PREP BASKETBALL: Castlewood boys, Coeburn girls avenge earlier losses

BY ANTHONY STEVENS
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
CASTLEWOOD, Va. – Two teams with one Cumberland District loss squared off with a lot on the line.

Coeburn defeated Castlewood last week in double overtime on its home floor. It was a completely different outcome on Monday. The Blue Devils turned it up on both ends of the floor and cruised to a 71-49 win over Coeburn.

On the Blue Knights’ first possession, Andrew Pate dropped in a 3-pointer for their only lead in the game. Castlewood’s Justin Smith answered with a 3 of his own to tie the game.
Seth Justice scored for the Devils the next time down the floor, giving them a 5-3 lead. They would never trail again.

“This was a ‘must win’ for us,” said Justice. “We had to have it to have a chance at getting the district championship. We came out with a sense of urgency and we were able to put
it away pretty early.”

Justice did a little bit of everything for Castlewood, but he had plenty of help. Justice finished with 10 points and did a solid job of directing the offense when at point guard. He was
also able to shift to the small forward role. Justin Smith (16), Zach Bush (14), and Ruben Rasnick (10) were all in double digits for the Devils.

“We were just all aggressive and tried to get to the rim,” Justice said. “That’s pretty much what we do and it worked out tonight.”

Although they trailed most of the game, Coeburn was able to keep it close until late in the first half. Castlewood led only 23-18 after a bucket by Pate for the Knights with 2:46 to
play in the half. But the Devils then scored 10 unanswered points to gain the momentum before halftime.

“They just wanted it more than we did,” said Coeburn coach Jeff Adkins. “That’s the bottom line. They came out early and decided they were going to take it to the hole. Our defense
was porous, while they hit shots and hit shots. Castlewood came ready to play.”

Phillip Riner scored for Coeburn to cut the Blue Devil lead to nine points 35-26 early in the second half. Justice then picked up an assist, when he found Bush open on the block.
That ignited a 15-0 Castlewood run and the rout was on.

“We just ran our offense,” Castlewood coach Wayne Rasnick said. “We had a great game defensively. Coeburn has three super players and our goal was to hold two of them to double figures and we were able to do that tonight.”

Holden Burke led Coeburn with a game-high 19 points and Pate added 18.

The CD race is far from over. Castlewood still has three critical games remaining. They host Rye Cove tonight and Ervinton on Wednesday night. They then face a tough trip against
rival St. Paul on Friday.

“All those teams are dangerous,” said Rasnick. “It’s not an easy task.”

GIRLS
Coeburn 77, Castlewood 50
Coeburn (12-7, 8-3) knocked Castlewood into a first-place tie with Ervinton in the Cumberland District. It was the Blue Knights controlling the contest from start to finish, as they took a 77-50 win. It was the first district loss by the Castlewood girls on their home floor in over three years.

“We didn’t play well at all,” Castlewood coach Barry Ruff said. “Every facet of the game was really one-sided. They didn’t miss many shots and we missed a bunch.”

Castlewood (12-7, 7-2) made only 12 percent of their shots from the floor in the first half. The Blue Devils made only 3-of-25 field goal attempts. They didn’t warm up much in the
second half, shooting 20 percent in the game.

It was a huge team effort for Coeburn. They dominated the boards and when they did miss a shot, they were grabbing the offensive rebound for put backs.

“We felt that if we rebounded like we knew we could, we could get second chance points,” Coeburn coach Alan Atwood said. “We cleaned up and did real well on the boards tonight.
They out rebounded us last week [when Coeburn lost at home].”

Coeburn had four players in double figures and two players posted a double-double. Samantha Perry scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Lindsay Lawson totaled 15 points
and hauled down 14 rebounds. Hayley Wyrick contributed 17 points and also had seven assists. Hannah Light added 12 points.

“Every kid on my team did their job tonight,” stated Atwood. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. This was just a great team effort.
“We still feel like we might be able to tie for the title in the district. We’re one game back right now and there is a lot of basketball to be played.”

Haley Gilbert had a double-double for the Blue Devils, with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.