Allen, Tanner Arritt, Devin Lane, Chase Nicely, Colby Skidmore, Chris Tingler and Montana Travis got the job done.
“They played hard,” said Caldwell. “They got Giles in some foul trouble. The (Jacoby) Wilson kid, their best player, picked up two quick fouls. That kind of took him out of the game the whole first half.
“We played all seniors in the first quarter except Daylin (Pinkston) came in for a minute at the end,” he added. “Then we just mixed everybody in.”
While the eight seniors got their just due, an Alleghany freshman shared the spotlight. Jayson Easton put up 30 points in under three quarters of work.
He scored 10 in each of the second, third and fourth periods.
“He didn’t even play the first quarter and ended up with 30 — that’s pretty impressive,” Caldwell said. “But the best part of it is that he’s got three more years.”
The Mountaineers built a 25-15 halftime lead and led 60-36 in the fourth quarter before the Spartans rallied.
Behind Wilson, who had 18 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, Giles cut the Alleghany lead to six down the stretch.
But turnovers, the Spartans had 30 of them, would end any hopes of a comeback win.
Allen added 10 points for the winners, Triston Hensley had eight and both Arritt and Tavi Wright had seven each. Corey Easton led Alleghany on the glass with five rebounds, while Wright had four.
The Mountaineers also helped themselves at the free throw line, connecting on 17-of-18.
Giles ended their season 0-12 in the TRD and 3-18 overall. They will play in the Class 2, Region C tournament the week of February 18.
Alleghany (3-9 TRD, 7-14 overall), who has been eliminated from postseason play, will play one more game.
In a late scheduling change, the Mountaineers will host Pulaski County in a 6 p.m., varsity only contest Monday night.
“We lost that game with Bath County and the coach down at Pulaski is a good friend of (Alleghany assistant) coach (Gavin) Haynes,” said Caldwell.
“They needed a game and they can still possibly make their regional tournament with a win. We wanted to play a full 22-game schedule plus it’s another home game. We’ll do everything we can to get another win.”
The Alleghany jayvees, under the direction of Seth Bradley, split games to end their season.
The Mountaineers lost at Rockbridge County on Thursday night, 44-41, before rebounding Friday for a 52-25 win over Giles.
Andrew Middleton scored 11 points in the AHS win, Baron Leitch added nine and both Antwaun Broadnax and Davien Moore had six each.
Dylan Gibson with five, Dylan Nicely with four, Matt Warren with three, Alexandre Taylor and Coree Nicely with two each and Cameron Marshall, Andrew Peck, Garrett Via and Kobe Nicely with one each completed the scoring.
Middleton and Gibson both had 10 points against Rockbridge County, Leitch added seven, Marshall and Taylor both scored six and Dylan Nicely had two.
The Mountaineers ended the junior varsity season with a record of 7-12.
