MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Southern Garrett (Md.) senior Cory Ashby’s 28 points were the sweet melody in an otherwise stale boys’ basketball game Tuesday night at Trinity Christian, lifting the Rams over the Warriors, 68-47.
Even though it was the most points the Rams (13-3) have relinquished since Jan. 11 in their 61-57 loss to Notre Dame, Trinity coach John Fowkes’ focus is elsewhere — and it all starts at practice.
“They’re one of the best teams out there,” he said. “That guy [Southern Garrett coach Jon Hegeman] is a legend. I have the most respect in the world for him.
“What I see is a team that doesn’t want to do the little things. [Like] stretching before practice. We’ve got a couple of guys who think they’re too good to stretch with the team before practice. If you watch the game, we’re pretty talented but we don’t rebound well and when we run half-court offensive sets, we score. But when we go street ball, we don’t score. That’s what we saw tonight. We can’t keep using the excuse that we’re young — at this point in the year we have to get over the fact that, yeah, we have younger guys, [but] we’re not young anymore. That’s what’s costing us these big games against good teams.”
The opening minutes of the first quarter played out well for both teams, going shot for shot until the Rams’ defense kicked in to force three turnovers and pressure senior Seth Goins on the perimeter, where he missed all three of his 3-point attempts.
On the other end of the court, Trinity (7-10) couldn’t get its defense together, which cost it five points off free throws following five fouls.
The second quarter pressure from Southern Garrett was just as intense, holding Trinity to 3 of 6 shooting in the paint and 1 of 4 from 3-point land.
Trinity’s defense was equally as stymied, allowing the Rams to hit 42% of their shots. Out of 13 total buckets, senior Cory Ashby netted seven for 14 points, a foreshadowing moment for what would be another 14 points in the second half to clear a 28-point night.
What hurt even worse was senior center Fletcher Hartsock picking up three quick fouls in the first half, something that hasn’t happened all year.
“Two quick fouls in the first quarter on Fletcher [Hartsock], that hasn’t happened all year,” Fowkes said. “That hurt when you had to put the 6-foot-7 freshman [Matt Gadd] in against their senior [Ashby].”
The second half played out much like the first as the Rams, led by Ashby, outscored the Warriors 16-12 in the third quarter and ended with a 17-12 run. The win now puts the Rams on a seven-game win streak before taking on Broadfording Christian Academy out of Hagerstown, Md. In total, the Rams forced 19 turnovers while only giving up 10.
Aside from Ashby’s game-high 28 points, Isaac Upole had 15 points and Bryson Wilt netted 14 to round out the double-digit scoring. Hartsock paced the Warriors in the loss with 14 points, while freshman Johnathan Moore had 10.
In total, Trinity shot 18 of 38 from the floor, 1 of 13 from beyond the arc and 10 of 13 from the free-throw line. Southern Garrett hit 28 of 49 from the floor, 1 of 6 from 3-point land and 11 of 17 from the charity stripe.
Despite the loss, Fowkes knows his team can pull out an extended run in the postseason but hammered that the key to doing so is his team believing in themselves as much as he believes in them.
“At times tonight I thought we played like we weren’t into it very much, but I told them the real season starts in a couple of weeks,” he said. “Call me crazy, but I think that team sitting in the locker room tonight is good enough to make a run and win a few games in Charleston. We’re going to stay positive, but it’s frustrating for a couple of seniors [especially] Fletcher. He’s our senior leader and has been with us for 4 years. He wants it and shows it every day.”
