Gate City Moves Closer To CMD Title With Win at Lebanon

BY ANTHONY STEVENS
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

LEBANON, Va. — The Gate City Blue Devils took a huge step toward their eighth consecutive district championship on Wednesday night

Gate City earned a trilling 53-49 road victory over Lebanon. With a win over Lee High on Friday, Gate City (14-7, 6-1) clinches the Clinch Mountain District championship.

Until a loss at Virginia High last week, the Blue Devils had never lost a CMD game and they weren’t looking to lose two district games in a row. They held on against a determined Lebanon team that mounted a tremendous second half comeback.

Thirteen turnovers by Lebanon in the first half proved to be extremely costly as Gate City built a 27-18 halftime lead. The Pioneers played under control and had only five turnovers in the second half and made it close behind the play of Cody Compton and Jerome Cobb.

“We knew Lebanon would go on a run, I was hoping it would be early not late,” said Gate City coach Scottie Vermillion. “Both teams played really hard. I hand it to Lebanon’s kids, they battle.”

The Pioneers scored four of their first five possessions in the second half. Cobb had eight points in the third quarter as Lebanon cut the lead to 37-31 after three quarters.
But the Blue Devils were able to withstand the challenge as Jordan Potts, Trevor Smith and Josh Johnson were able to answer.

With Lebanon (16-4, 4-3) gaining some momentum, Gate City slowed the pace in the fourth quarter. But the Devils had three consecutive turnovers at one point and Compton converted two of them into 3-pointers. Cobb then gave the Pioneers the lead with bucket with three minutes remaining.

“I think we had the right strategy [slowing it down],” Vermillion said. “I was upset by some of our decisions, turning it over and we took a bad shot. When we didn’t get anything on those possessions it really hurt us.”

After Lebanon went up by one, they had another steal and Cobb raced down the floor and passed to Robert Jones. Jones scored on a layup but it was waived off when Cobb was called for a charge after the pass. He fouled out with 1:52 to play.

“I thought that was the biggest play of the game,” Lebanon coach Thad Lambert said. “We would have been up by three. But the game was tight down the stretch and we had a chance to win. That’s what you hope for.”

With Lebanon up by one, Gate City guard Tihlee Anderson drove the lane and made a spinning shot and was fouled in the process. He made the free throw, the first of nine consecutive free throws made the final minute by Gate City.

Lebanon pulled to within two on a couple of foul shots from Andrew Jessee with 17 seconds left. The Pioneers then fouled Blue Devils freshman Tyler Bird who calmly sank both free throws for a four-point lead with nine seconds remaining. Lebanon’s final shot didn’t fall.

Potts, Smith, Anderson and Tyler Bird all finished with 11 points. Compton led the Pioneers with 22 points, 12 came in the fourth quarter. Cobb added 16.

GATE CITY (53) – Potts 3 4-4 11, T. Smith 5 1-2 11, Anderson 4 3-3 11, Arwood 2 0-0 5, Herron 1 0-0 2, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Bird 3 2-2 11, Vaughn 0 0-0 0, Hughes 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 10-11 53.

LEBANON (49) – J. Cobb 7 2-2 16, Jones 1 0-2 2, Jessee 2 2-2 6, Compton 10 0-0 22, L. Smith 0 0-0 0, Hendrickson 0 0-0 0, Brown 1 0-0 2, Bush 0 0-0 0, K. Cobb 0 1-2 1, Widener 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 5-8 49.
Gate City 13 14 10 16–53
Lebanon 10 8 13 18–49
3-point goals – Gate City 5 (Potts 1, Arwood 1, Bird 3), Lebanon 2 (Compton 2). Total fouls – Gate City 11, Lebanon 18. Fouled out – J. Cobb. Technicals - none. JV game – Lebanon won.

GIRLS

Lebanon 48, Gate City 45

Lebanon (4-16, 1-6) won its first district game of the year with the win as Heather Cox scored 21 points.

“It was just a very exciting game,” Cox said. “We were really looking forward to playing Gate City. Being my senior year, it was very important, I really wanted to win.”

Like the boys contest, the girls game was close from start to finish. Cox scored for the Pioneers with just under five minutes to play as they took a 41-35 lead.

The Blue Devils went on a 10-4 run and tied the score at 45 on a bucket by Autumn Richards with 1:45 to play. Gate City (4-16, 1-6) wouldn’t score again, missing its final four shots.
Lebanon went ahead on a free throw by Kendall Helbert. Cox iced the contest for the Pioneers, making two free throws with five seconds remaining.

Allie Smith contributed 11 points for Lebanon. Taylor Evans led the Devils with 11 points.

GATE CITY (45) – Horner 2 0-0 6, Evans 2 5-6 11, Byrd 1 0-0 2, Vermillion 2 4-7 9, Richards 4 1-3 9, Starnes 0 0-0 0, Gose 0 0-0 0, A. Clark 0 2-2 2, T. Clark 0 1-2 1, Musick 2 0-0 5. Totals 13 12-20 45.
LEBANON (48) – Cook 2 0-1 4, A. Smith 5 1-2 11, K. Smith 0 0-0 0, Cox 9 3-4 21, Helbert 3 1-2 7, Arwood 1 0-0 3, Helton 0 0-0 0, Witt 0 0-0 0, Bowman 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 5-9 48.
Gate City 7 10 17 11–45
Lebanon 7 15 15 11–48
3-point goals – Gate City 6 (Horner 2, Evans 2, Vermillion 1, Musick 1), Lebanon 1 (Arwood 1). Total fouls – Gate City 13, Lebanon 17. Fouled out -none. Technicals – GC coach Houseright. JV game – Lebanon won.