BOYS BB: Gate City 70 Union 56 - FINAL
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McClung scores 31 as Gate City boys, girls get by Union
WISE, Va. – The Mac McClung victory tour continues to wow basketball fans across the Mountain Empire.
In anticipation of another sellout crowd for the 6-foot-2 Gate City acrobat Wednesday, doors opened at 3 p.m. at the Prior Center on the campus of the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.
By the 8:15 start of the featured game between the Gate City Blue Devils and the Union Bears, the crowd was estimated at 2,800.
Early in the first quarter, McClung earned his first standing ovation with a windmill dunk. That provided the spark for a 70-56 Gate City win.
Coming off a tour de force at the Arby’s Classic last week, McClung scored 31 with an array of moves. Despite the win, the Blue Devils were not happy with their performance against the sticky 3-2 zone defense employed by Union.
“This was a different kind of game than we played last week, but give Union credit. They executed their offense and hit shots,” said Gate City coach Scottie Vermillion. “We didn’t defend very well or execute very well on offense.”
After GC zoomed out to a 7-0 lead, Union coach Zack Moore called a timeout to regroup.
By halftime, McClung had 12 points as the Blue Devils led 34-21. As fans begged for more dunks, Union stayed within striking distance.
“I don’t know if it was the zone or our lack of execution,” Vermillion said. “It was my responsibility to have the guys ready for the zone, but we weren’t prepared.
“We’re trying to get our legs back from last week and that’s a hard transition. Those are all excuses. We just didn’t play our best. We have to learn that if you don’t play your best, you’re liable to get beat.”
Sophomore guard Bradley Dean supplied 16 points for Gate City while 6-5 junior Zac Ervin added 14.
The Blue Devils were tested with four high-pressure games last week in the Arby’s at Viking Hall, but McClung refused to blame Wednesday’s performance on weary legs.
“We’re not going to blame it on that,” McClung said. “We just got chewed out in the locker room, and rightfully so. We didn’t play together.
“Honestly, it feels like we just lost by 30. We played awful. We’ve just got to forget this one and get better for the next game.”
As for the huge crowd, McClung said he didn’t pay attention.
“I don’t worry about that,” McClung said. “We don’t really play for the fans, but we’re very grateful for their support.”
The Bears closed to within 43-32 with 2:17 left in third quarter following a 3-pointer by 5-8 junior Austin Gibson and a baseline jumper from creative 6-1 junior Noah Garrison.
Just as the Union fans came to life, McClung provided the silencer with a high-elevation 3.
The Bears closed the gap to 64-53 with 2:16 left on 3-pointers by Gibson and Alex Rasnick. But the Blue Devils (8-1, 3-0) held on.
“We started out a little slow trying to get used to the 3-2 defense when we came out,” Dean said. “We picked things up and started getting some transition buckets but we didn’t get out on Union’s shooters. This wasn’t one of our better games.”
Union matched GC with nine 3-pointers. Gibson set the pace with seven 3s and 21 points.
Moore took little solace in the effectiveness of his zone defense.
“We got beat, so it didn’t work good enough,” Moore said. “We were very lackadaisical with everything in the first quarter and they were beating us to every loose ball. We played even pretty much after that, but it’s too hard to battle back against a team like that.”
Virginia Tech football signee James Mitchell supplied eight points for Union while Garrison connected for nine points.
The Bears (4-3, 0-1) has been handicapped by several injuries early this season, with prolific scorer and emotional leader Wes Slagle sidelined for the season due to a knee injury.
Senior forward Wes Summers is also out with a knee injury while junior Bailey Turner is still undergoing rebab from a knee injury that keep him out most of the football season.
“No excuses – that’s the motto our team has adopted,” Moore said. “We love [Slagle] and he’s a big part of our team. He’s still cheering from the bench but other guys have to step up.”
Gibson, who was guarded by McClung, certainly stepped up his game.
“We kind of ran our offense through Gibson late,” Moore said. “We were going right at [McClung] and that’s why Austin was getting so open.
“I felt like we could have played better overall, especially on the boards and at the start of the game.”
McClung scored on an arsenal of slicing drives, pull-up jumpers and stick backs.
The normally emotional Vermillion spent much of the second half on the end of the GC bench in a reflective mode.
“I just wanted to stay quiet and see what we would do,” Vermillion said. “I’ve changed a lot over the years. Sometimes you just leave the players alone to see what they might do.”
Union will return to the Prior Center on Saturday afternoon to face Graham, with the first game set at 2.
According to facility officials, the Prior Center can normally seat 2,500 for basketball. Many of the fans Wednesday were standing. For the 2013 Class A and AA state boys and girls quarterfinals, additional seats were brought in to accommodate a crowd of 3,500.
WISE, Va. – The Mac McClung victory tour continues to wow basketball fans across the Mountain Empire.
In anticipation of another sellout crowd for the 6-foot-2 Gate City acrobat Wednesday, doors opened at 3 p.m. at the Prior Center on the campus of the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.
By the 8:15 start of the featured game between the Gate City Blue Devils and the Union Bears, the crowd was estimated at 2,800.
Early in the first quarter, McClung earned his first standing ovation with a windmill dunk. That provided the spark for a 70-56 Gate City win.
Coming off a tour de force at the Arby’s Classic last week, McClung scored 31 with an array of moves. Despite the win, the Blue Devils were not happy with their performance against the sticky 3-2 zone defense employed by Union.
“This was a different kind of game than we played last week, but give Union credit. They executed their offense and hit shots,” said Gate City coach Scottie Vermillion. “We didn’t defend very well or execute very well on offense.”
After GC zoomed out to a 7-0 lead, Union coach Zack Moore called a timeout to regroup.
By halftime, McClung had 12 points as the Blue Devils led 34-21. As fans begged for more dunks, Union stayed within striking distance.
“I don’t know if it was the zone or our lack of execution,” Vermillion said. “It was my responsibility to have the guys ready for the zone, but we weren’t prepared.
“We’re trying to get our legs back from last week and that’s a hard transition. Those are all excuses. We just didn’t play our best. We have to learn that if you don’t play your best, you’re liable to get beat.”
Sophomore guard Bradley Dean supplied 16 points for Gate City while 6-5 junior Zac Ervin added 14.
The Blue Devils were tested with four high-pressure games last week in the Arby’s at Viking Hall, but McClung refused to blame Wednesday’s performance on weary legs.
“We’re not going to blame it on that,” McClung said. “We just got chewed out in the locker room, and rightfully so. We didn’t play together.
“Honestly, it feels like we just lost by 30. We played awful. We’ve just got to forget this one and get better for the next game.”
As for the huge crowd, McClung said he didn’t pay attention.
“I don’t worry about that,” McClung said. “We don’t really play for the fans, but we’re very grateful for their support.”
The Bears closed to within 43-32 with 2:17 left in third quarter following a 3-pointer by 5-8 junior Austin Gibson and a baseline jumper from creative 6-1 junior Noah Garrison.
Just as the Union fans came to life, McClung provided the silencer with a high-elevation 3.
The Bears closed the gap to 64-53 with 2:16 left on 3-pointers by Gibson and Alex Rasnick. But the Blue Devils (8-1, 3-0) held on.
“We started out a little slow trying to get used to the 3-2 defense when we came out,” Dean said. “We picked things up and started getting some transition buckets but we didn’t get out on Union’s shooters. This wasn’t one of our better games.”
Union matched GC with nine 3-pointers. Gibson set the pace with seven 3s and 21 points.
Moore took little solace in the effectiveness of his zone defense.
“We got beat, so it didn’t work good enough,” Moore said. “We were very lackadaisical with everything in the first quarter and they were beating us to every loose ball. We played even pretty much after that, but it’s too hard to battle back against a team like that.”
Virginia Tech football signee James Mitchell supplied eight points for Union while Garrison connected for nine points.
The Bears (4-3, 0-1) has been handicapped by several injuries early this season, with prolific scorer and emotional leader Wes Slagle sidelined for the season due to a knee injury.
Senior forward Wes Summers is also out with a knee injury while junior Bailey Turner is still undergoing rebab from a knee injury that keep him out most of the football season.
“No excuses – that’s the motto our team has adopted,” Moore said. “We love [Slagle] and he’s a big part of our team. He’s still cheering from the bench but other guys have to step up.”
Gibson, who was guarded by McClung, certainly stepped up his game.
“We kind of ran our offense through Gibson late,” Moore said. “We were going right at [McClung] and that’s why Austin was getting so open.
“I felt like we could have played better overall, especially on the boards and at the start of the game.”
McClung scored on an arsenal of slicing drives, pull-up jumpers and stick backs.
The normally emotional Vermillion spent much of the second half on the end of the GC bench in a reflective mode.
“I just wanted to stay quiet and see what we would do,” Vermillion said. “I’ve changed a lot over the years. Sometimes you just leave the players alone to see what they might do.”
Union will return to the Prior Center on Saturday afternoon to face Graham, with the first game set at 2.
According to facility officials, the Prior Center can normally seat 2,500 for basketball. Many of the fans Wednesday were standing. For the 2013 Class A and AA state boys and girls quarterfinals, additional seats were brought in to accommodate a crowd of 3,500.
