December 21, 2023
Highland’s Zach Armstrong drives up court past Bath’s Issac Ingram. (Recorder photos by Gavin Dressler)
MONTEREY — Five was enough for the Highland boys here Friday night.
The five Ram starters played all but the final 19 seconds and the hosts controlled the last three minutes, pulling away for a hard-earned 59-48 Pioneer District victory over Bath County.
Charger Issac Ingram hit a three with three minutes left to cut Highland’s lead to 47-45, but the Rams outscored their visitors 12-3 the rest of the way, earning their second district victory of the young season.
John Wagner and Eli Moore had big baskets in the final minutes and the Rams went 8-for-8 at the free throw line in the final 2:35, including a 6-for-6 effort from sophomore point guard Zach Armstrong.
Wagner controlled the inside for Highland with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Moore added 16 points and 13 boards to go with a couple of big blocked shots.
Armstrong chipped in 12 points, seven assists and six steals, while running the Rams’ offense.
“Keep is slowed down, keep it under control,” Armstrong said of his point guard role. “It makes it a lot easier on everybody.”
Highland’s John Wagner tries to block the shot by Bath’s Greyson Walton.
Bath County, which only played six players, got 14 points and 12 rebounds from Luke Turner and 10 points and eight rebounds from Ingram.
“It’s the second night in a row we played without Andrew Turner, who has been one of our leading scorers all year,” said BCHS coach Zach Madison. “He kind of makes us go on offense and defense sometimes. He and Wyatt (Campbell) up top together getting steals and lay-ups — we didn’t get that tonight and that hurt us.
“The Wagner kid is good inside and Eli is good inside,” said Madison about the Rams’ front line. “It was a physical game inside and they were pretty tough to stop.”
Highland scored the last 12 points of the opening quarter to take a 12-4 lead and Moore scored seven points in the second quarter, sending the hosts to the locker room with a 24-19 margin.
But Luke Turner brought the Chargers back in the third.
Turner scored 10 of his 14 in the quarter, including seven straight to tie the game at 33-all.
Armstrong assisted on a Wagner basket just before the buzzer to give the Rams a 37-36 lead with eight minutes to play.
Cooper Lowry’s offensive rebound led to a Greyson Walton three-ball for the Chargers to put them back in front in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but Highland outscored BCHS 22-9 the rest of the way.
Bath County made 7-of-23 from behind the arc in the game, but only 3-of-13 in the final quarter.
The Rams didn’t take a three in the last eight minutes and were 5-of-8 in the quarter, most from inside the paint.
Highland coach Thomas Moore tried to use his time-outs throughout the game to rest his team. Elijah Good injured his ankle last Tuesday at Craig County and Moore said he didn’t know when he would return.
“That last quarter, they were winded,” Moore said about his team. “They did a great job. Having Elijah would have helped out on the boards a whole lot. We missed him. But it was a good effort for what we had.”
Moore said that Armstrong’s work at the point was a key to the win.
“He’s a floor general,” Moore said of his left-hander. “You have to get the basketball in his hands. He’s grown a lot since last year. He’s got a lot more confidence. It makes a big difference.”
The Rams (3-2) had a Monday game at Richwood postponed. They are back in action tonight against Union Educational Complex.
Highland will head to the Christmas break with a 2-0 Pioneer District mark.
“It was rough when Elijah went down in the game against Craig with his ankle injury,” Armstrong said. “It’s nice to have that extra person. But it feels really good. It’s been a while since we started off a season like this. It feels good.”
Bath County (0-2 Pioneer District, 3-6 overall) had a home game against Pocahontas County postponed on Tuesday. The Chargers, who had two starters out sick in Monday’s loss to Buffalo Gap, host James River tonight.
Last Friday’s Boxscore
• Bath County (48): Luke Turner 14, Wyatt Campbell 7, Issac Ingram 10, Frankie DeBoe 8, Greyson Walton 7, Cooper Lowry 2
• Highland (59): Zach Armstrong 12, Terrance Hill 0, Patton Hull 5, Greg Meehan 6, Eli Moore 16, John Wagner 20
• Halftime: Highland 24, Bath County 19
• 3-point goals: Bath County 7 (L. Turner 2, Ingram 2, Campbell 1, DeBoe 1, Walton 1); Highland 2 (Meehan 2)