The Recorder, Thursday, January 25, 2024 — page 24
Highland’s Zach Armstrong plays tight defense against Bath’s Wyatt Campbell. (Recorder photos by Gavin Dressler)
HOT SPRINGS — There’s nothing like a 65-footer to get you going.
Fueled by Zach Armstrong’s buzzer-beating heave to end the second quarter, Highland outscored host Bath County 33-22 in the final two periods here Tuesday night, completing the regular season sweep of the Chargers, 52-36.
The Rams used a big advantage in the paint and went to the free throw line 33 times, including 17 attempts in the final quarter, to win their second game in as many nights.
Eli Moore scored 15 of his game-high 18 points in the second half and added nine rebounds for the winners, Armstrong scored 15 points, John Wagner scored 12 points and pulled in 15 boards and Elijah Good tracked down eight misses.
“The guys did a good job on the boards and we got good shots,” said HHS coach Thomas Moore of the Rams’ advantage inside. “They did a good job working the ball around and running our offense.”
Bath County forced 10 Highland turnovers in the opening quarter and led 11-6 after eight minutes.
Bath’s Andrew Turner goes airborne for a layup.
But the Rams gave the ball away just six times the rest of the game.
Wagner had five points in a 10-2 run to start the second quarter, but Wyatt Campbell scored off an Andrew Turner assist to slice the Highland lead to just one, 16-15, with 40 seconds left in the half.
It set the stage for the shot of the night.
Armstrong was just inside three-quarter court when he let it go. It found nothing but net.
“That helped for sure,” said Moore with a laugh. “I thought it was going to be short.”
Highland scored the first eight points of the third period and led by 10 entering the final quarter.
A Greyson Walton three got Bath back to within six with 5:12 to play, but that was as close as the Chargers would get.
With both Luke and Andrew Turner on the bench after fouling out, the Rams pulled away.
While Highland was enjoying a 19-for-33 evening at the charity stripe, Bath County went to the line only seven times, making four.
“Some of us got down on ourselves and we kind of had some arguing,” said BCHS coach Zach Madison. “We just never came back from that. We couldn’t make shots. We missed shots we normally make and we were getting frustrated with not making anything.
“You could tell we hadn’t been in the gym for a week,” he added. “We practiced once, but they (Highland) played yesterday and they hadn’t practiced either. You could definitely tell, especially in the first half.”
Campbell led Bath with 12 points and Issac Ingram scored nine points and had six rebounds. Frankie DeBoe led the Chargers on the glass with eight and Luke Turner hauled in five.
The hosts made just 6-of-30 shots from behind the 3-point line and connected on only 13-of-60 (22 percent) from the floor overall. Highland was 16-for-35 (46 percent) and made 1-of-4 threes — the Armstrong bomb.
The Rams (3-2 Pioneer, 5-6 overall) run the Pioneer District gauntlet late this week. They host Parry McCluer (4-1 Pioneer, 12-3 overall) tonight and go on the road Saturday afternoon to face league-leading Narrows (5-0 Pioneer, 13-1 overall).
Bath County (1-4 Pioneer, 7-8 overall) goes out of the district tonight with a trip to Richwood, W.Va., followed by a home game against Craig County on Friday.
Tuesday’s Boxscore
• Highland (52): Zach Armstrong 15, Elijah Good 7, Terrance Hill 0, Patton Hull 0, John Wagner 12, Eli Moore 18
• Bath County (36): Wyatt Campbell 12, Frankie DeBoe 0, Carter Hooker 0, Issac Ingram 9, Cooper Lowry 0, Owen Perdue 0, Andrew Turner 7, Luke Turner 0, Greyson Walton 8
• Halftime: Highland 19, Bath County 15
• 3-point goals: Highland 1 (Armstrong 1); Bath County 6 (Campbell 2, Walton 2, A. Turner 1, Ingram 1)