Junior Billy Flaugher led West Union with 17 points in their 67-56 loss to Lynchburg on January 31. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
It was Homecoming Night at West Union High School on Friday, January 31 and amidst all the pomp and pageantry, there were basketball games to be played. After Darius Davis and Olivia Lewis were named Homecoming King and Queen, Coach Adam Barr’s varsity Dragons took the floor for a Southern Hills Athletic Conference match up with the visiting Lynchburg Mustangs.
Coming in, the Mustangs stood in third place in the big school at the conference while the Dragons dwelled in the cellar with just one win in the SHAC, an 82-62 blasting of Ripley on January 28. Those numbers seemed to have made the Mustangs the favorites going into Friday’s match up, but for three quarters it was the home team playing like the favorite. Unfortunately for the Dragons, a high school game consists of four quarters and the fourth on Friday was not kind as the Mustangs outscored West Union 23-11 over the final eight minutes to steal away a 67-56 victory.
Early on it looked like the Dragons had a little Homecoming hangover as the Mustangs raced to an 8-2 lead behind three-point goals from Cody Bell and Denver Clinton. West Union awoke and fought back with a pair of buckets from junior Billy Flaugher and later tied the game at 11 on a three-pointer from point guard Tegan Knox. The lead went to the home team on their ensuing possession when Flaugher drilled a three of his own. The long distance assault continued as the first quarter ended with three-balls from Clinton and Knox and with a 17-14 West Union lead.
The Mustangs raced out of the second quarter gate with an 8-0 run, scoring on their first three offensive possessions, including back-to-back three pointers from Trevor Niehaus. Back again came the Dragons with a basket by Trae Grooms and a three from Knox that tied the score at 22.
After a Lynchburg basket, the Dragons ended the first half on a 6-0 run, culminated when Knox used a Flaugher ball screen to fire in a long three in the final seconds to send the home side to the intermission holding a 28-24 advantage.
The second half began with an offensive flurry, the Dragons scoring on their first two possessions and the Mustangs on their first four, with the two teams combining for five three-point goals. The last of those came from Lynchburg’s Ethan Faust and gave the Mustangs a 35-34 lead, kicking off a quarter that saw two ties and six lead changes. West Union took the lead right back on a pair of Flaugher free throws only to see a Clinton basket flip the board back to the Mustangs.
The Dragons’ next seven points came from senior Trae Grooms, one of those a free throw with 1:29 left in the third that gave his team a 43-42 advantage. A basket by Andrew Daley increased the home team’s lead to three but the final score of the third stanza came on a steal and layup from the Mustang’s Asher Faust and the fourth quarter began with the Dragons clinging to a slim one-point lead.
West Union scored on its first two possessions of the final quarter, the second of those from Gavin Jarvis that gave his team a 49-46 lead. The Mustangs answered with a very quick 7-1 spurt with a Clinton basket with 5:40 to play putting the Mustangs in front 53-50 and West Union never saw the lead again. Holding a four-point advantage with under three minutes remaining, the Mustangs played keep away and ran nearly 90 seconds off the clock before the Dragons could commit their fifth foul of the frame. As Lynchburg began making the march to the charity stripe, the lead continued to grow and the last seven points for the visitors came from the line as they outscored the home team 23-11 in the fourth quarter to turn a one-point deficit into the eventual 11-point victory.
It was a huge offensive night for Lynchburg’s Denver Clinton, who led all scorers with 27 points, going 10-17 from the floor and adding 5 rebounds. Two more Mustangs reached double figures, Ethan Faust with 13 and Trevor Niehaus with 11. Lynchburg went 11 for 23 from beyond the arc and only turned the ball over 9 times in the entire game. West Union was led in scoring by 17 points from Billy Flaugher, joined in double figures by Trae Grooms (14) and Tegan Knox (12).
With the loss, the Dragons fell to 5-12 overall, just 1-9 in conference play and were back in SHAC action on Tuesday, February 4, a home date with the Fayetteville Rockets. A busy weekend begins with Senior Night on Friday as West Union will entertain the Manchester Greyhounds. On Saturday, the Dragons will host Sciotoville East, a team they defeated 74-34 earlier in the season.
Lynchburg
14 10 20 23 -67
West Union
17 11 17 11 —56
Lynchburg (67): A. Faust 6, Bell 6, West 4, Niehaus 11, E. Faust 13, Clinton 27
W. Union (56): Grooms 14, Jarvis 8, Knox 12, Daley 4, Flaugher 17, Caldwell 1
Three-Point Goals:
Lynchburg (11)- Bell 2, Dlinton 3, Niehaus 2, E. Faust 3, West 1
W. Union (7)- Knox 4, Flaugher 3
