Abingdon takes 77-59 win over Virginia High
The first-year head coach of the Abingdon boys, Casey Johnson’s team seems to be cut right out of his daddy’s mold.
“That’s the best compliment I can receive,” Casey Johnson said, after watching his Falcons improve their record to 5-0 with a 77-59 win over Virginia High.
Involved in quite a struggle with Virginia High early in the second half, Abingdon missed no shots and scored on eight straight possessions to turn a one-point lead into a 53-40 advantage with 4:15 left in the third period.
Trent Cox started the decisive 17-5 Falcon spurt with a 3-point bomb from the wing, before the Falcons’ fullcourt pressure and attack-the-rim style finally gave the home team the edge it needed.
Ean Bassham, an active 6-foot-4 forward who led all scorers with 23 points, fueled the rally with three aggressive buckets on the baseline.
“We gave them a real challenge there and there’s an argument for us leading at halftime if we’d made some free throws and some layups,” said VHS coach Wayne Rasnick. “But that stretch right there, that was the pivotal point of the ball game.”
Virginia High guards Alex Inman and Gavin Austin withstood body blow after body blow from Abingdon’s relentless full-court zone press, but in the end the Bearcats would turn the ball over 25 times.
“Really we’re trying to wear people down” Johnson said. “We play a lot of people for a reason, and a lot of guys have a chance to make an impact on this team.
“When we’re playing our best it’s because a lot of guys are contributing.”
Abingdon, which had 11 players score, raced out to a 24-14 lead late in the first quarter before Virginia High twice cut the deficit to one point.
“The two things we try to do is play hard and play unselfish,” Johnson said. “I thought we played hard in the first half but not unselfish. In the second half we played hard and unselfish, and you see the result.”
Johnson realizes how nice it is to have seniors like Bassham and Thomas Francisco to lead his first Abingdon team.
“It’s unbelievable,” Johnson said. “I’ve got great kids top to bottom. Everybody works hard, everybody plays hard. It’s great.
“But those two kids are our leaders, without a doubt. They’re seasoned, been here before, been through a lot of battles. They are hard-nosed and when the game is on the line they play at their best. And they play every practice and every game like it’s their last.”
Virginia High was led by the 17-point effort of Austin and the 10-point outing of Bobby Medley.
Abingdon hurt the Bearcats all evening by winning the battle of the backboards.
- Johnny Wilson | Sports Correspondent
- Dec 19, 2017 Updated 4 hrs ago
The first-year head coach of the Abingdon boys, Casey Johnson’s team seems to be cut right out of his daddy’s mold.
“That’s the best compliment I can receive,” Casey Johnson said, after watching his Falcons improve their record to 5-0 with a 77-59 win over Virginia High.
Involved in quite a struggle with Virginia High early in the second half, Abingdon missed no shots and scored on eight straight possessions to turn a one-point lead into a 53-40 advantage with 4:15 left in the third period.
Trent Cox started the decisive 17-5 Falcon spurt with a 3-point bomb from the wing, before the Falcons’ fullcourt pressure and attack-the-rim style finally gave the home team the edge it needed.
Ean Bassham, an active 6-foot-4 forward who led all scorers with 23 points, fueled the rally with three aggressive buckets on the baseline.
“We gave them a real challenge there and there’s an argument for us leading at halftime if we’d made some free throws and some layups,” said VHS coach Wayne Rasnick. “But that stretch right there, that was the pivotal point of the ball game.”
Virginia High guards Alex Inman and Gavin Austin withstood body blow after body blow from Abingdon’s relentless full-court zone press, but in the end the Bearcats would turn the ball over 25 times.
“Really we’re trying to wear people down” Johnson said. “We play a lot of people for a reason, and a lot of guys have a chance to make an impact on this team.
“When we’re playing our best it’s because a lot of guys are contributing.”
Abingdon, which had 11 players score, raced out to a 24-14 lead late in the first quarter before Virginia High twice cut the deficit to one point.
“The two things we try to do is play hard and play unselfish,” Johnson said. “I thought we played hard in the first half but not unselfish. In the second half we played hard and unselfish, and you see the result.”
Johnson realizes how nice it is to have seniors like Bassham and Thomas Francisco to lead his first Abingdon team.
“It’s unbelievable,” Johnson said. “I’ve got great kids top to bottom. Everybody works hard, everybody plays hard. It’s great.
“But those two kids are our leaders, without a doubt. They’re seasoned, been here before, been through a lot of battles. They are hard-nosed and when the game is on the line they play at their best. And they play every practice and every game like it’s their last.”
Virginia High was led by the 17-point effort of Austin and the 10-point outing of Bobby Medley.
Abingdon hurt the Bearcats all evening by winning the battle of the backboards.
