By Mark Carpenter-
After the girls took their turn a week earlier, it was time for the boys’ basketball squads from the Southern Hills Athletic Conference to hit the hardwood as Ripley High School, boasting a whole new set of scoreboards from all angles, hosted the annual SHAC Preview Night. All 10 teams from the conference were in action in the two-quarter exhibitions on Nov. 23, including all four of the Adams County teams.
First up was first-year head coach Greg Scott and the Manchester Greyhounds, facing off with the Lynchburg Clay Mustangs. The Hounds are a new-look group in 2018, but on Friday night they jumped to a quick 4-0 lead on baskets by Brody Francis and Isaiah Redmon, only to see the Mustangs outscore them 16-2 over the last six and a half minutes of the first quarter as Lynchburg grabbed a 16-6 advantage.
The Manchester offense shook off the jitters as the second stanza began. getting free throws from Isaiah Scott and a bucket from senior Jacob Calvert. A later “basket and One” from Scott pulled the Hounds to within 21-13, but Lynchburg answered with baskets by Noah Miller and Raymond Conner to again led by double digits. Down the stretch, the Hounds got a three-pointer from Redmon and a basket by Carl Ricketts but the half ended with the Mustangs on top 29-19.
Conner led the winners with 14 points, while the Greyhounds were led by five points each from Redmon and Scott.
“We’re going to be young and we are inexperienced,” said Coach Scott. “We don’t have a lot of size and we’ll be a half court team for the most part. We’re still a work in progress.”
The following preview match up may have been the most exciting of the night as another first-year head coach, Austin Kingsolver, brought his high-flying West Union Dragons to the floor to face the Fayetteville Rockets. Both teams were picked by the SHAC coaches to finish fourth in their respective divisions but if Friday night was any indication, fans better have their seat belts on when these two teams take the court, as they combined for 82 points in the two quarters of action.
The Rockets blasted off first, getting back-to-back three-pointers from Bowen Doane and big man C.J. McCulley to go up 6-2. Another McCulley trey made it 9-4, before the Dragons got a three from Cameron Campbell to kick off a 9-2 run that gave the Dragons the advantage. The up and down, frantic pace continued with West Union getting a long distance bomb from Conner Campbell to lead 19-18 after one period of action.
West Union senior Bowan Tomlin took charge as the second quarter began, draining a pair from beyond the arc, hitting two free throws, and then a short jumper on the first four Dragon possessions. In fact, West Union scored on its first seven possessions of the quarter, with buckets by Zane Kingsolver and Conner Campbell giving them a 36-28 lead midway through the period.
The shootout continued with the Rockets going on a 7-0 run and the Dragons responding with three-point goals by Cameron Campbell and Jordan Lamphier and a two-pointer from Tanner Neal to hold a 47-35 advantage as the half closed.
Tomlin led the Dragons with 12 points with Cameron Campbell adding 11, plus seven each from Kingsolver and Conner Campbell. Seeming to score at will from anywhere on the floor, the 6’5” McCulley paced the Rockets with 21 points in the two quarters of play.
“We like to run and gun and offensively I thought we looked pretty good tonight,” said Coach Kingsolver after the half. “But defensively we didn’t do much. We’re not that big so we will run the ball and we are in great shape. We like to pressure the ball a lot but we could have some problems rebounding. There’s a lot of good teams in this league and we will just have to be consistent from start to finish.”
As if their rivalry games during the season weren’t enough, the third match up of the preview saw the Peebles Indians battling the North Adams Green Devils. The Indians are coming off a trip to the regional tournament while the Devils are looking to find that magic elixir that will put them in the same position when February rolls around.
For North Adams on Friday, it was a long distance artillery show, nailing eight three-point shots in the half, half of those belonging to guard Cameron Young coming off the bench. North Adams head coach Nathan Copas pulled his starting five early in the first quarter and a trio of treys from Young off the bench propelled the Green Devils into a 14-6 advantage. The Indians bounced back with a basket by Gage Crothers ad a three-point play from Dylan Shulaw but the Devils closed the first period with a 7-0 run to grab a double digit lead at 21-11.
Numerous trips to the charity stripe by both teams marked the first four minutes of the second quarter and a long three off the wing by Seth Meade extended the North Adams lead out to 30-17. The aerial show continued for the Devils with two more treys, one from Cameron Young and another from Meade, as they coasted to a 39-23 preview win.
Cameron Young topped North Adams with 13 points , with Seth Meade and Austin McCormick adding 6 apiece. Shulaw’s 11 points led the Indians, with Alex Camp chipping in 4.
Now the attention turns to this weekend’s opening of the regular season, where Friday, Nov. 30, West Union will play host to Manchester in a tripleheader of SHAC action beginning at 5 p.m.The Greyhounds will be on their home court the next night, hosting the Felicity Cardinals in non-conference play. Saturday night will also see North Adams open their 2018-19 campaign with a road trip to Minford. Peebles will not open regular season play until Tuesday, Dec. 4 when they will travel to Eastern Brown for their conference opener.
