Virginia High Boys Defeat John Battle In Must-Win

The Virginia High boys basketball team had visions of clinching at least a share of the Clinch Mountain District championship Wednesday night against John Battle. The cards did not fall just right, however.

By: TriCities Staff | TriCities.com
Published: February 12, 2009

By JOHNNY WILSON
Sports Correspondent

BRISTOL, Va. – The Virginia High boys basketball team had visions of clinching at least a share of the Clinch Mountain District championship Wednesday night against John Battle.
The cards did not fall just right, however.

The Bearcats did their part by throttling the homestanding Trojans 60-22, then searched as they might to see who won the critical Gate City at Lebanon game 30 minutes away. But the first-place Blue Devils survived their trip to Russell County, thus keeping Virginia High from forcing a regular-season playoff.

“That’s OK,’’ said VHS coach Jason Stevens. “They (Gate City) have still got to play Lee. You never know.’’

A Lee upset would force such a playoff for VHS, 14-5 overall and 6-2 in the district.

Stevens appeared as a man who was very pleased where his team is as tournament time approaches. The Bearcats grabbed Battle by the throat defensively and seized command from the opening tap.

“That was good to see, to come out and jump on them quick like that,’’ Stevens said. “We played good hard defense. Hard man-to-man defense.’’

It was quite a switch from the last time the two teams met, a month ago. In that game, Stevens started a different, younger lineup to get the attention of his veterans.
Battle (0-7, 2-16) led by five early in the fourth quarter, before faltering down the stretch.

“I think that may have gotten their (the veterans) attention,’’ Stevens said. “We’ve played right well since then.’’

A victory over Lebanon recently was certainly key.

The Bearcats, who forced seven first-quarter turnovers last night, are now in prime position to make a Region D run.

“Hey, we’ve got Tennessee High Friday night and we’re excited about that,’’ Stevens said. “”But we do, we’ve got three good teams in our district that could make it to the regionals. We’ve got a shot to play our way in. That’s all you can ask.’’

Josh Moore led all scorers with 11 points for Virginia High. Corey Young, who pushed the Bearcats out to a quick 9-0 lead, and Josh Tignor both turned in poised efforts as well.

VIRGINIA HIGH (60) – Young 3 2-3 9, Tignor 4 0-0 9, Mink 0 0-0 0, Eccleston 3 0-0 6, Moore 3 5-6 11, Jordan 4 0-0 9, Arnett 1 0-0 2, Anderson 1 0-0 2, Gibson 2 0-1 4, Griffin 1 0-0 2, McCall 1 0-0 2, Nave 2 0-0 4, Kristofek 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 7-10 60.
JOHN BATTLE (22) – Sproles 1 0-0 2, Evans 0 1-3 1, Couch 2 0-2 4, Johnson 3 1-5 7, Amos 0 0-0 0, McCracken 0 0-0 0, Denton 0 0-0 0, Fleenor 3 2-4 8, Martin 0 0-1 0. Totals 9 4-15 22.
Virginia High 18 6 19 17–60
John Battle 6 1 5 10–22
3-point goals - VHS 3 (Young, Tignor, Jordan). Fouled out - Kristofek.

GIRLS

Virginia High 50, John Battle 38

The girls game labored through three difficult quarters before Chelsea Delapp lifted Virginia High to a comfortable victory.

Delapp, a freshman, scored all of her team-high 14 points in the final eight minutes as the Lady Bearcats (6-2, 13-6) awoke from the slumber with a 27-point fourth quarter.

“I’ve never had a game quite like that before,” the 5-foot-9 Delapp said, referring to her coming-to-life effort. “And it feels great to come in there and help my teammates like that.”

The game was tied at 23-23 through three quarters when Delapp took command, continually slipping away from defenders in the low post, and collecting unselfish passes for easy points.

While Battle (3-4, 10-10) went scoreless on six of seven possessions, Delapp eased in five buckets and two free throws in a three-minute span, hoisting VHS to a sudden 40-27 lead with 3:56 to play, and the game was over.

Adrianne Evans scored 12 points and nabbed 10 rebounds to aid the Bearcats, while teammate Savannah Pippen was a tower inside, collecting 10 boards and nine blocked shots.
Battle’s Ashley Bryant led all scorers with 16 points.

VIRGINIA HIGH (50) – Hutt 0 2-6 2, Thomas 0 5-9 5, Pippin 4 1-2 9, K.Smith 0 0-0 0, Evans 4 3-3 12, Delapp 6 2-5 14, Collins 0 0-0 0, H.Smith 3 1-1 8. Totals 17 14-26 50.
JOHN BATTLE (38) – Altmann 3 3-4 10, Johnson 2 2-2 6, Bryant 6 3-8 16, McReynolds 0 0-0 0, O’Quinn 1 1-1 3, Blankenship 0 3-9 3, Griggs 0 0-0 0, Korpol 0 0-0 0, Leonard 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 12-24 38.

Virginia High 4 7 12 27–50
John Battle 6 4 13 15–38
3-point goals - VHS 2 (Evans, H.Smith), Battle 2 (Altmann, Bryant). Fouled out - Bryant, H.Smith.