The Ashe County High School varsity girls basketball team continued to keep opponents off the scoreboard, winning four games in six days while winning their second consecutive Mountain Valley Conference tournament championship and setting a school defensive record.

Huskies Defense Stops Blackhawks

Points were few and far between for the West Wilkes Blackhawks in West Jefferson on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Ashe County's defense posted a first quarter shutout and allowed only four points in the second on their way to a 29-4 halftime lead.

The Ashe offense got off to a slow start, scoring six points in the first four minutes, but still led 10-0 after the first quarter. Ashe County junior Mallary Clay scored eight points in little more than two minutes early in the second quarter and the Huskies' led 20-0 before West Wilkes scored with 4:32 remaining in the half.

Ashe County junior Mariah McVey scored five points during a 12-0 run over the opening four-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter to push the lead to 41-4. The Blackhawks then found their only offensive streak of the night, scoring six minutes in three minutes, but were still outscored 11-6 during that span.

The Ashe County defense held West Wilkes to three points in the fourth quarter - and scoreless for the final four minutes - to set the school record for fewest points allowed. The Huskies lowered the record by three points; the previous record was set in a 73-16 victory over North Wilkes on Feb. 6, 2009.

Ashe County Head Coach Laura Foster said the team "talked about bringing our defensive mentality into the conference tournament.

"We really wanted to bring our defensive focus, set a tone early and get going from the beginning," she said. 

She later noted that the team's "half-court man-to-man and zone [defenses] were very effective tonight."

Huskies Top Starmount in Boonville

Ashe County wore their white home jerseys and were labeled the "home" team on the scoreboard on Thursday, Feb. 18, but the court and their opponent's jerseys both read "Starmount." Although the Huskies' won their previous game in Boonville by 18 (53-35) and the home match against the Starmount Rams by 20 (46-26), their opponents weren't giving up their home court a second time without some resistance.

The Rams scored the first three points of the game before Ashe County got hot with four players combining for baskets on a 9-0 run in less than two minutes. The Huskies never trailed again, but Starmount kept it close.

Starmount scored five fast points late in the first quarter to cut a seven-point Ashe lead to two, but the Huskies responded with three points in the final 30 seconds - including a basket from sophomore MacKinsey Johnson with six seconds on the clock.

Ashe opened the second quarter with a 7-2 run to take a 23-13 lead before the Rams went on a 6-0 run. Starmount pulled within three twice in the final three minutes and trailed 28-23 at the half.

The teams traded baskets over the first four minutes of the third quarter and the Huskies led 34-29 with less than four minutes remaining. But the Huskies found a way to create some distance with an 8-0 run in which McVey hit two three-points in 30 seconds. Ashe led 42-31 entering the fourth quarter.

The Rams scored five consecutive points early in the fourth to close the gap to 43-36 but were unable to get any closer. The Huskies led by as many as 12 en route to a 50-40 victory and a spot in the title game.

"We knew coming in that it's hard to beat any team three times, particularly a team as talented as Starmount," said Foster. "We knew we would get their best effort. Luckily, we responded better in the second half and did a better job defensively."

She noted all 10 players "played pretty well" and thought McVey "hit some big outside shots."

Huskies Earn Title Over Eagles

Ashe County posted their second shutout quarter of the MVC tournament in a pivotal third quarter against the Wilkes Central Eagles in Boonville on Friday, Feb. 19, as the Huskies earned back-to-back tournament championships - but not before getting a brief scare from the Eagles.

Ashe scored the first six points of the game and led 10-3 four minutes into the first quarter. Both teams had trouble finding the basket over the latter four minutes of the quarter and the Huskies led 12-6 entering the second.

Wilkes Central found success on both ends of the floor over the next three-and-a-half minutes, outscoring Ashe 7-1 to tie the game at 13 at the 4:23 mark. The Eagles took their only lead of the game, 16-15, at the 2:42 mark, but Ashe junior Chandler Christensen scored four seconds later to regain the advantage. The Huskies led 21-16 at the half.

Ashe returned from intermission with a near-perfect third quarter, outscoring the Eagles 14-0 to take a 19-point edge into the final quarter of the tournament.

The Ashe lead fluctuated between 17 to 21 over the final eight minutes. The 46-25 victory capped a perfect 19-0 season for Ashe County in conference play.

"We've got a good team," said Foster, who has now won her last 32 games in the conference. "They believe in each other, they're all on the same page and they've got a lot invested. ... They know we're working hard for a reason, and that's to put up banners."

Ashe also earned several honors in conference play: Foster was named MVC Coach of the Year; Clay won Player of the Year for the regular season; McVey was named tournament MVP; Clay, McVey, junior Lizzie Hanes and senior Caitlin Elliott were all named to the all-conference team.

Huskies Advance to Second Round

Ashe County only had a weekend to celebrate their conference championship before the 2-A state tournament began on Monday, Feb. 22, with a home match against the Madison Patriots from Marshall. Madison had the most success against the Huskies since December but also allowed Ashe to score a season-high 81 points.

Ashe County went on an early 7-0 run and led 11-4 almost midway through the first quarter, but Madison went on a 10-4 run over the next three minutes to pull within 15-14. 

Ashe County only led by two early in the second when they 9-0 run in less than two minutes to take a 27-16 lead. Ashe led by 14 late in the half but the Patriots scored the final five points to pull within 34-25.

Madison was able to stay within 10 points for the first four minutes of the third quarter before the Huskies ended the quarter on a 14-1 run to take a 59-36 lead into the fourth quarter.

Ashe County outscored the Patriots 20-5 over the next six minutes and advanced to the second round of the state tournament with the 81-45 victory.

Foster said she "thought we came out and played a very good second half, in particular had a good third quarter. We changed up things defensively to adjust to the things they were doing and what we weren't doing."

Foster noted that the teams are going to continue getting better with each round of the tournament.

"Every game will be tough," she said. "From here on out we have to bring our 'A game' if we expect to keep going."

Ashe will host a second round game against the Bandy Trojans from Catawba at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 24. If Ashe wins they would then host a game on Friday, Feb. 26, against the winner of Owen/Pisgah.

Admission to all home state tournament games is $6. For more information, call the high school at (336) 846-2400.

Click to www.ashemountaintimes.com for updates on the ACHS varsity girls' playoff run.