Staff Report

WEST JEFFERSON — The North Surry girls couldn’t climb the mountain that is Ashe County Friday, losing to the Huskies for the third time this season, 58-53, this time in the finals of the Mountain Valley 2-A conference tournament.

North Surry kept things tight throughout, but were unable to finish in the end, allowing the Huskies to slip away in the final quarter with the win.

Mallory Clay led Ashe County with 25 points, followed by tournament MVP Kim McNeil with 14.

Both teams showed jitters early on, with neither squad able to score until the 5:40 mark in the first quarter.

The Greyhounds jumped out an 11-6 lead in the first, but Ashe closed in, taking a 13-11 lead into the second quarter on a last second offensive rebound and put-back.

North would not lead again.

Morgan Midkiff and Kara Hodges led the Greyhounds with 15 points apiece, followed by Emily Culler with 7 and Lindsey Payne with 6.

North Surry coach Shane Slate said he felt Ashe County’s aggression trumped that of his team, leading to the Huskies’ advantage on the scoreboard.

“I think the biggest difference was they were able to start out with a lot of intensity and maintain it,” Slate said. “Ours kind of ebbed and flowed. More than anything, it affected our defense. In the half court, we lost some people at times, then at the offensive end, we just weren’t real sharp with our execution.”

Despite playing Ashe on its home court for the second time this season, Slate said the idea of homecourt advantage was not a deciding factor.

“I don’t know that the home court was as much an advantage,” Slate said. “Obviously all three games have been close, and I think the difference tonight was they played with a little more experience than we do, and I think that probably helped their execution.”

Ashe pushed out to a 12-point lead during the third quarter, but North was able to counter-attack, cutting the Husky lead back to 48-46 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Slate said the final minutes were a mad rush, with both teams scrambling to find a foothold for the win.

The Greyhounds trailed 54-51 in the final two minutes of the game, but could not capitalize, allowing Ashe to hold on for the win.

“It was a back and forth game,” Slate said. “It was a typical Ashe County-North Surry game the way it has been a few years now.”

Slate said despite the loss Friday, he thinks his team has shown progression from the beginning of the season to now, and thinks they have defied early season expectation by performing at a high level all season.

“Obviously, I think we have improved quite a bit over the season,” Slate said. “ Probably at the beginning of the year a lot of people would not have put us at 20-5. I think the girls have learned a lot and have gotten better, but I don’t think we have played our best basketball yet, and I think we still have room to get better and hopefully that will happen next week.”

Slate said his team will play Forest Hills from the Rocky River Conference in the first-round of the state playoffs next week. The Greyhounds own the No. 2 seed in the western region and could face Ashe County again should they advance to the regional finals in Greensboro.

North Surry’s Emily Culler and Lindsey Payne were chosen to the MVC 2-A all-tournament team following the game, while Culler, Courtney Campbell, Morgan Midkiff and Nicole Rumplasch were tagged as MVC 2-A all-conference performers. Kara Hodges picked up honorable mention honors as well.

Ashe County 58,

North Surry 53

Ashe County — 13 12 17 16 — 58

North Surry — 11 12 17 13 — 53

North Surry — Kara Hodges 15, Morgan Midkiff 15, Culler 7, Payne 6, Rumplasch 5, Campbell 3, Simmons 2

Ashe County — Mallory Clay 25, Kim McNeil 14, Yearick 9, Elliot 7, McVey 3

Contact Thomas Smith at tsmith@mtairynews.com or 719-1920.