Bassett cleans up vs. Grundy
Bulldogs earn state berth
The Bengals haul down 30 offensive rebounds to down the G-Men and earn a state tourney berth.
By Aaron McFarling
981-3124 Staff report
BASSETT -- Thursday night was a microcosm of their program's history. The Bassett Bengals kept putting up shots and missing, kept getting the ball back and missing again.
Eventually, though, if you take enough shots, you'll get one to fall.
Bassett ended a boys' basketball drought that's lasted at least a dozen years -- and probably a lot longer than that -- when it defeated pesky Grundy 61-48 in the Region IV semifinals.
The Bengals (14-8) will play for the region title here Saturday night against Martinsville. Regardless of that outcome, they have assured themselves a spot in the Group AA tournament for the first time in ... well, a while.
"I don't know," Bassett coach Tom Hering said when asked how long it's been. "I've been here 12 years and we haven't been there in that time. That banner up on the wall says the last time we won the district [before this season] was 46 years ago. Have we advanced to the region tournament since then? I have no idea. It's probably been 46 years since we did that, too."
Perhaps it's only fitting, then, that a staggering 30 offensive rebounds Thursday night helped get them there. Bassett had trouble getting the ball inside against Grundy's zone defense but made up for it by attacking the glass on every possession.
"At practice, we work on defense and rebounding," Bassett center Elijah McCall said. "Boxing out, making sure on foul shots we try to get inside and get the ball.
"Anytime you get a second or third chance to score, you get momentum."
One sequence early in the second half illustrated his point perfectly. Twice the Bengals missed jumpers, and twice they got the offensive rebound. Ryan Byrd was fouled and missed both free throws, but Bassett got the rebound again.
After another missed shot, McCall pulled down the rebound, scored and got fouled.
He missed the free throw -- but teammate Tony Womack was there for the putback.
That's eight shots at the hoop before Grundy (17-10) even saw the ball again.
"It's probably the strongest team hitting the boards that we've faced all year," Grundy coach Greg Rife said. "We were just mismatched inside a little bit. ... Giving too many second and third opportunities was the deciding factor in the game."
Theo Justus led Grundy with 18 points. Brandon Johnson, who battled foul trouble most of the game, led Bassett with 13 points, while Johnathan Morton added 12.
"We had to work for this one, but that's fine," Hering said with a smile. "However you get it, just keep moving on."
GRUNDY (17-10)
Compton 1 0-0 2, Justus 8 0-0 18, Ashby 2 0-3 4, Peck 5 0-0 11, Church 4 3-4 11, Mullins 0 2-4 2, Billiter 0 0-2 0. Totals 20 5-13 48.
BASSETT (14-8)
Johnson 5 2-2 13, Morton 3 5-6 12, Byrd 2 2-6 6, Covington 2 3-4 7, McCall 2 3-7 7, Womack 4 1-4 9, Draper 3 0-0 7, Muse 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 16-29 61.
Grundy 14 14 6 14--48
Bassett 14 16 10 21--61
3-point goals--G 3 (Justus 2, Peck), B 3 (Johnson, Draper, Morton). Total fouls--Grundy 23, Bassett 11. Fouled out--Church (G), Ashby (G).
Bulldogs earn state berth
ABINGDON -- Shaquan Beamer scored 19 points to lead Martinsville to a 58-50 win over Abingdon in a Region IV boys' semifinal Thursday.
Emanuel Reid had 14 points for Martinsville (19-6), which clinched a Group AA tournament berth.
Dominick Mitchell added 10 points for Martinsville, which returns to action at 7 p.m. Saturday at Bassett for the Region IV championship game.
MARTINSVILLE (19-6)
Reid 14, Mitchell 10, Hairston 8, Hughes 1, Beamer 19, Wimbush 6.
ABINGDON (18-6)
Wagner 10, Mosley 5, Viers 14, Silcox 16, Vaught 2, Perdue 3.
Martinsville 13 17 13 15--58
Abingdon 15 13 11 11--50
3-point goals -- M (Reid 2, Mitchell, Hairston 2); A (Viers 2, Perdue).
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