Castlewood earns second straight regional title with victory over Appalachia

BRISTOL, Va. – Zach Bush is not the typical post player.

At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, the Castlewood senior usually must find creative ways to score against larger defenders. Saturday’s Region D, Division 1 championship offered another showcase in creativity.

Bush was pitted against massive 6-foot-6 Appalachia post Mladen Bogicevic on offense and defense. Relying on his smooth jumper and savvy, Bush scored a game-high 21 points to guide Castlewood to a 48-37 victory over the Appalachia Bulldogs.

“[Bogicevic] was pretty big and strong,” Bush said. “It seemed like he weighed about 250 pounds, but I tried to push him around and do what I could.”

Bush also attempted to free up his Castlewood teammates by shooting perimeter jumpers.

“[Bogicevic] couldn’t guard me outside, so I just moved on out there,” Bush said.

That enticement plan ignited a 19-2 fourth-quarter run by the Blue Devils. Appalachia was held scoreless until the final 30 seconds, as senior point guard Seth Justice continually made wise decisions for the balanced Castlewood offense.

“We didn’t do anything different,” Castlewood coach Wayne Rasnick said. “We just kept attacking, and I thought we did a good job of that.”

The Blue Devils (22-4) won the Region D, Division 2 title last season, while Appalachia took the Division 1 crown. Both teams returned four starters.

Appalachia (22-5) built a 16-9 lead in the opening minute of the second quarter and led 35-28 with 29 seconds left in third quarter.

According to Bush, the Castlewood comeback centered more on attitude than execution. After a wild scramble for a loose ball, Bush delivered a 15-foot jumper to give his team a 38-35 with 3:59 remaining.

“We started playing with more intensity,” Bush said. “Appalachia was getting a little mad out there, and we just played our game.”

Bogicevic collected 10 points and 10 rebounds, but he had to work for every point.

“Gee whiz, that’s the biggest guy I’ve seen in a long time,” Rasnick said. “[Bogicevic] is a difference maker. We were getting to a double or triple team every time he got the ball. We might have contained him, but we didn’t shut him down.”

Forrest Stuart slithered and sped through the Castlewood defense for 10 points, but the 6-foot junior guard was handicapped by foul trouble in the second half.

“[Castlewood] played pretty good defense, and we just couldn’t knock down our shots,” Stuart said. “We had some stupid things happen and that was pretty much the downfall. We just have to forget about this game.”

Appalachia coach Pat Jervis left to scout the Region C tournament immediately after the loss and was not available for comment.

Ruben Rasnick, a 6-foot-3 senior leaper, contributed 16 points for the Blue Devils. The Blue Devils featured four double-figure scorers last season and are just as cohesive this season.

“We’ve been playing together since about the third grade,” said Bush, a three-year starter. “We’ve been involved in a lot of big games, and it’s pretty nice to win region twice in a row.”

Rasnick feels that the versatile Bush is a perfect example of the unified approach for Castlewood.

“Zach has come a long way in the last two years,” Rasnick said. “He personifies what every kid would want to be.”

In a game played at Virginia High last season, Castlewood lost to eventual state champion Radford in the Division 2 quarterfinals. With Saturday’s win, the Blue Devils earned the right to return to VHS next week for another quarterfinal game.

“That’s big for us,” said Rasnick, who has led his team to a 45-8 record the past two seasons. “We love playing in this gym.”

Appalachia, which lost a quarterfinal game to Eastern Montgomery last season, must play a road game next week.