Boys - M7 District Tournament - Semis - Gate City 96 Abingdon 44 - FINAL
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GATE CITY, Va. – Abingdon came into Thursday night's Mountain 7 District boys basketball semifinal convinced it had a chance to play with top-seeded Gate City, but in the end the underdogs were simply barking up the wrong tree.
Gate City superstar Mac McClung had one of his less-spectacular games but it didn't matter, as the Blue Devils hammered the Falcons to the tune of 96-44.
Out of action for a week-plus, the Blue Devils shot 49 percent from the floor (30 of 61) and hit a dozen 3-point shots to rout the fifth-seeded Falcons for the third time this season.
"We didn't shoot it as well early as I'd like but I think part of that was not being in a game for eight days,'' said Gate City coach Scott Vermillion, his team now 22-1. "I thought we shared the ball well – think we had 13 assists in the first half – and I thought we played well together.''
The 6-foot-2 McClung turned in an average game by his impossible standards, hitting 11 of 25 floor attempts (2 of 6 beyond the arc, with three dunks) and 13 of 15 free throws to score 37 points.
The Georgetown signee struggled a bit early but found a way to propel his team by continually getting to the rim and drawing contact.
"It's tough because he's so aggressive and not just a shooter,'' said Abingdon coach Casey Johnson, clearly not pleased with the officiating. "When you get close to him – he's going to Georgetown for a reason – he's going to go by you and attack the rim ... and I thought we were there to take a couple charges early and throughout the entire game, actually.''
But Johnson was aware that his own club, now 10-14, didn't get it done offensively when the Falcons threatened to make a game of it early.
Abingdon shot 30 percent from the floor while committing 18 turnovers.
"We missed shots early when they were missing and I thought we were timid and soft – and we had great looks,'' Johnson said. "We weren't focused on shooting as much as we were focused on the defender.
"You know, it was 7-7 there and then their kid hits a couple deep ones and suddenly they hit us with a 25-2 run or something like that. Gate City is going to score points but the cool thing about basketball is we get it back, and you've got to do something with it on your end.''
Gate City trailed 4-2 when it cranked up a 25-5 spurt, actually, behind its three-headed monster – McClung, Zac Ervin and Bradley Dean.
With McClung driving to the hoop and Ervin getting out in transition and Dean draining three 25-footers, the game was suddenly out of hand.
Gate City led 25-9 after one quarter and 46-22 at halftime. The bulge ballooned to 74-31 when backup senior Logan Noe swished a 3 at the third-quarter buzzer.
Dean, who finished with 19 points while hitting 4 of 9 from beyond the arc, was a particular thorn in Abingdon's side.
"He's been doing that since the seventh or eighth grade,'' said the 6-foot-5 Ervin, a junior who scored 17 points. "His range is from the volleyball line.''
Dean, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, explained.
"That goes back to when I played AAU ball as a kid and not being the quickest dude on the floor, I had to expand my range,'' Dean said. "When they clog it up inside to keep Mac out of the lane and lay off of me, I'm going to shoot it.''
Abingdon, which will play Union in Saturday night's third-place game, got a 12-point night from Ean Bassham.
Falcon senior Thomas Francisco scored his 1,000th career point on Abingdon's first bucket of the game.
Abingdon was hit with three technical fouls and had one player ejected.
Gate City superstar Mac McClung had one of his less-spectacular games but it didn't matter, as the Blue Devils hammered the Falcons to the tune of 96-44.
Out of action for a week-plus, the Blue Devils shot 49 percent from the floor (30 of 61) and hit a dozen 3-point shots to rout the fifth-seeded Falcons for the third time this season.
"We didn't shoot it as well early as I'd like but I think part of that was not being in a game for eight days,'' said Gate City coach Scott Vermillion, his team now 22-1. "I thought we shared the ball well – think we had 13 assists in the first half – and I thought we played well together.''
The 6-foot-2 McClung turned in an average game by his impossible standards, hitting 11 of 25 floor attempts (2 of 6 beyond the arc, with three dunks) and 13 of 15 free throws to score 37 points.
The Georgetown signee struggled a bit early but found a way to propel his team by continually getting to the rim and drawing contact.
"It's tough because he's so aggressive and not just a shooter,'' said Abingdon coach Casey Johnson, clearly not pleased with the officiating. "When you get close to him – he's going to Georgetown for a reason – he's going to go by you and attack the rim ... and I thought we were there to take a couple charges early and throughout the entire game, actually.''
But Johnson was aware that his own club, now 10-14, didn't get it done offensively when the Falcons threatened to make a game of it early.
Abingdon shot 30 percent from the floor while committing 18 turnovers.
"We missed shots early when they were missing and I thought we were timid and soft – and we had great looks,'' Johnson said. "We weren't focused on shooting as much as we were focused on the defender.
"You know, it was 7-7 there and then their kid hits a couple deep ones and suddenly they hit us with a 25-2 run or something like that. Gate City is going to score points but the cool thing about basketball is we get it back, and you've got to do something with it on your end.''
Gate City trailed 4-2 when it cranked up a 25-5 spurt, actually, behind its three-headed monster – McClung, Zac Ervin and Bradley Dean.
With McClung driving to the hoop and Ervin getting out in transition and Dean draining three 25-footers, the game was suddenly out of hand.
Gate City led 25-9 after one quarter and 46-22 at halftime. The bulge ballooned to 74-31 when backup senior Logan Noe swished a 3 at the third-quarter buzzer.
Dean, who finished with 19 points while hitting 4 of 9 from beyond the arc, was a particular thorn in Abingdon's side.
"He's been doing that since the seventh or eighth grade,'' said the 6-foot-5 Ervin, a junior who scored 17 points. "His range is from the volleyball line.''
Dean, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, explained.
"That goes back to when I played AAU ball as a kid and not being the quickest dude on the floor, I had to expand my range,'' Dean said. "When they clog it up inside to keep Mac out of the lane and lay off of me, I'm going to shoot it.''
Abingdon, which will play Union in Saturday night's third-place game, got a 12-point night from Ean Bassham.
Falcon senior Thomas Francisco scored his 1,000th career point on Abingdon's first bucket of the game.
Abingdon was hit with three technical fouls and had one player ejected.
